Planning for Toronto’s Major Transit Station Areas: Achieving Transit-Oriented Development

For decades the City Toronto and Regional Growth Plans have tried to direct development and growth towards public transit and station areas. However, recent changes to Provincial land use policies along with increased investments in transit projects throughout the City and Greater Golden Horseshoe have increased the need to plan for growth around existing and new transit infrastructure. This paper analyzes the increasing role transit-oriented development (TOD) in the City of Toronto and Greater Golden Horseshoe has in accommodating new population and employment growth and the challenges this growth currently presents. Furthermore, this paper looks to explore what planning policies, tools and considerations policy makers at municipal, regional and provincial levels of government should be considering in order to achieve successful TOD outcomes. By undergoing a policy analysis, qualitative interviews, and an extensive literature review, the analysis reveals, that through strong collaboration and coordination between stakeholders, in addition to consistent, and predictable land use planning, many of the benefits associated with transit-oriented development can be achieved.