FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 2021 NOVÆ RES URBIS TORONTO 2 Urban Garden Operation
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BRINGING BACK 2 THE FARM Focus on Urban Agriculture 5 SIGNS OF CITY LIFE Mirvish Village Park Design to Reflect Local FRIDAY, History APRIL 9, 2021 Vol. 25 No. 14 CITY RELEASES MALL REDEVELOPMENT GUIDE HOW TO DO THINGS WITH MALLS Marc Mitanis he development team that feature a mix of land phasing of redevelopment to Services, and Parks, Forestry behind the Golden uses, compact built forms, allow for the continuation of and Recreation—met with a T Mile Shopping Centre community amenities, and existing retail uses. number of external stakeholders, redevelopment plan says their dynamic public spaces. City of Toronto urban design including planning staff from recently submitted mixed-use, City of Toronto senior project manager Shawna Bowen the City of Mississauga, which multi-phased mall redevelopment planner Igor Dragovic told said work on the guide began had just completed a multi-year proposal aligns with the NRU that currently, there are in late 2018 in response to the study in 2020 examining land design principles included in about 14 active development high volume of applications use policies at six local mall the City of Toronto’s newly- applications associated with the city was receiving for mall properties [See ‘Reimagining the released Mall Redevelopment shopping mall properties site redevelopments. Bowen Mall’ September 23, 2020 issue, Guide. As landowners of aging across the city. If all of the said staff from various city NRU Toronto edition.] shopping mall properties in redevelopment plans included divisions—including City “It was really about getting the city increasingly look to in those applications were to be Planning, Transportation CONTINUED PAGE 8 maximize the potential of these realized as currently proposed, commercial real estate assets these sites would yield through redevelopment and approximately 30,000 residential ERA Architects’ design for the Gordonridge Community Multi-Sport Court in intensification, city staff say the units and an additional 464,500 Scarborough was one of fourteen projects recognized this week with a Canadian guide will provide landowners square metres of non-residential Society of Landscape Architects 2021 Award of Excellence. See In Brief, page 16. SOURCE: CANADIAN SOCIETY OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS with a blueprint to support the space. Dragovic said there is a ARCHITECT: ERA ARCHITECTS long-term redevelopment of mall significant opportunity to create sites as complete communities. complete communities on a TheMall Redevelopment large number of these sites, and Guide was publicly released the city’s Mall Redevelopment online in the first week of April. Guide provides principles for The guide offers developers property owners to consider design principles, illustrations, around the redevelopment of and demonstration plans streets and blocks, parks and that show how underutilized open spaces, the interface of urban and suburban shopping retail uses with the public realm, malls might be transformed to the locations of servicing, support complete communities loading, and parking, and the URBAN AGRICULTURE EXPERTS WEIGH IN ON THE VALUE OF GROWING FOOD IN CITIES UPCOMING DATES APRIL 12 Board of Health, 9:30 a.m., (video conference) BRINGING BACK THE FARM 14 Toronto Preservation Board, 9:30 a.m., (video conference) TTC Board, 10:00 a.m. (video conference) Rob Jowett 19 Etobicoke York Community Council, 9:30 a.m., (video conference) rban agriculture experts to grow food to purchase food city’s wealthier suburbs do not 20 North York Community say growing and processing to consume food within a have an adequate number of food Council, 9:30 a.m., (video U food in cities, especially at a development project can really stores to sustain communities. conference) local level, may be an important pay dividends in terms of health, McMahon says one of the 21 Toronto & East York Community Council, 9:30 a.m., way to address local food sustainability, social equity and main benefits of urban farming (video conference) security issues and can often have profitability,” says ULI senior would be bringing farming 22 Planning & Housing positive impacts on the health fellow Ed McMahon. “Urban back to communities and Committee, 9:30 a.m., (video of communities and on local farms could produce up to 15 to improving local health, as it conference) economies as well. 20 per cent of the world’s food, would give city-dwellers greater 23 Scarborough Community Council, 9:30 a.m., (video At a webinar hosted March although that would take up a access to fresh and healthy conference) 30 by the Urban Land Institute huge amount of land in cities, food. Food production became 26 General Government & (ULI), urban farming experts which we can’t always provide.” very industrialized in the 20th Licencing, 9:30 a.m., (video conference) spoke about some of the Localizing food production, century and most modern 27 Economic & Community