Toronto

Toronto is now the biggest city in North America to ban the sale of bottled water on city premises, a victory which advocates hope will spur a reinvestment in public water facilities, including drinking fountains in new buildings.

The current economic downturn has meant a drop in commodity prices, including for recycled materials. Now Toronto is facing the prospect of warehousing their collected recycleables until the market improves.

Toronto's Art Gallery of Ontario is about to open its spectacular renovation designed by Frank Gehry.

One architecture critic addresses two skyscraper-related conundrums: Decorative lighting that tops the buildings are energy inefficient, and they are dangerous to migrating birds.

Officials in Toronto have decided to keep secret the locations of 90 security cameras installed on public buildings. Residents and union officials are outraged.

This column looks at the NIMBY-minded attitude of one couple that has been fighting to prevent a bus line from coming into their neighborhood.

As Toronto's heritage buildings fall to disrepair, new condominiums are slated to go up in their stead, prompting outcry from preservationists.

Toronto is swimming in high-rise construction, with the second highest rate in the world. Some say this shift to the urban core spells the end of sprawl in Toronto.

Toronto is considering a broad new plan to encourage higher density.

This column from the Toronto Star argues that Toronto needs to take at least a few lessons from Vancouver if it wants to improve its planning.

Planning has become too much like a court case, with two sides and one winner. According to columnist Christopher Hume, this adversarial nature must be changed.

A transportation official in Toronto is hoping to convince colleagues that the system should allow advertisers to buy naming rights for transit stops in the city as a way of increasing revenue, but many remain opposed.

The German city of Bremen has lessons to teach North American cities about sustainable transportation, according to this article from The Toronto Star.

Short on funding, Toronto's waterfront parks agency is considering a plan to sell the naming rights to the park's amenities, allowing corporate sponsors to add their name to such public features as walkways and play areas.

By requiring a minimum height of at least two stories, cities could force big boxes to redesign their buildings into more urban friendly forms.

Critic Christopher Hume bemoans the destruction of historic homes in Toronto to make way for new residential condo towers.

After a recent shooting death in Toronto, one writer lays the blame for urban violence on city planners.

Poor planning is allowing uncontrolled and rapid gentrification to destroy Toronto's Liberty Village neighborhood, according to this article from The Toronto Star.

Officials in Toronto have announced plans to densify the city's waterfront with a redevelopment effort that stands to create high rises along the lakefront.

Suburban Torontonians will get a $6 billion light rail service, thanks to a newly-announced extension funded by the provincial and federal governments.