Urban development – Theories and impacts of city growth and development

Urban development – Theories and impacts of city growth and development

By Rob Cottignies for Whalerjack

Expansion, growth and development is baked into our DNA as human beings. If we are not progressing we see ourselves as stagnant, stale and dull. Whether it be personal, communal or even inanimate growth; birth, life and death is a cycle replicated all around us every day, this cycle is the clock that alerts us to the passing of time. When we think about personal growth and development the parameters and variables are somewhat limited and fixed, usually by time, availability and inherent foundation-level ability. However, when we think about the scope of city development, how should we approach the necessary expansion and growth that inevitably arrives as we grow within its’ current limitations?

As a species we have always congregated together in cities and that trend is set to continue and form several ‘super cities’ by 2025 of over 10 million. (Source : https://www.thinglink.com/scene/629117572817616896)

   Wikipedia defines Urban planning as; “a technical and political process concerned with the development and use of land, planning permission, protection and use of the environment, public welfare and the design of the urban environment, including air, water, and the infrastructure passing into and out of urban areas, such as transportation, communications and distribution networks”. Although this is a brief overview of what planning city development can entail, it gives us some idea of just how broad and all encompassing the task can become. To be responsible for how all those affected will live their daily lives and their access to services will manifest, could easily become overwhelming. It requires a sense of scope, human psyche and behavioral knowledge that one imagines few possess. Urban planners also consult with architects, landscapers and engineers to reach strategic, policy and sustainability goals. Although urban planners now go through their own training and education specialties to qualify, they must still consult with these individual experts to encompass the best of all worlds.

An illustration showing the many interactions involved in assessing town/urban planning decision making and policy.  (Source: https://www.slideshare.net/ctlachu/introduction-to-town-planning)

Although there is evidence to suggest urban planning and community design took place as far back as 3000BC, it was believed to be the Romans, following on from the Greeks, who really implemented grid pattern planning in their cities. The Romans admittedly implemented city planning primarily for military defence and public convenience, however as their empire spread, so did the scope of city planning. As the Roman empire waned, a lot of these practices went the same way. Preconceived planning decisions were observed in many European cities between the 12th and 14th centuries, but it was from the 15th century onward, that urban design and those involved was consistently recorded.

The arrival of industrialized cities in the 19th century meant that rates of growth exponentially increased, prioritizing the concerns of private business rather than inhabitants. Issues surrounding urban life for the working poor increasingly became a concern for the general public. A new wave of Liberalism, promoting the importance of the poor and disadvantaged, led to theorists developing urban planning models to mitigate the consequences of the industrial age, by providing citizens with healthier environments. Urban planning became more organized and professionalized during this time, with the Town and Country Planning Association being founded in 1899 and the first academic course being offered by the University of Liverpool in 1909.

An infographic comparing day and night populations of the city of New York. The drastic swing would also need to be a consideration for urban planners against infrastructure.
(Source: https://rampages.us/urbansociologysocy625/2015/09/)

The resulting rise of professionalised urban planning services has allowed us to better coordinate multiple services, industries and infrastructure requirements, within growing communities, to effectively and efficiently answer problems of growth, as and when they occur. Although this has undoubtedly streamlined the process of growth and renewal for developing cities, as was intended through legislation and policy, it has also caused issues relating to over-simplification and creating areas of sterility within cities and communities. The need to create an over-arching policy system to standardize development, has led to some of the intricacies and foibles of community life being shelved or de-prioritised in the name of growth. This has led to protests and occasional uprisings of neighborhoods against the apparently desensitized, centralized system, which can forget the users at ground level. One great example of this was Jane Jacobs, who became a neighbourhood martyr of sorts, for opposing the system and calling into question the policies established to standardize urban planning and development.

Jane Jacobs: A case study in countering past traditional urban development

During the 1960’s a landmark case became a very public battle about the institutionally accepted methods of urban renewal and development of Lower Manhatten. At this time, Robert Moses was a respected public official who simultaneously held 12 titles of office and was considered the “master builder” of mid 20th century New York City. His belief that cities were nothing without a steady flow of traffic led to the creation of the modern suburbs of Long Island and influenced a generation of engineers, architects and urban planners.

(Source: http://www.azquotes.com/author/7295-Jane_Jacobs)

Her hypothesis was built on the idea that cities should be built ‘by’ the people not ‘for’ the people. What she surmised by this was that the best way to plan a city was to observe how people use it today, presently. Looking at its’ functional strengths with a view to exploiting and reinforcing them. She suggested logic cannot be superimposed on a city, people make the city, and it should be to them, not the buildings, that a plan should be formulated. During a time when urban planning was trying to simplify and distil urban development and renewal to individual construction solutions, Jacobs was highlighting the structure of functional cities as being far more expansive, like a complex ecosystem.

