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2008 National Urban Design Awards
Special Jury Awards: Sustainable Development
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Lower Don Lands (Toronto, ON) |
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 The Port Lands Estuary urban plan addresses 280 acres of an abandoned port facility in Toronto. Located on the site of a former wetland created by the Don River as it emptied into Lake Ontario, the river itself was contained in canals and released into the lake via the Keating Channel. Major regional transportation corridors, including rail lines and an elevated highway, created a barrier between the Port Lands and the remainder of the city. Devoid of natural features, public infrastructure, and neighbourhood amenities, the site was fundamentally unprepared to support new urban growth. Building on initiatives that were being undertaken elsewhere along the waterfront, the client, Waterfront Toronto, sought to transform the site into a new mixed-use neighbourhood that would herald a transformed attitude toward the river and the lake through the creation of a new naturalized mouth to the currently chanelized Don River.
Jury Comments:
The jury was particularly impressed by the comprehensive analysis undertaken by the extensive team of professionals, producing in a very short timeframe the Port Lands Estuary Urban Plan for Waterfront Toronto. Fundamentally a mixed-use urban development initiative, this winning proposal crafted an ecologically-based and environmentally sensitive approach that provides a long-term evolutive strategy for sustainable development.
It is a well articulated concept that takes urban design principles to the next level through a though process based on sound, green design principles. The plan is a bold, dramatic yet necessary approach too often understated when dealing with transformations of contaminated industrial sites or brown fields. A “back to basics” attitude allowed the team to weave a new waterway and greenway through the site, while retaining the heritage components of the original channel. This provides the back bone for the development strategy, recognizing that this requires a long-term commitment.
The strength of the proposal lies in the balance that is created between the fundamental ecological building blocks and the integration of the city’s urbanity to the recreated nature while retaining a connection to the sites heritage…a formula for sustainable development. Economic, social, recreational, environmental, and ecological components are all measured ingredients ensuring a recipe that successfully addresses place making.
This study represents a holistic vision of community development made up of district neighborhoods interconnected via a greenway / blueway that is fundamental to the proposal’s success. We will be following with great interest the evolution of this vision.
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