Keys to the City: Waterfront Development in Toronto

Abstract

The article begins with a narrative of David Miller’s 2003 mayoral election victory not only because the waterfront has become, if not materially then certainly symbolically, central to his term of office, but also because it demonstrates how waterfront quays have become places with strategic political, economic, environmental and social value. The waterfront was central to Miller’s election victory and – contrary to the continuing complaint that ‘there’s nothing happening on the waterfront’ – has played a major role in city, regional and even national politics throughout his first term of office. We argue this is the case because the waterfront has become critical for wealth accumulation processes, and control of these processes is a major concern. Cities have long been recognized as prominent agglomerations in economic processes of production and reproduction and, at this particular historical juncture, waterfronts are one of the main sites where this occurs. http://www.socialistproject.ca/relay/relay13.pdf