She wrote that; “seeing complex systems of functional order, as order, and not as chaos, takes understanding. All these systems would be seen as chaotic without comprehension, but once seen as systems of order, they do in fact look different to the viewer”. This was built on the belief that great neighborhoods establish from the bottom up, when thousands of different actors (inhabitants) spontaneously come together, in an uncoordinated but meaningful way, to create the personality of individual neighborhoods. This was not planned, but was much more a question of organized complexity. This went against the grain at the time, when the very forms of urbanism she was extolling, were the very things that urban renewalists sought to destroy.

An example of the exact flyers prepared by Jane Jacobs to counter the modernist planning approach which impacted her neighborhood of New York.  (Source: http://www.preservationsacramento.org/jane-jacobs/)

The problem was that post war urban planning was not concerned with the way people actually used cities, but the way that they should use them, concentrated on the utopian and the ideal. This was the central ideology that Jacobs stood against. The ideology of Le Corbusier and modernists after him was still the central tenant of urban planners; of clean, segregated, isolated and efficient functionality. Separating residential, commercial and recreational was seen as visionary and forward thinking to increase efficiency. However, in implementation these methods had been shown to actually create more problems than they solved. Communities became far more fragmented and crime actually became more of an issue in the new, modernist developments, than in the dilapidated housing they replaced. Jacobs won her localized battle and went on to write verhemently on the subject of urban planning, causing questions to be raised, and policy to be amended. We may still plan cities in a similar vein, but thanks to Jacobs and others like her, considerations of community and personal use are now a much higher priority than they were before her.

Looking to the future of cities: Masdar, Songdo and beyond..

Cities constructed in the last 20-30 years adhered to the guidelines established in the preceding half century. These parameters were built on an automobile friendly, energy inefficient system, that can no longer be considered progressive or sustainable, and was likely 20 years out of date when applied. To say that we must stop building cities because they are wasteful and uncoordinated is foolhardy. We need cities. They are the beacons of human civilization and the centres of achievement and invention for our species. Also, with an ever-burgeoning population, the birth and growth of cities is an inevitable by-product of our development.

Photographs comparing development of the main strip of Dubai in just 13 years. There has been a huge amount of further development in the 14 years since the second photo as well.  (Source: http://www.boredee.com/rare-pictures-of-uae.html#.WYkYsMbMyCQ)

Pioneering case studies and alternative methodologies are being deployed throughout the globe to find the best strategies and implementations to allow for sustainable city growth and urban renewal, but as with so many arguments involving the human condition, it is a race against time due to irresponsible finite resource management.

Two examples of these pioneering case studies are currently constructed in Dubai and South Korea. The cities of Masdar and Songdo implement a combination of old-school energy saving technologies, and cutting edge scientific methodologies. Masdar was initially created to prove against the backdrop of Dubai, just next door geographically, that these methods and technologies could improve quality of life and reduce our ecological impact simultaneously, even in the harshest of environments.

Masdar is a city created in partnership with Foster architects and the Abu Dhabi government, to combine state-of-the-art technologies with traditional Arab settlement principles. The goal is to further the advancement of renewable energy sources, waste reduction and clean technologies for a life beyond oil, when the finite resource inevitably runs out. The city itself will be the first modern community in the world to operate without fossil-fuelled vehicles at street level. With a maximum distance of 200 metres to the nearest rapid transport links and amenities, the city is designed to encourage pedestrianism, along with the shaded streets and courtyards (provided through close proximity building design principles), which reduce climactic extremes and uncomfortable environments.

Further information on the development can be found on the fosterandpartners website. The city is still in the early stages of implementation and functioning well, but the biggest challenge is encouraging people to move away from Dubai to live there. Populating the city has been a surprisingly difficult challenge for the local government, which circles back around to illustrating how human behavior is also such an important facet of any urban planning intentions.

Aerial photograph of the city of Masdar, developed and designed in conjunction with Foster architects, uses many pioneering technologies to reduce human impact in the area.
(Source: http://www.fosterandpartners.com/projects/masdar-development/)

Another high profile example of pioneering city development at this point would be Songdo, a new smart city constructed on 1,500 acres of reclaimed land, 65 kilometers South West of Seoul in South Korea. The largest private real estate development in history, Songdo was planned to contain 80,000 apartments, 50,000,000 sq ft of office space and 10,000,000 sq ft of retail space. However, much like Masdar, despite state-of-the-art technologies implemented throughout, and incentives to encourage businesses to move from Seoul, the struggle continues to entice retailers and residents to relocate to Songdo.

