Planning Context and Urban Intensification Outcomes: Sydney versus Toronto

Glen Searle () and Pierre Filion ()
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Glen Searle: The School of Geography, Planning and Environmental Management, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, 4072, Australia
Pierre Filion: The School of Planning, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3G1, Canada

Urban Studies, 2011, vol. 48, issue 7, 1419-1438

Abstract: There is a lack of knowledge about effective implementation of intensification policies. The paper concentrates on the intensification experience of Sydney, Australia, and Toronto, Canada. Historical narratives, which document intensification efforts and outcomes since the 1950s, paint different pictures. For much of the period, Sydney adopted a medium-density strategy sustained by public-sector incentives and regulations. In Toronto, in contrast, the focus has been on high-density developments driven mostly by market trends. Lately, however, the Sydney intensification strategy has shifted to high-density projects. The paper concludes by drawing out findings that are relevant to intensification policies in the selected metropolitan regions and elsewhere: the ubiquity of NIMBY reactions; the importance of senior government involvement because less sensitive to anti-density NIMBY reactions; the possibility of framing intensification strategies in ways that avoid political party confrontation; and the role of major environmental movements in raising public opinion support to intensification.

Date: 2011
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:48:y:2011:i:7:p:1419-1438

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