All downtown streets are critical components of the city’s public realm network and are part of a comprehensive plan for the growth and evolution of Downtown Toronto within T.O. Core vision. However, the 12 ‘Great Streets’ are the civic streets that capture the diverse character that conveys Toronto’s public image to the world, setting the stage for festivals, parades and civic life. These streets hold cultural and historical significance and provide connections to the Core Circle and beyond. They are destinations in themselves, lined with landmark buildings and institutions, historic fabric and public spaces. Downtown’s Great Streets play an important role supporting economic activity and fostering public life. This proposal outlines strategic designs for 12 Great Streets to maximize their civic contribution. Each street is enhanced based on its location, scale and historic role in the city, existing civic significance and their potential contribution to the public realm network. Absorptive corridors adapt existing streetscapes and adjacent parks and open spaces to serve blue and green infrastructure systems, to enhance the resilience of the Downtown in the 21st century.
T.O. Core ‘Great Streets’ Transformation
This initiative rediscovers Toronto’s most emblematic streets and proposes to re-make them as outstanding civic places and connectors. Further, they are re-conceptualized to perform as absorptive landscape infrastructure corridors to enhance the resilience of the Downtown in the 21st century.
With this vision, a network of 12 Great Streets, each with cultural, historical and civic importance, have been prioritized for public realm improvements.
Location
Toronto, ON
Scope of Work
Streetscape Design Strategy
Project Size
12 Downtown Civic Streets
Role
Design Team Lead, Landscape Architecture
Client
City of Toronto
PUBLIC WORK Design Team
Adam Nicklin, Marc Ryan, Mary Liston Hicks, Asuka Kono, Clint Langevin
