SLA Designs Public Spaces and Streetscapes for Toronto's New Island Community in the Port Lands

A 39.8-hectare waterfront community in Toronto’s Port Lands will be redesigned with nature-led public realm and streetscapes. The project, Ookwemin Minising, meaning “place of the black cherry trees,” is planned as the first new community in the area formerly known as Villiers Island. The Port Lands are being revitalized from an industrial zone into a naturalized river valley, mixed-use neighbourhoods, and parkland. Waterfront Toronto leads the transformation as a publicly funded not-for-profit established in 2001. The redevelopment is expected to integrate parks, public spaces, and ecological features created by naturalizing the mouth of the Don River. Completion is planned in phases between 2031 and 2040, supporting about 21,000 residents and 2,900 jobs.

"Landscape and urban design studio SLA has unveiled the design for the public realm and streetscapes of Toronto's new 39.8-hectare waterfront community. The urban landscape project "Ookwemin Minising" is located in the Port Lands, an industrial and recreational district southeast of downtown Toronto, currently undergoing urban revitalization to transform the area from a former industrial zone into a naturalized river valley, mixed-use neighbourhoods, and public parkland."

"The regeneration project grew from an initiative for flood protection and river restoration, with the aim of creating a new waterfront community that integrates parks, public spaces, and ecological features resulting from the naturalization of the mouth of the Don River into the existing industrial landscape. The site spans 39.8 hectares of mixed-use development designed to support approximately 21,000 residents and 2,900 jobs."

"Ookwemin Minising means "place of the black cherry trees" in Anishinaabemowin/Ojibwemowin. Formerly known as Villiers Island, it is set to be the first new community developed in the Port Lands, one of several new districts identified in the City of Toronto's Port Lands Planning Framework."

"The overall transformation is being led by Waterfront Toronto, a publicly funded, not-for-profit corporation established in 2001 to oversee the regeneration of the area, as part of a broader government initiative to renaturalize urban areas and increase housing density. The redevelopment of Ookwemin Minising is expected to be completed in phases between 2031 and 2040."

Read at ArchDaily