YorkSpace

YorkSpace is York University's Institutional Repository. It supports York University's Senate Policy on Open Access by providing York community members with a place to preserve their research online in an institutional context.

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Communities in YorkSpace

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Recent Submissions

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    Retrofitting Markville: Transit-Induced Intensification in Markham, Ontario
    (2026-08-31) Lum, Steven; Gebresselassie, Mahtot
    In recent years, planning practice in North America has promoted sprawl repair to achieve more sustainable development in the suburbs, long seen as car-dependent because of their low densities and dispersed land uses, which make destinations less accessible on foot and limit mobility for residents without cars. Low-rise, single-use districts have been transformed into denser, mixed-use town centres in the hopes of encouraging greater transit use and ensuring that daily needs are within walking distance. In this research, I draw on the local knowledge and professional expertise of interested parties, including planners, councillors, real estate developers, and residents, to understand how they perceive that high-density redevelopment proposals may impact travel behaviour and livability in the Markville community in Markham, Ontario. Through interviews, observations of Council meetings, and analysis of letters to the City Council, I found mixed perspectives on the redevelopment plans. While the planners believe that intensifying near the existing commuter rail station and the planned bus rapid transit corridor will contribute to a more livable community with daily needs within walking distance, the city councillors and residents are less convinced. Residents, especially those who are older or retired, generally regard these plans as exacerbating traffic congestion, since transit is not an alternative to driving for many people. Additionally, community members also raised concerns about the limited capacity of neighbourhood amenities, including schools and parks. Despite the supportive policy context for suburban intensification, many residents believe that there have been few concrete, proactive measures to mitigate these potential impacts.
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    Understanding the Perceived Benefits to Low-Income Neighbourhoods of Transit Expansion Between 2015-2025 in Toronto
    (2026-08-31) Lu, Xinyu; Gebresselassie, Mahtot
    This study examines whether recent public transit investments have benefited lower-income residents and neighbourhoods in Toronto. Focusing on the Line 1 Toronto–York Spadina Subway Extension, Line 5 Eglinton Crosstown, and Line 6 Finch West LRT, the research combines survey responses from 45 transit users with neighbourhood income data and spatial analysis using ArcGIS. The findings show that recent investments improved mobility for some lower-income transit users through shorter travel times, fewer transfers, reduced walking distances, improved reliability, and more direct journeys. Respondents also reported better access to employment, education, healthcare, shops and services, and social activities. However, these benefits were unevenly distributed; income and geography emerged as the strongest influences on perceived transit benefits. Findings revealed a shift away from systemic inequities in public transit toward lower-income populations as rapid transit continue to expand into suburban neighbourhoods. This study further recommends equal spatial and social distribution of public transit and investment in additional routes, expanded coverage, and increased service frequency and hours of operation to support an equitable transit network in Toronto.
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    Designing Toronto’s Parks: How Community Ideas Shape Toronto’s Park Planning Process
    (2026-08-31) Koper, Natalie; Taylor, Laura
    Community engagement has become an important component of municipal park planning. Yet questions remain about whose ideas are represented and how public feedback is translated into physical park design. This research examines how community engagement practices are structured within Toronto’s parkland planning process and how citizens’ ideas influence policy and document analysis, semi-structured interviews with municipal planners and community organizers, and observation of participants in park planning engagements. This analysis focuses on Toronto’s Parkland Strategy and municipal and provincial planning policies and engagement summaries conducted over various years. The engagements showed that community ideas can influence park design. Still, their impact depends on who participates, how ideas are communicated and categorized, and whether they align with municipal policy and funding—technical requirements within existing planning priorities. The research argues that participation in Toronto’s parkland planning is meaningful but institutionally mediated, designed through a process of interpretation and translation rather than direct decision-making. More equitable outcomes therefore require accessible engagement, shared language, transparent feedback processes, and clear connections between community input and final design decisions.
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    Competing Urban Imaginaries in Jane and Finch Green Spaces
    (2026-08-31) Kolodko, Emilia; Lehrer, Ute
    Green spaces are central to Toronto’s dominant urban imaginary, leading urban planning to privilege regulated and aesthetic landscapes over the informal social practices through which marginalized communities produce space. This paper explores these tensions through the case of Jane and Finch, one of Toronto's modernist neighbourhoods. It does so by tracing the historical evolution of green space planning in a review of literature, analyzing contemporary planning documents, and examining the spatial transformation of green space amenities between 1956– 2024. The findings highlight a persistent mismatch between Toronto's dominant planning imaginary and the lived social landscapes of Jane and Finch. While city-wide planning documents characterize modernist green spaces as ahistorical landscapes requiring animation and redevelopment, the evolution of local amenities demonstrates that green spaces are embedded in broader planning histories, and may function as sites of everyday informality and care. Beyond challenging dominant representations of modernist green spaces rooted in disinvestment and stigmatization, this paper outlines an alternative perspective that advocates for community self - determination in urban planning. The mapping project that accompanies this paper can be found here: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/22f97262ce7a49118d102f782dff0b64
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    Changing Planning Governance: The Woodbine Project and the Implications of the Resource Agreement in Rexdale
    (2026-08-31) Killewalavan, Sapthasvanaa; Gilbert, Liette
    My Major Paper examines the Woodbine (re)development project at the Woodbine Racetrack and Casino located in Toronto’s Rexdale neighbourhood as a case study of evolving urban governance. This study examines a Resource Agreement report Woodbine Transit-Oriented Community Secondary Plan - Authorization to Enter in Agreements for Resourcing between the City of Toronto and the Woodbine Entertainment Group as a governance arrangement that shapes planning practice. This research draws on theories of neoliberal urban governance, alongside scholarship on public-private partnerships and community benefits. Its conceptual analytical framework incorporates governmentality and collaborative and communicative planning to examine how cities are governed. Specifically, the study examines allocating planning resources and staff capacity to undertake the Woodbine Transit-Oriented Secondary Plan study. Using a qualitative research design consisting of semi-structured interviews, policy and document review, media analysis, historical-geographical analysis, and socio-demographic profile of Rexdale, this research examines the evolution of governance frameworks and the Woodbine project overtime. It further investigates the role of planners and their involvement in the (re)development process. Key findings suggest that the Resource Agreement represents a shift towards new funding mechanisms embedded within broader governance frameworks due to lack of municipal capacity and budget. Findings also reveal that the Resource Agreement is subject to varied interpretations, among planners and the public, shaped by how the arrangement is communicated, understood and engaged with throughout the planning process. This research argues that the Woodbine project in Rexdale reflects evolving forms of neoliberal urban governance. The Resource Agreement reshapes planning practice by redistributing resources, responsibilities, and power among public and private actors, while raising questions about community participation and whose interests shape the future urban (re)development outcomes of Rexdale.