Dear Ontario Provincial…

Dear Ontario Provincial Government,

I am a practicing landscape architect, and a professor of landscape architecture. Enhanced development standards are incredibly important for public health. Without a healthy environment, our population will face a number of ills that are induced by climate change, such as an increase in hotter days and the number of them, as well as serious life threatening floods, which are also severely damaging to provincial infrastructure, just to name two examples.

Enhanced development standards help promote and regulate the implementation of many forms of green infrastructure (such as green roofs, healthy tree canopies, permeable surfaces, etc.), which contribute to healthy environments.

The trickle down effect of healthy environments are endless. The ecosystems services the enhanced development standards help uphold are critical to public health and safety in so many ways that the average person may not understand. Even something as simple as tree protection, is essential to maintaining tree canopies that help shade our streets and ameliorate pollution.

Raising the bar across Ontario to high levels of enhanced development standards, should be the direction we aim for! These standards are not just pretty landscapes that are slowing development down. They are critical green infrastructures that have proven benefits to both health and the economy.

We will not last long as a society unless we uphold standards across Ontario that will promote the building of healthy green cities!