Though not yet completed, Songdo is home to 106 LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified buildings that fall under 22 million sq ft of LEED-certified space. It also utilizes a pneumatic waste disposal system which negates the need for garbage cans on street corners of trucks of any kind. Underground pipes suck the garbage to a centralized sorting and processing plant that automatically recycles waste. It remains to be seen whether this smart city of the future can entice residents and retail, but the building blocks for an environmentally conscious, forward-thinking city have been laid.

As we look toward the future of our species and how we will grow our population and our cities responsibly and safely, the centralized theme seems likely to be integration. We must all recognize that our symbiotic impact on the environment has be the utmost priority in expanding urbanized areas of the future. As a result of this, finding a way to bring together so many individual elements of mitigation is going to be the key to advancing city development and human expansion going forward. The list of required technologies will include renewable energy sources, infrastructure overhauls, smart lighting and communication systems and a host of waste processing and recycling initiatives, as well as considered construction and redevelopment. All these improvements to environmental impacts will have to be balanced against the forming and maintaining of communities, and the movement and comfort of residents. Jane Jacobs was right. Cities should be built by the people, not for the people.

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Reference and Sources:

“Urban planning” www.wikipedia.com  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_planning

“Positive and Negative effects of an urban development”  http://peopleof.oureverydaylife.com http://peopleof.oureverydaylife.com/positive-negative-effects-urban-development-9619.html

“Learning from Jane Jacobs, who saw today’s city yesterday”  www.nytimes.com  https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/20/nyregion/jane-jacobs-citizen-jane-film.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FJacobs%2C%20Jane

“The article that made Jane Jacobs a superstar” www.cityclock.org http://www.cityclock.org/jane-jacobs-influence-on-modern-urban-planning/#.WZtHT60ZOt9

“Robert Moses”  www.wikipedia.com  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Moses

“How Jane Jacobs changed the way we look at cities”  www.theguardian.com https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/may/04/jane-jacobs-100th-birthday-saskia-sassen

“Robert Moses vs Jane Jacobs”  www.fastcodesign.com https://www.fastcodesign.com/3029308/robert-moses-vs-jane-jacobs-a-saga-fit-for-the-opera

“Masdar development”  www.fosterandpartners.com http://www.fosterandpartners.com/projects/masdar-development/

“Looking at smart cities of the future”  www.wired.com
https://www.wired.com/2015/09/design-issue-future-of-cities/

“Citizen Jane: Battle for the city”  Documentary released 2016 by Matt Tyrnauer

Canadian Urban Agriculture: Farming Inside City Limits

A Brief History Of The Rise And Fall of Urban Farming:  From Ancient City-States to Modern Toronto

By Rob Cottignies

An example of Egyptian Urban Agriculture with accompanying hieroglyphics. (www.hoerrschaudt.com)

   Which come first, the chicken, the egg, the farm or the farmer?  Urban Agriculture is defined as: “the growing of plants and trees and rearing of livestock within or on the fringe of cities” (De Zeeuw et al., 2011). Urban agriculture and animal husbandry on private property within city limits, has been around almost as long as we have had cities in which to reside. Going all the way back to the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia, many cities were originally established in areas with highly productive soil, due to a need of access to crops. The lack of a sophisticated transportation system or refrigeration meant that people were forced to live and farm within the city.

Community garden South of the CN Tower in downtown Toronto. (www.greenfusestock.photoshelter.com)

   For thousands of years, cities and agriculture coexisted. In Canada, this close relationship between people and food would dramatically change post industrial revolution. It has seen a rise and fall, an industrial expansion and in recent culture, a reemergence due to societal priority shifts towards natural and sustainable products. To many, the negative connotations of keeping farm animals within city limits are eminently clear, while to others, the positives outweigh these concerns, which has seen an underground resurgence in the practice. In Toronto this resurgence is despite Bylaw 349, which actually forbids the ownership of chickens, and imposes a $240 fine per animal if not removed. Should the animals not be evacuated by the owners, then they are removed and destroyed by (by-law) officers.

An example of 15th century medieval urban agriculture (courtesy of www.wideurbanworld.ca)

    Residents of Ontario can trace their history of animal husbandry and urban farming to the British. In the late 1700’s after channeling loyalists into the lower Great Lakes, they promoted private agriculture of grains and vegetables, primarily for subsistence. This promotion involved financial incentives to those that cleared and fenced their land, but the lack of major trade markets kept the area in a state of self-sufficiency rather than export-level production. However, for almost 6 decades from 1800 onward, it was wheat production that dominated the region (Dick, Lyle & Taylor, Jeff).

