Week 2 - Why the City? Why Toronto? PDF
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Toronto Metropolitan University
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This document looks at why cities, like Toronto, are important and the impact they have on people's lives. It discusses sustainability, challenges with unevenness in cities, and a general uncertainty about the future. The historical context and immigration are also touched upon.
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Week 2 - Why the City? Why Toronto? Over 80% of Canadian population lives in urban spaces ○ Toronto is Canada’s largest city Cities: What’s So Special About Them? Sustainability ○ Meeting our own needs without compromising the ability of future generation...
Week 2 - Why the City? Why Toronto? Over 80% of Canadian population lives in urban spaces ○ Toronto is Canada’s largest city Cities: What’s So Special About Them? Sustainability ○ Meeting our own needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (McGill University) Economic - city must generate economic activity Social - full of diverse individuals and groups Environmental - must be comfortable that the air, water, and soil supply will not endanger their physical health Unevenness ○ Refers to how different among cities in Canada are in terms of: Land size Population size Economic power Political power Availability of infrastructure Availability of services ○ Unevenness within cities refer to diversity of population in a specific city: Income level Social status Ethnic/racial background Social capital Uncertainty ○ Today, city residents face precarious working environments and increasing anxiety when making big financial commitments Can you buy a house if you are unsure whether you will have a job in the future? What about a car? Can you start a family knowing a child is a huge financial commitment and you do not have guarantees given current market fluctuations? SIX Properties to Understand the City: ○ Production ○ Reproduction ○ Proximity ○ Capitalization ○ Place ○ Governance Between 1945-1975: Metropolitan Development ○ Inner suburbs of Toronto: Scarborough North York Etobicoke After 1975: Suburban Domination ○ Outer suburbs, in the Greater Toronto Area we have Markham, Richmond Hill, Vaughan, Brampton, Mississauga, etc. ○ Gentrification and condominium development becomes common in the inner city Cleveland-Peck (the acknowledged story) The European Arrival ○ French Period: Fort Rouille’ (1720 and fur-trade) ○ British Period: Settlement of Toronto site (1759 forwards) Founding of York Toronto Grows 1837 rebellion and William Lyon Mackenzie A City of Immigrants Immigration transforms demography of the city ○ Toronto takes in ~100,000 immigrants/year for 60 years Yonge Street and the beginning of the TTC ○ Opened in 1793 by Governor Simcoe, a military road and path to open to north settlers Named after Sir George Yonge What is Left Out? Toronto has been site for human habitation for over 10,000 years ○ Several pre-contact Aboriginal settlements and burial grounds identified Different Iroquoian cultural groups lived in present-day GTA ○ These groups interrelated in variety of ways throughout centuries Tkaronto From Tkaronto to Toronto 1750-60: Relations between the French and Mississaugas 1760: British relations with the Mississaugas Mississaugas - members of the Ojibway nation controlling an area stretching through present-day Ontario and U.S. Midwest
