Synergy and Movement Within Suburban Mixed-Use Centers: The Toronto Experience

Abstract

The article measures the intensity of interaction between activities within suburban mixed-use centers (also referred to as suburban downtowns or edge cities), and the reliance on walking for intra-center journeys. It examines whether or not these centers are achieving, as intended in planning documents, an inner dynamic that distinguishes them from typical suburban commercial developments. A survey of office workers within the Greater Toronto Area's three most developed suburban mixed-use centers reveals a moderate level of inner synergy (interaction between activities beneficial to all those involved) and of walking for intra-center journeys. The article highlights the advantages of such an inner dynamic for activities located within suburban mixed-use centers. It also points at the surveyed centers' car orientation and the inhospitality of their walking environment to explain why synergy and pedestrian movements are not any higher. This leads to an examination of the advantages that would accrue from a more intense pedestrian-based synergy and of the means of achieving such an outcome. Are suburban mixed-use centers evolving into integrated business and residential districtswhere an intense pedestrian-based interaction prevails between their different functions? Or do these developments simply reproduce a typical suburban dispersed layout, characterized by functional specialization and automobile orientation? These questions are particularly relevant in metropolitan regions like the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) where planning agencies have turned to mixed-use centers as a means of increasing density within the suburban realm

Evaluative structure of perceived residential environment quality in high-density and mixed-use urban settings: An exploratory study on Taipei City

“…These could have increased the difficulty or created discomfort when residents access their residences. Similarly, Filion et al (2000) found that car-oriented development and heavy traffic have created uncomfortable walking environment and thus impeded pedestrian-based synergy in suburban mixed-use centers in Toronto. The ground floor 'complexity' and associated problems incurred by Taipei City's high density and mixed-use settings may be the reason that 'ground floor access' is considered as a unique and critical aspect of residential environment quality.…”

Innovative Public-Private Partnership Models for Road Pricing/BRT Initiatives

“…In particular, attempts at planning suburban activity centers have resulted in varying degrees of success in creating a transit-and pedestrian-friendly environment (Filion, McSpurren, and Huether 2000). It is not sufficient to simply have a concentration of high density, mixed-use activity.…”

Canadian Human Landscape Examples

“…In addition, both municipalities and private developers promoted commercial and residential development in and around city centres. For example, by the late 1990s, Mississauga City Centre had more than 300,000 m 2 of office space, a regional shopping mall (the third largest in Canada), approximately 13,000 employees and 1,000 residential units (Filion et al . 2000).…”

“…Nevertheless, one of the major problems in creating an urban image is the fact that the Mississauga City Centre, like other suburban downtowns, was planned and developed for the automobile and not for pedestrians. The proportion of the centre's surface assigned to roads and parking is very high, about 57 percent (Filion et al 2000). This and the fact that buildings do not relate to the street and distances between activities are considerable make Mississauga City Centre an unfriendly environment for pedestrians (Filion 2001; Figure 8).…”

“…The Canadian Geographer / Le Géographe canadien 49, no 2 (2005) a regional shopping mall (the third largest in Canada), approximately 13,000 employees and 1,000 residential units (Filion et al 2000). Mississauga City Centre has also major civic and communal facilities: the City Hall, the Central Library and the Living Arts Centre (a theatre and convention facility).…”