     It was not until 1850/60, largely due to the Reciprocity Treaty with the US, that Ontario agriculture really diversified, pushing into cheese, dairy, wool and livestock export (Dick, Lyle & Taylor, Jeff). This was followed, in time, by the industrial revolution, which brought extensive transportation networks, economic growth and prosperity. This in turn brought more people to the cities to work in factories and participate in industrial progress. The increasing population and size of the cities eventually led to dense development patterns with little to no green space, leaving the vast majority of people separated from food production, which then moved to the outskirts of the city. This new, denser, urban population of the late 1800’s, early 1900’s, began to view Urban Agriculture not as a necessity, but as a nuisance.

     This divorce of urbanites from agriculture continued until the first and second world wars. At this point, although Canada was not as largely affected, wartime blockades increased the threat of starvation to many, and pushed citizens to increase domestic food production. However, once the wars were over, urban agriculture actually declined again, mainly due to negative associations with wartime austerity, contrasted against post-war prosperity. The ability to disassociate from our food sources has allowed agriculture to churn out produce on a massive industrial scale, keeping food cheap and accessible.

Photo of intensive soy bean farming in Brazil. An example of the huge, industrialized agriculture industry, that is both global and energy intensive.

     However, urbanites decreased connection to personal food systems, and reliance on external sources means that systems are becoming ever-more vulnerable to food insecurity. Among many contributors to this are peak oil, climate change and monopolistic corporations. This industrialized food system, as it stands, doesn’t necessarily place human health high on the agenda and is promoted as being supremely efficient. However, when the associated costs of this food are examined, a number of inefficiencies, such as chronic and widespread obesity, water treatment costs and disease-spread management costs, openly present themselves. Food has been deceptively cheap for a long time, but rising energy prices and poor land use have led to increased volatility in food prices.

     As a result of several of these issues combining into a ‘perfect storm’ and a general raising of public ethical consciousness through social media and diffuse news sources, people are beginning to realize this mechanized food production and distribution is not sustainable. Alternatively a community food program provides a “system that ensures secure access to adequate amounts of safe, nutritious, sustainably produced food, that is also provided in a manner that promotes human dignity” (Desjardins et al., 2002, p. 2).

     Due to escalating grocery costs as a result of climbing fuel prices and logistical issues, enthusiasm for urban farming appears very much on the rise. This has led to more and more people looking to grow sustainable vegetables and rear chickens, bees and goats on their property. Keeping chickens has become a primary focus for most urban farming enthusiasts. The benefits to owners of fresh eggs and potentially meat are obvious in terms of food security, but to many, the attachment goes beyond, into family and pet ties. 

The resurgence of keeping chickens in both city centre and suburban gardens has led to all-in-one solutions such as Omlet’s Eglu Cube, which is a practical complete package for up to 10 chickens for around $1000.

     Obviously, in terms of plant-based agriculture, there are very few limits on what people can grow. However, Toronto city council still frowns upon the idea of animal husbandry and there are city bylaws that prohibit the ownership of backyard chickens within city limits. Despite a number of areas like Vancouver, Victoria, Surrey, Montreal and Brampton legally allowing the practice, Toronto, Ottawa, Calgary and Winnipeg still forbid it, citing biosecurity and potential bird flu epidemics. It wasn’t until 1987 that the bylaw actually came into force in Toronto, at which point, the predominantly Italian and Portuguese neighbourhoods that were keeping chickens, were forced to hide them in basements and concealed sheds etc, to evade detection.

     In the years since the Bylaw came into effect, policing the practice has relaxed with the passing of time. Present day enforcement works almost exclusively on a complaints basis, which has in part, been a reason for the renaissance in keeping fowl. Even the US-based Rent-A-Chicken business now supplies to Toronto, as enforcement is seen as less of an issue than ever. As recently as 2012, city council voted to uphold Bylaw 349, citing noise and unsanitary conditions. However, provided new owners consult with their neighbours beforehand and ensure issues are brought to their attention first, many owners are happily keeping their chickens within city limits. This system commonly results in the neighbours being provided with ‘hush eggs’ in exchange for their silence.

This map illustrates areas of Canada that have permitted backyard chicken schemes in place.  Provided by: http://madinthehat.blogspot.ca/2014/06/18-canadian-food-maps-charts.html

     Keeping Bees in the city is not prohibited, but hives are to be kept a minimum of 30m from any property lines. Again, as with chickens, the enforcement process is almost entirely complaints-driven, so pre-ownership consultation with neighbours is a must. The payoff for keeping bees is even more extensive than chickens, as the number of products that can be made using honey is exhaustive. An additional benefit to bee-keeping at this point is a societal one. It has been much publicized that global bee populations are on the decrease and the detrimental results for humans have been highlighted, given bees’ ability to pollenate crops. However, bee-keeping is not as accessible as chickens and requires more specialized knowledge, so although increasing, the hobby hasn’t seen the same rise in interest as urban chickens.

