No city street has been the subject of more visions and revisions (and mistakes) than the central spine that connects the east and west ends of Toronto. Yonge Street’s current state is a legacy of car dominance in what is perhaps the most urbane of places. The base of the world’s longest street has long abandoned its own neighbourhood, serving as little more than a vehicular conduit to a massive downtown mall. But the advent of the global pandemic has created a unique moment to reimagine this buried urban jewel to strike a more sophisticated balance between public realm, transportation, and spatial equity in order to create a more dynamic and inclusive urban environment for everybody. This panel brings together international city builders and local decision makers for a frank conversation on what changes are necessary in order to redesign the public realm to better serve all of our community stakeholders.

 

Moderator: Mitch Gascoyne, Vice President, Development, CentreCourt