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I’m fond of saying that the best-conceived plan for managing growth and development in North America is the Places to Grow
framework adopted by the province of Ontario, Canada. Constructed
pursuant to enabling legislation adopted by the province in 2005, Places to Grow
addresses the future of a New Hampshire-sized region around and
including Toronto, Canada’s largest city, and Hamilton, its
8th-largest. Called the “Greater Golden Horseshoe” for its bending
shape around the western edge of Lake Ontario, the region also touches
Lake Erie and the Georgian Bay that extends from Lake Huron.
I was fortunate enough to be invited to participate in some of the planning sessions for Places to Grow, and in 2007 I wrote that it was the best land-use plan I have ever seen.
I’m still not sure that I have seen a better one, at least in concept:
the plan, if fully implemented, will channel growth to the places
within the Horseshoe region where environmental impacts will be reduced
compared to an unmanaged scenario, as well as to places, including
distressed inner city neighborhoods, that would benefit from more
investment, jobs and people.
The Horseshoe region is forecast to
grow by 3.7 million people (a 47 percent population increase) and 1.8
million jobs by 2031. It is already home to a quarter of Canada’s
population and will soon be the third-largest urban region in North
America. Imagine the consequences if development is allowed to spread
all over the land, without good planning. Imagine the lost landscape,
the additional roads and traffic, the pollution, the lost habitat, the
global warming emissions.
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| Toronto, Canada, photo by Sweet One |
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