An example of urban bee-keeping in Seattle. The practice has also seen a significant uptake in the last 5-10 years, but is generally less accessible than chicken keeping.

     For many, the re-growth of urban farming creates a renewed sense of community in city environments. Projects in areas that allow backyard chickens have proven that it’s not just the fresh eggs that neighbours love about the chickens, it’s the connection they had with them. They become a talking point, a continuous discussion between enthusiasts, creating a dialogue around food and community health. Present day urban farmers want to combine the benefits of the city with the advantages of country life. They want to be connected to their food source, while also enjoying the renewed sense of community the practice yields. Also, with the environmentally conscious movement in full swing, keeping chickens at home can be balanced against driving to the store, packaging waste and treatment of the animals themselves in densely packed farms.

     Not that Ontario is currently suffering from a lack of food security, but perhaps with regulation and clear guidance from the provincial authority, urban agriculture could once again thrive in downtown Toronto, and the population could benefit both from a communal perspective and a health perspective. A new urban bartering economy could materialize, where people can trade eggs for milk, meat for honey and a host of other produce borne of the new urban agriculture scene, and all the while with guaranteed origins and natural growth. Through nurturing of community gardens which are spreading, and regulation of urban animal husbandry, localized governments could be part of a new era of natural, organic food sourcing within urban areas.

     “Strengthening local and regional food systems offers a pathway toward achieving equitable and energy-efficient food production and distribution… promising approaches include… the encouragement of urban and peri-urban agriculture, an increasingly important component of food security in many countries” (Ishii-Eiteman, 2009, p. 223).

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Works Cited and Other Resources:

Striepe, Becky. “Backyard Chickens. The Untold Story”
www.eatdrinkbetter.com, https://eatdrinkbetter.com/2013/07/15/backyard-chickens-the-untold-story/

Omlet, “Eglu Cube Chicken Coop”
www.omlet.us, https://www.omlet.us/shop/chicken_keeping/eglu_cube/

Yu, Andrea. “Urban farmers in Toronto flout regulations to raise bees and chickens”
www.postcity.com, http://www.postcity.com/Eat-Shop-Do/Eat/May-2016/Urban-farmers-in-Toronto-flout-regulations-to-raise-bees-and-chickens/

“City of Toronto Bylaw 349”
www.torontochickens.com, http://torontochickens.com/city-of-toronto-bylaw/

Deschamps, Tara. “Rent the Chicken runs a-fowl of Toronto bylaw”
www.thestar.com, https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/04/07/rent-the-chicken-runs-a-fowl-of-toronto-bylaw.html

Smith, Michael E. “Aztec Urban Agriculture” www.wideurbanworld.blogspot.ca, http://wideurbanworld.blogspot.ca/2011/11/aztec-urban-agriculture.html

“Urban Agriculture: Livestock and Poultry” www.omafra.gov.on.ca, http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/livestock/urbanagricul.html

“Raising Livestock and Poultry” www.omafra.gov.on.ca, http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/livestock/urbanagbib/raisinglivestockandpoultry.html

Hayward, Jackie. “Chicken and Egg: The Evolution of City Chickens and Urban Livestock” www.chefsblade.monster.com, http://chefsblade.monster.com/news/articles/1739-chicken-and-egg-the-evolution-of-city-chickens-and-urban-livestock?page=3

Dick, Lyle & Taylor, Jeff. “History of Agriculture to the Second World War”
www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca, http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/history-of-agriculture/

“Urban Agriculture”
www.en.wikipedia.org, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_agriculture

Hill, Edward. “The Benefits and Costs of the Green Revolution”
www.trunity.com, http://www.trunity.net/sam2/view/article/51cbf44f7896bb431f6af545/

Honest Ed’s – The End of a Cultural Icon

By Rob Cottignies - March 2017

‘The writing is on the wall for Ed’s store just before the closure party’

     Very few things in Torontonian culture shone as brightly, or resonated as deeply, as the 23,000 lights on the corner of Bloor and Bathurst did… It is the very epitome of a structure developing a soul. An emotional connection formed with it’s most frequent visitors and the wider public. Many architects would likely trade their entire portfolio of work, for just one project having the kind of affection and sentimentality that Honest Ed’s triggers, both in the hearts and minds of Torontonians across the city, despite it’s uneventful design.

None would argue that the building has any particular architectural merit, aesthetically or otherwise, beyond it’s gaudy but loveable façade. However, it was the use and intention behind the immense structure that gave the building and the location, the character that so many are afraid to lose. As is so often the case with buildings themselves, it was the occupation, use and flow of the space, and the character of the users that created the ‘aura’ of Honest Ed’s.

