Why Hard Surfaced Public Open Space
Sucks So Badly In Toronto
Sucks So Badly In Toronto
There are two prime reasons for Hard Surfaced Public Open Space sucking so badly in Toronto. First of all, there are no experts in Hard Surfaced Public Open Space Research & Design living in Toronto (or North America); that is, people who have either done primary research and or have studied other expert’s research - on How and Why People Need/Use Hard Surfaced Public Open Space. It’s laughable to have people who are trained to grow plants (landscape architects) also design hard surfaced public open space for people. Landscape architects are not trained on How and Why People Need/Use Hard Surfaced Public Open Space; moreover, neither are architects, planners, parks personnel, nor traffic engineers (nor politicians, or land speculators).
The second prime reason for Hard Surfaced Public Open Space sucking so badly in Toronto are land speculators. The former mayor of Toronto, John Sewell, was given a grant to study why the metropolitan Toronto turned out the way it did - from an urban planning perspective. At one of Sewell's presentations on his research - he demonstrated that despite several sound plans for Metro Toronto’s development; a simple telephone call from a land speculator to the either Premiers Bill Davis. Mike Harris or David Peterson - would cancel any effort at effective planning for Metro Toronto and region.
These land speculators call themselves “developers” (an oxymoron if there ever was one). These land speculators rule on what does or doesn’t happen in Metro Toronto. The land speculators are illiterate when it comes to Hard Surfaced Public Open Space design; unfortunately, their only interest is money and the power that money generates. Author Tom Wolfe’s book The Bonfire Of The Vanities aptly demonstrates the land speculators attempts at control as they play out their dogma of - “mine is bigger than yours”. Click here to read some background on land speculators and their attempts at “Social Engineering” and their wholesale destruction of cities.
Definition Of Public Open Space
Public Open Space is all of the space between all the buildings in any city - that is owned by the city (owned by the citizens). Naturally spaces between the buildings that are privately owned - or spaces in privately owned buildings are not Public Open Space. Neither are spaces that have been privatized (for example, Harbourfront Centre and Dundas St. Sq. in Toronto). Nor sidewalks commandeered by - pay for use restaurant/bar patios. Or sidewalk space commandeered for the sidewalk sandwich boards (a good way to restrict sidewalk traffic and decrease retail sales - Dumb & Dumber!). 90% of all public open space that exists in Metro Toronto is found in the streets - that is, on roads and sidewalks.
Public Open Spaces are not owned by special groups, nor dedicated to special purposes; they do not impose restrictions on their use, so long as one person’s use does not limit anyone else’s. Moreover, it is not rock bands, not art works, not dramatic productions that is center stage in Public Open Space - it’s those surprising unpredictable actors - “ordinary people” of all ages - who are center stage in Public Open Spaces in major cities around the world - like Montreal - but not in Toronto.
Quite often apologists - people who operate galleries or performance spaces as well as others who are financed through tax dollar based grants - feel obligated to their masters and call their gallery/performance spaces - public open space or call private or privatized spaces - public open space. Which of course is a laughable attempt at sophistry. When the latter happens in any city - you can be rest assured that usable/effective Public Open Space is missing in that city.
What Don’t Land Speculators & Their Puppets (Politicians, Planners, Landscape Architects, Architects, Civil Servants Including Traffic Engineers & Parks People) Don’t Know
People of all ages need Usable Hard Surfaced Public Open Space to be well - to be healthy. Usable Hard Surfaced Public Open Space is as least as important as Canada’s universal health care system when it comes to the prevention of dis-ease. Parks and other soft types of Public Open Space are needed as well; but, are no where near as important to people as the hard surfaced variety of Public Open Spaces - sidewalks, squares, promenades, piers, and esplanades.
A healthy economy for any city - including Toronto - is impossible without Hard Surfaced Public Open Space. The street is where all new/next generation music originates from, all new/next generation art generates from, all new/next generation fashion and clothing styles generates from, all new/next generation graphic arts generates from, all new/next generation sports generates from, all new/next generation recreation generates from. As important, is the fact that corporations now use those same people from the street - who create the economic sparks listed above - to provide marketing and other business solutions that people in three piece suits can’t provide!
In the recent book Confessions Of a French Baker authors Peter Mayle and Gerard Auzet describe what happened to bakers who produced poor quality bread:
“In the bad old days of the 14th century, when the popes ruled from their palace in Avignon, the penalty for making substandard bread was severe. The guilty baker would have most of his clothes removed before being tied up in front of his shop, and then the good people of Avignon were encouraged to hit him with a stick as they pass by. The quality of his bread tended to improve dramatically.”
Perhaps it’s time to apply the above treatment to land speculators, planners and politicians in Toronto. Finally the large square in front of city hall would be put to use.
If you would like to learn more about the above, you check out the links at the left and/or click on the arrow below.
Hard Surfaced Public Open Space - What It Is
And Why It Sucks So Badly In Toronto
And Why It Sucks So Badly In Toronto
