A major problem confronting planning is the gap between transformative proposals and enduring urban development trends. The paper interprets interviews with 62 planners involved in a sustainable urban development strategy in a large region focussed on Toronto, Canada. Surveyed planners were asked about the obstacles they encounter when attempting to modify prevailing urban development. Mentioned obstacles are consistent with expectations arising from three major perspectives on inertia: institutionalism, political economy and path dependence. Interviews also highlight the role of planners' practical knowledge in identifying and interpreting obstacles, and the existence of a consensus among respondents over sustainable urban development.

No abstract

Many official smart growth inspired Canadian plans limit sprawl by mixing land uses, transportation modes, jobs and residents to create compact, transit-oriented, multi-functional, intensification centres enriched with amenities and highly designed public spaces. However, these intensification strategies, built on new or expanded public transit systems at metropolitan, regional and local planning scales, face challenges amid the 2020 pandemic. Recovery from the combined COVID-19-induced loss of commercial activity in intensification centres and confidence in public transit could take years, and combined with an increased reliance on private vehicles, could undo decades of planning efforts at shifting unsustainable land use-transportation dynamics. This chapter proposes as an alternative, or complementary, intensification approach, a pedestrian-oriented development (POD) model inspired by the ‘15-minute city’ being considered across the world.

No abstract

No abstract