‘No longer will the corner of Bathurst & Bloor glow with the same fervor of a travelling circus’

     In terms of functionality, an incalculable number of working class and immigrant families (much like the owner, Mr Mirvish, before them), fulfilled their daily needs with the bargains found in the store. The upward mobility and growth of so many families were tied inextricably to the accomplishments of the establishment. Despite fantastic profits for years and by-proxy, the gradual enrichment of the Mirvish family, Ed’s was famous for its’ ability to identify with the visiting bargain finders. It was the marketing stunts and events, such as Ed’s birthday event and annual turkey giveaway that endeared him to the regulars so vehemently.

     The corner of Bloor and Bathurst became an icon over the decades it grew and changed, seemingly breathing and morphing with its’ surroundings. The store itself has also been featured as a setting or backdrop for many artistic endeavours. Having been featured as a fight location in the original comic ‘Scott Pilgrim’, it was given the theatrical nod by being included in the background, when the 2010 film adaptation was released.  It was also featured in other movies and TV shows and even a music video for Toronto singer Jenny Mayhem. Perhaps most interesting, as it relates to the ‘aura’ of Ed’s though, was the 2-month-long art installation in 2009 by Iris Haussler. Entitled ‘Honest Threads’, it essentially loaned clothes provided by Torontonians, to simulate both literally and psychologically the experience of “walking in someone elses shoes”. An extrapolation of the ‘integrity’ theme established by Ed Mirvish at Honest Ed’s, this installation was incredibly popular and thought provoking for participants.

     The store that had been a free market, capitalistic powerhouse for almost 2 decades from 1970 to 1990, began to enter decline, 4 years before Walmart came to Canada in 1994. It was the arrival of these big box stores, internet shopping and the dispersion of the working and immigrant classes to the inner suburbs that combined to sound the death knell for Honest Ed’s. Despite never showing a loss in 30 plus years of trading, the writing was on the wall for the store, as the staff declined from 400 to 75 to meet budget cuts. The final blow was delivered by Ed’s son, David, who, lacking the same passion for retail, saw the stores closure and site sale, as essentially cutting losses (‘Honest Ed’s 1948-2016’ by Globe and Mail).

‘The façade never screamed minimalism or thoughtful development’

     Interestingly, the demise of Honest Ed’s, parallels the general gentrification and development of the urban areas of Toronto, from the mid sixties/early 70’s to present day. The store was erected during an era of rough streets and pungent air in downtown Toronto, where street gangs were prevalent and bookies ever-present. The years have been kind to this neighbourhood of the city. Today you’re far more likely to see a barista than a bookmaker. Although it still might not be considered one of the most regenerated parts of downtown, it undeniably benefitted from this gentrification during the last 20-30 years.

‘This map taken from an article in the Toronto star shows gentrification of the GTA in the last decade. Darker red indicates a higher percentage gain in annual household income’

     Nowhere could this be seen more clearly, than in the plans presented for the redevelopment of the 100 million dollar site. The majority will be residential condos, with new pedestrian walkways and a woonerf on Markham Street, open green spaces and of course, inevitably there will be retail (scaled to match existing shopfronts on Bloor)… But no doubt far more sterile than the incandescent circus that was Honest Ed’s..

‘In this image taken from the developers Sketchup model, one might consider the scale of the development relative to its’ surroundings, excessive, despite reducing it several times (as seen on the developments Planning application).

     To their credit, the developers of the Mirvish Village site have tried to incorporate a lot of the principles that the community has cultivated in the last 3 to 4 decades. The 800 plus condos will apparently all be rental units, to address the urgent shortage of rental housing, while also supplying small studio spaces and live/work spaces, to continue accommodating artists and small business entrepreneurs that occupied Mirvish Village beforehand. Beyond the internal space allocations, externally a lot of thought has gone into community use and growth as well. The extensive green space and parks will provide urban pastoral environments for occupants and the wider public, while also incorporating widened sidewalks to Bloor and Bathurst, and a covered public plaza on the iconic corner of Bloor and Bathurst itself.

‘The contradictory nature of progression and change’

     The new development will undoubtedly bring increased foot traffic to the area, simply by virtue of it’s thousands of new tenants, which could, in turn, provide increased income to existing commercial properties in the vicinity. It could also theoretically give birth to a new community centralized within the new residential towers. But many feel that the loss of Ed’s, is a loss of integrity, a loss of community and a selling out of the ideals and brand that Ed Mirvish established decades ago. Only time will tell whether the new development can ‘give back’ to the area in the same way many perceived Honest Ed’s to have done, but change is inevitable, and realistically the developers have done their best to maximize the public usability of the proposals put forward..

