Map identifying areas of high potential / priority for Tower Neighbourhood Renewal. Click on image for additional mapping.
As part of the ongoing to work to re-examining zoning in Apartment Neighbourhoods, a series of maps have been developed to identify trends, patterns and areas of high impact in phasing the implementation of the new RAC apartment zone. The RAC zone is a new set of policies to provide tools and opportunities as part of the larger initiative of Tower Neighbourhood Renewal.
Building from mapping conducted for the report Tower Neighbourhood Renewal in the Greater Golden Horsehoe, maps complied here show the distribution of towers throughout the City; where towers congregate into large clusters forming tower neighbourhoods; and where these large tower neighbourhoods experience high incidence of social need.
As illustrated through these maps, significant clusters of towers, many within high areas of social need are found throughout the city. This pattern gives Toronto a regional and suburban form unique to North America. It also presents unique challenges and opportunities for our high-rise suburban neighbourhoods that require new approaches, new policies and new ways of thinking to supports vitality, opportunity and inclusiveness in Toronto’s aging vertical neighbourhoods.
This process of mapping has identified the largest of Toronto’s tower clusters, with perhaps the greatest potential and priority for strategies of Tower Neighbourhood Renewal. The size of small cities in their own right, each of these Tower communities has the potential to evolve into diverse mixed-use hubs, supporting the new institutions, social amenities, housing mix, green infrastructures and connections to enable a healthy, sustainable and resilient Toronto at the local and regional scale.
The RAC zone is an initial, yet key step toward Tower Renewal, currently in the process of being implemented by the City of Toronto. Allowing a wide mix of uses focused on neighbourhood livability and community health, the RAC zone is a first step in realizing new food markets, shops, small business, community infrastructures and institutions currently prohibited by current zoning in most of Toronto’s Apartment communities. To kickstart these opportunities, demonstration projects by partners such as United Way Toronto and Toronto Public Health, among others, are being developed for neighbourhoods throughout the City, to be rolled out following RAC approval.
With implementation slated for this year, a series of public meetings are planned to be held this spring. Information regarding time and location will be posted as soon as these events are scheduled. Have your voice heard about the future of Toronto and its vertical neighbourhoods.
For more mapping of Towers in the Toronto region, see:
Tower Neighbourhood Renewal in the Greater Golden Horseshoe
Toward Healthy Apartment Neighbourhoods