Reurbanization in Toronto: Condominium boom and social housing revitalization

Displacement by disruption: short-term rentals and the political economy of “belonging anywhere” in Toronto

“…As one of North America's largest condominium market, this form of housing really became central to Toronto's re-urbanization strategy in the late 1990s on the heels of Federal disinvestment in social housing in the early 1990s (Lehrer & Wieditz, 2009;Lippert & Steckle, 2016;Rosen & Walks, 2013, 2015. Today, Lehrer, Keil, and Kipfer (2010) include Toronto among cities aspiring to the "New Metropolitan Mainstream" which portray themselves as "open-minded, neoliberal, productivist, culturalistic, consumerist and growth oriented" (p. 82). Furthermore, they argue the city has entered a regime of "roll-with-it neoliberalization" wherein the inevitability of neoliberal capitalism is taken for granted, foreclosing discussion of imaginative or leftist alternatives among local political and economic actors, especially with regards to housing.…”

Downtown redevelopment and land-use regulation: Can planning policies discipline property development?

“…By 2009, the City of Vancouver had reversed this policy by limiting residential development in order to allow more office space in the downtown area. In Toronto, the unprecedented number of condominiums built in the last decade (Lehrer et al, 2010;Relph, 2014;Rosen and Walks, 2014) has caused concern among commercial real estate developers and business interests who urged public officials to intervene and "protect scarce prime office sites in the downtown" (Canadian Urban Institute, 2011, p. 33).…”

Toronto’s ‘Vancouverism’: developer adaptation, planning responses and the challenge of design quality

“…Nevertheless, the prominent location of CityPlace, highly visible from the Gardiner Expressway, especially on the approach to Downtown from the west, means that it often comes under attack, particularly for the scale and height of the residential towers, and a perception that the development attracts short-term renters rather than long-term owner-occupiers (Hume, 2012), while many of the apartments lie empty as pure investments. These perceptions are amplified because the development has evolved in the midst of a wider 'condo boom' that has dramatically altered the skyline and urban composition of Downtown Toronto (Lehrer et al, 2010). No doubt Concord's proposed Signature Towers will serve to reinforce these concerns.…”