‘The people of Toronto will miss you Honest Ed’…

Renaissance & Baroque Town Planning:

Florence’s Piazza Annunziata and Wren’s Plan for Post Fire London

By Anthony Morassutti

Awareness of town planning in the epochs of the Renaissance and, later, the Baroque period of architecture in Europe was emergent. Borne from the medieval castle-centric hodge-podge of unplanned towns, whose randomness seems more a product of complacence and self-preservation than of civic order and pride, town planning emerges as a doctrine that “aim[ed] at cohesive and unified composition.” (Moughtin 63) Florence’s Piazza Annunziata and Christopher Wren’s Plan for Post-Fire London are two examples of Renaissance and Baroque town planning, respectively, which will be examined to illustrate the developments present during these periods in the history of urban design.

Built during the 15th Century in the city-state of Florence, the Piazza Annunziata  is a remarkable example of setting public and commercial buildings in an urban environment to create an open-air civic area. The resulting Piazza is a concept that is still reflected in modern Urban Planning, exemplified in Toronto by examples such as such as Toronto’s Nathan Philips Square and Dundas Square. The buildings that create the Piazza were erected at different times during Florence’s

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Guest Blog by Ciaran Quigley

Old buildings can often outlive their original purposes, creative re‐use describes the process which adapts an existing building for a new use, whilst attempting to retain the creditable features or feelings that the building may possess. When separated the two words have their own very unique meanings, Creative is defined as having the initiative or imagination to create original ideas. Re‐use on the other hand, can be defined as to use again especially after salvaging, special treatment or processing. When put into context, the term has a definite architectural meaning, the process of using a building again, salvaging the features that have merit and having the ability to use your imagination to create new features, which not only work with the existing building but bring the building back to life. 

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The Building of Union Station Part 1 -

Written by Marek Lewandowski

Out of all the feats of architecture in Toronto few are as majestic and storied as Union Station. Not only does the building serve the largest commuter population in Canada, it occupies a central place in Toronto’s psyche and architectural legacy. But this wasn’t always the way.

As Toronto tried to overtake its big brother Montreal as the trade center of Canada, two Great Fires greatly impacted the way the city developed geographically and architecturally. The first Great Fire started in April of 1849 and burned down most of what at the time was the downtown core. The fire encompassed the original St.James Cathedral and the St.Lawrence Market north building.

The massive and near total destruction of the existing downtown area in essence moved the core west from Jarvis and Sherbourne toward Yonge and Bay Streets. The buildings which burned down were primarily made of wood, so in response the city changed building codes to prevent future losses of this magnitude.1

Despite measures to construct buildings out of brick and steel after the first Great Fire, the downtown core burned again half a century later. In 1904, the second Great Fire ravaged the expanding city.

Figure 1 - Front Street looking west. Destroyed by fire. Courtesy Toronto Archives

In the words of D.W. Shorter who surveyed the scene for The National Research Council:

"All was quiet in the heart of Toronto's mercantile area. Few people were on the streets as almost all the buildings in the area had been closed since 6 p.m. At 8:04 p.m., a police constable patrolling his beat in the area saw flames shooting skyward from the elevator shaft of the Currie Building, 58 Wellington St. and immediately turned in an alarm. Before the resulting conflagration was extinguished, it would destroy approximately 100 buildings, causing a property loss of $10,350,000. 2

One of the structures which fared well during the fire was the original Union Station.

Initially built in 1858 by the Grand Trunk Railway to connect Montreal and Toronto, the station was essentially three train sheds. Companies like The Northern Railway of Canada and The Great Western Railway later added their own stations along the Toronto waterfront.

As train traffic increased and Grand Trunk absorbed some smaller competitors, the volume overwhelmed the existing structure. The station was finally rebuilt and re-opened in 1873, and furthered its claim as the centre of Toronto’s mercantile engine. Designed in the Italianate/2nd Empire style by architect Thomas Seaton Scott, the station still faced the harbour highlighting the cities continued reliance on sea trade. 2

In 1884, the arrival of the Canadian Pacific Railway pushed the facility to the limit and the station was expanded again to include a new 7-story office building on Front Street, built of red brick and Credit Valley stone. 2 Designed in the Romanesque style by the Toronto architectural firm of Strickland & Symons the distinctive building stood beside the current Union Station until 1931 when it was torn down, four years after the new station was opened.

Figure 2 - Old Union Station defined the turn of the Century Toronto skyline. Courtesy Wikipedia Commons.

Figure 3 - Old Union Station in 1913 - A majestic building but still a struggle to keep up with rising volume. Courtesy Wikimedia Commons

In the spring 0f 1904, the future of Union Station changed forever as a large plot of land just east of the existing station burned completely. The Grand Trunk Railway stepped into the void and appropriated the site with the intention of expanding the existing buildings.

