Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Don’t kill waterfront neighbourhood, urban designer says

Councillor Doug Ford frequently says he would like the city to conduct itself more like a business. But Toronto would be squandering millions if it chooses to pursue his vision for the Port Lands instead of the existing plan for a mixed-use neighbourhood, says a prominent urban designer involved in the planning.

“I’m looking at this with a certain amount of disbelief,” urban designer Ken Greenberg said Monday. “I find it hard to believe that such a thing would actually happen.”

Greenberg was part of the team that won Waterfront Toronto’s international competition to design the area known as the Lower Don Lands. On Tuesdsay, after Ford elaborated on his vision, Greenberg added: “This flies in the face of common sense in so many ways.”

He spoke before Ford complicated matters further, telling the Star his vision for the Port Lands would not require use of the Lower Don Lands.

That statement excited Greenberg, but the fate of his Lower Don Lands plan remains murky. The city’s top bureaucrat has already proposed a freeze on work related to the plan, and the city wants to take control of the area from Waterfront Toronto.

The Lower Don Lands plan calls for a dense neighbourhood with housing for 20,000 or more people, 500,000 square feet of retail space and parks. Turning the area into a “highly productive piece of city,” Greenberg said, will generate far more money in taxes and other revenue than a rapid sale to a mall developer.

“One gets the sense that this is about trying to get a one-time payment now, in fire sale conditions, as opposed to patiently building the value,” he said.

“The land is much too valuable to be used for a shopping centre. . . . The economic argument is so weak. I think when people look at it carefully, they will see that this would amount to a fire sale of an extremely valuable long-term asset.”

The surface parking lots that would likely surround a mall would be a waste of lucrative property, he said. Urban monorails have failed in the U.S., he said, and one would be technically difficult to build in downtown Toronto. And he argued that the Port Lands would be a poor spot for a landmark Ferris wheel.

“We already have Ontario Place, we have Exhibition Place,” he said. “The last thing we need is another theme park down there. If you were gonna do the world’s biggest Ferris wheel, we have two great places to do it.”

Doug Ford and Mayor Rob Ford have both said Waterfront Toronto has proceeded too slowly on the Port Lands. Greenberg said Waterfront Toronto has, in general, been “probably more aggressive” than any other waterfront body in North America.

He rattled off recent accomplishments that include the opening of the Sherbourne Common and Sugar Beach parks, construction of a lakeside George Brown College campus, and agreements with developers to create new neighbourhoods outside the Port Lands.

“It’s difficult to imagine anything going faster,” he said. “The claim that this is not going fast enough, and that we need to therefore do a fire sale, doesn’t make any sense.”

Origin
Source: Toronto Star  

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