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Condoland
The Planning, Design, and Development of Toronto's CityPlace
James T. White (Author), John Punter (Author)
9780774868396
Paperback / softback, published 31 May 2023
352 pages, 117 b&w photos, 71 illus., 13 tables
25.4 x 19.1 x 2.1 cm, 0.79 kg
"White and Punter's ability to combine design and governance perspectives is a major and impressive accomplishment. I encourage professors of design and political science (and other urban related fields) to use this book to teach students how cities can tame the excesses of neo-liberalism." Condoland has lessons for any city struggling to balance density, intensification, and housing affordability. "The book is very much a cautionary tale of the limits of land use planning to curb speculation, protect housing from the market, and achieve thoughtful human scale planning and design in unfettered market-intensive environments." "Condoland is a clear, comprehensive case study of the planning, design governance, and real estate processes that shaped Toronto's "Vancouverization" (vertical urbanization)."
Condoland casts CityPlace – a massive residential development of more than thirty condominium towers just outside Toronto's downtown core – as a microcosm of twenty-first-century urban intensification that has transformed the city skyline beyond all recognition. Built almost entirely by a single private developer, this immense neighbourhood took decades to plan, design, and develop, but the end result lacks a sense of place and is not widely accessible to those who need homes: only a small number of its 13,000 units constitute affordable housing, and public amenities are limited. James T. White and John Punter journey through the forty-year development of Toronto's largest residential megaproject, focusing on its urban design and architectural evolution. They also delve into the background, summarizing the tools used to shape Toronto's built environment, and critically explore the underlying political economy of planning and real estate development in the city. Using detailed field studies, interviews, archival research, and with nearly two hundred illustrations, they reveal an alarmingly flexible approach to planning and design that is acquiescent to the demands of a rapacious development industry. Condoland raises key questions about the sustainability and long-term resilience of city planning.
Introduction Part 1: Planning, Urban Design, and Condominiums in Toronto 1 Planning and the Tools of Design Governance 2 The Central Area Plan and Reformist Planning and Urban Design 3 Urban Intensification, Flexible Planning, and Vertical Urbanization 4 "Condo-ism" and the Impacts of Vertical Urbanization Part 2: Designing and Developing the CityPlace Megaproject 5 Visions for Toronto's Railway Lands 6 "Vancouverism" in Toronto 7 The Condominium Megastructure 8 CityPlace and the Affordable Housing Conundrum 9 A Tale of Two Halves on the Wittington Blocks 10 Completing CityPlace Conclusion Appendix: Railway Lands/CityPlace Planning, Design, and Development Timeline Notes; References; Index