Unfortunately, the company and government couldn’t agree on many key issues including how the new tracks would flow through the station or even the design. It took until 1915 before construction began on the modern Union Station.

Eventually, they decided on the building design by the Montreal architecture firm of Ross and Macdonald, with assistance from the CPR's architect Hugh Johnes, as well as Toronto architect John M. Lyle. 4

In a formidable example of Beaux Arts railway station design, the new building was finally completed in 1927 and would come to symbalize the epitome of form and function, and cementing Toronto as the upwardly mobile capital of Canada’s economy.

Figure 4 - Modern Union Station at night. Courtesy Duncan Rawlinson

In Part 2, we will look at the architectural features of the modern Union Station. How has the building fared since its conception almost a century ago? Further, we will see what the city has planned for its latest and current renovation.

References

1. http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/toronto/archive/2008/08/21/back-story-burning-questions-about-toronto-s-great-fires.aspx

2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Original_Union_Station_(Toronto)

3. http://www.toronto.ca/union_station/oldus.htm

4. http://www.toronto.ca/union_station/history.htm#constructing

http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/english/on-line-exhibits/fire/index.aspx

Article on...Ideology in Architecture

Arts & Crafts Movement

   Developing largely as a reaction to the Industrial Revolution, the Arts and Crafts movement addressed the crisis in the Fine and Decorative Arts, created by the mechanization of industry.  This movement fittingly developed first in Britain, also the seat of the Industrial Revolution.  Although industrialization in the 18th century created massive economic growth, it was also the catalyst for significant shifts in moral and social attitudes, not the least of which were reflected in a parallel between the growing progress achieved within production techniques and in an unfortunate disregard for the ideals of artisan-oriented architecture and crafts.  Handmade products were fundamentally excused in the 1850’s and 1860’s to make way for cheaper, more modular constructions of iron, lightweight wood, and glass.  In response to the changing market attitudes, the fathers of the Arts and Crafts movement  presented an alternative to the massed produced wares that now flooded markets.  In her book The Arts and Crafts Movement,  Naylor writes, “(t)heir endeavors were directed, ultimately, towards a social end, the establishment of a society in which all men would enjoy the freedom to be creative” (7).  The Arts and Crafts movement stood in opposition to the wake of the Industrial Revolution, pitting moral against material, dogma against inspiration, machine against the human hand, and the industrial elite against the craftsman.  

     A short cast of influential thinkers, design philosophers, and artisans led the ideological reform of the Arts and Crafts movement. One of the initial theorists to espouse these principles was Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin, (1812-1852) who published his True Principles of Christian Architecture  in 1836, which was to become a major part of the basis for the fundamental beliefs of the Arts and Crafts movement.  Pugin advocated that all ornament should be “appropriate and significant” and that décor should never be allowed to conceal “the real purpose for which the article had been made” (15 Naylor).  His overarching concern for design principles in lieu of industrial standards made him a pioneer of the Arts and Crafts movement (see Appendix 1).  

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Article on ....William G. Storm

William G. Storm

William George Storm has had a profound and lasting influence on architecture in Toronto.  Storm’s buildings, designed both with Frederick Cumberland and on his own, stand as triumphs of design in an age when Toronto sought to develop its place as a city among the great cities of the world.  Architecture that represents a cross section of architectural styles and building types were constructed to plans conceived of by William Storm during his remarkable career.  St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church looms over the corner of King and Simcoe Streets as though it were a great anchor keeping the sleek and flimsy looking skyscrapers from blowing away into Lake Ontario.  Victoria College is an architectural masterpiece which delights and intrigues with each subsequent visit.  The William E. Dunn Building on Spadina speaks to Storm’s ability to design for practicality and industry.  One can juxtapose his design of the Sackville Street School that he did with simple practicality and humble materials with his renovation of Osgoode Hall, a grandiose Classical Revival building that spared no expense or detail.  In reviewing William Storm’s body of work, it becomes readily apparent that he was an architect who possessed an incredible range of design ability.   

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An Essay On....Exploring Western Architecture

Richard Neutra

The architectural styles of Western Europe and North America have evolved over centuries of cross-pollination of cultural progeny, each generation of architect reliant on the former for cues as to its bearings, for better or for worse, stretching back millennia.  The Modernist movement in architecture had within its ranks a superfluity of talented iconoclasts whom revised architectural history to suit the ideology of the bold new Modern designers of Europe, such as: Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe, and Walter Gropius, to name a few.  Western architects of the 1920’s and 30’s saw a boon in their proliferation of this new style of modular construction, that promoted no ornament, and destined  the style to environments across the world, provoking the title ‘International Style’ .  By doing so, this style of architecture transcended regional pigeonholing and embraced the vast disparities between regional terrains, clients, national values, and civic identities. 

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