I am deeply concerned about…

I am deeply concerned about the Proposed Amendments to the Greenbelt Plan. My background is in civil and transportation engineering, and while the area of urban growth is not my expertise, I took several courses in urban and spatial planning. It seems to me that all the things that I have learned about the dangers of urban sprawl during my university years and later witnessed during my engineering career, are about to happen if this proposal is accepted.

Multiple studies have shown that urban sprawl is creating negative economic, social and environmental effects (1-4). Some of the main economic costs of urban sprawl are loss of the time drivers have to spend traveling to their workplaces, higher household indebtedness, loss of well-being by pollution and depletion of resources (1).

Social effects of urban sprawl are associated with increased social/racial segregation, the creation of non-diverse communities and a decrease in social participation (1). There are also impacts on people’s own health associated with intense car use, especially in terms of the risks of accidents. Studies have found that more compact urban areas showed a lower accident rate because of the shorter distances and the lower speeds (1). Urban sprawl is also associated with a drastic reduction in walking because of the spatial distance from places of work, residence, and consumption, as well as the usual lack of pavements (1).

The environmental effects of urban sprawl are well known and I will only mention a few here: soil sealing, soil loss, cropland displacement, disruption of water cycles and material consumption and environmental pollution (1-3).

As in all major cities worldwide, Toronto’s population is inevitably growing, and yes, we need to build more homes, but they need to be built where existing infrastructure exists, increasing density and improving infrastructure. Studies have consistently found higher urban densities to be correlated with lower energy use and in general lower negative environmental impacts. In order to achieve urban sustainability goals for our cities and communities, we need to steer urban growth to upward development in order to reduce energy use from transport and other sectors (4).

I do understand that in North America, urban sprawl has long been an essential element of the social ordering and, thus, of the North American way of life (1). However, we live on a finite planet with finite resources. The long life of urban infrastructures and urban form create conditions that are difficult to change and often cause irreversible damage to the environment. Yes, people with financial means want to have large suburban houses and associating material possessions with well-being unfortunately is a part of the culture here. Still, cultures do change. Numerous studies have shown that life satisfaction does not keep growing beyond certain levels of material wealth, and that the true well-being usually results from fulfilling non-material life goals. Perhaps the time has come to reconsider our ways and our efforts to “sustain what is unsustainable” and think of the change as of a tremendous opportunity to shape our urban areas towards more truly sustainable outcomes.

References:

1) Bueno-Suárez C, Coq-Huelva D. Sustaining what is unsustainable: A review of urban sprawl and urban socio-environmental policies in North America and Western Europe. Sustainability. 2020 Jan;12(11):4445.

2) van Vliet J. Direct and indirect loss of natural area from urban expansion. Nature Sustainability. 2019 Aug;2(8):755-63.

3) Howard K, Gerber R. Impacts of urban areas and urban growth on groundwater in the Great Lakes Basin of North America. Journal of Great Lakes Research. 2018 Feb 1;44(1):1-3

4) Mahtta R, Mahendra A, Seto KC. Building up or spreading out? Typologies of urban growth across 478 cities of 1 million+. Environmental Research Letters. 2019 Dec 18;14(12):124077.