advantages of growing food processing and distribution could food that we purchase from Development, 9:30 a.m., in cities and why developers also help to address the issue of supermarkets and consume is (video conference) should consider including them ‘food deserts’, a phenomenon highly processed, which has 28 Infrastructure & Environment, 9:30 a.m., (video conference) in residential and mixed-use which arises when urban had a negative overall effect development projects. Urban communities do not have local on diet and health. McMahon 29 Executive Committee, 9:30 a.m., (video conference) agriculture mostly involves food stores within reasonable suggests that establishing urban MAY growing fruits and vegetables distance of where residents live. farms to address this challenge 5-6 in small gardens but can also Food deserts have been a growing could also create local business Council, 9:30 a.m., (video conference) include maintaining livestock, issue in the United States, where opportunities for food supply- 6 Design Review Panel, time such as chickens and goats. 23.5-million people live more deficient communities. TBC, (video conference) Urban farming can also entail than a kilometre-and-a-half “Particularly in low-income 10 Board of Health, 9:30 a.m., food processing and distribution, away from a supermarket and as neighbourhoods, many people (videoconference) such as through local farmers’ a result, have to rely on smaller feel like growing their own food 11 CreateTO, 9:30 a.m. (videoconference) markets. The practice can consist retailers like convenience stores is like printing your own money,” of entirely local, community- and gas stations, which typically says McMahon. “For many 12 Toronto Preservation Board, 9:30 a.m., (videoconference) based projects or alternatively, do not sell high-quality food poor inner-city residents, urban TTC Board, tbc, (videoconference) business-scale endeavours, products. Food deserts are also agriculture can feed the family both of which are becoming prevalent in Canada, and many and help to make ends meet.” increasingly common in Toronto. parts of Toronto outside the McMahon says the “Incorporating opportunities downtown core and outside the CONTINUED PAGE 3 NRU PUBLISHING STAFF NRU PUBLISHING INC Ian A.R. Graham, Publisher Rob Jowett, Reporter Jeff Payette SALES/SUBSCRIPTIONS Novæ Res Urbis Toronto Corporate Office Billings Department [email protected] [email protected] Design/Layout is published 50 times a Ext. 222 Ext. 226 [email protected] [email protected] 1200 Bay Street, Suite 1101 NRU Publishing Inc. year and is not to be Ext. 228 Toronto, ON M5R 2A5 PO Box 19595 Manulife PO, Irena Kohn, Editor Peter Pantalone Annual subscription rate is redistributed without the Tel: 416.260.1304 Toronto, ON M4W 3T9 [email protected] Planning Researcher Samantha Lum $409 +HST (ON). written consent of the Fax: 416.979.2707 Ext. 223 [email protected] Sales and Circulation Complimentary trial publisher. ISSN 1918-7548 [email protected] Marc Mitanis, Senior Reporter subscriptions are available. Ext. 224 [email protected] Ext. 225 Advertising rates available upon request. FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 2021 NOVÆ RES URBIS TORONTO 2 urban garden operation. He Giants, both have urban farms, BRINGING BACK says urban farming is becoming and the City of Detroit is home significantly more viable due to to almost 1,500 urban farms. THE FARM new technologies that greatly Teitel-Payne says urban gardens increase its efficiency, noting are becoming more popular in CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2 that the biggest impediment Toronto as well, and that people to large-scale food production are finding more ways to grow COVID-19 pandemic has Satellite Farms is a in an urban context is access and process food and to turn changed people’s eating habits, company that transforms retail, to land and that there are their operations into a business which has led to a greater commercial, industrial, or now many ways to integrate or use them for community- interest in urban farming. Due residential spaces into urban urban farms into existing building. to the shutdown of bars and farms that can grow most kinds communities. “It used to be backyard restaurants, many people have of plant-based food, from leafy Toronto Urban Growers growers, community gardens, had to cook for themselves a lot greens to mushrooms. Elghamry co-coordinator Rhonda Teitel- maybe the odd urban farm here more than previously, and the says the company uses advanced Payne told NRU urban farming and there, but not a lot,” says added free time people working technologies such as digital is becoming an increasingly Teitel-Payne. “But now there’s from home have had in the climate control and irrigation commonplace practice, with many, many, different ways that absence of long commute times, systems to use little water and many cities and companies people are growing. So, we’re for many, has led to a greater no soil to grow vast yields in embracing the trend. TheCity seeing more balcony gardeners, interest in cooking.