Residents of Toronto Living in Vibrant, Multicultural Neighborhoods

Toronto, a city known for its diversity and strength in numbers, is home to nearly 3 million people. With approximately 51% of its population being foreign-born, the city prides itself on its motto, "Diversity Our Strength". One such complete community is Regent Park, located east of downtown Toronto.

Once known for its high crime rate and lack of amenities, Regent Park was made up entirely of social housing. However, the city's vision for housing is the creation of complete communities, and this is exactly what Regent Park is becoming.

The transformation of Regent Park was achieved through a public-private partnership, a strategy that will also be employed in Toronto's HousingTO 2020-2030 Action Plan. This action plan aims to create a range of housing opportunities across the full housing spectrum, from homelessness to rental and ownership housing.

The HousingTO 2020-2030 Action Plan includes several actions such as the creation of complete communities, ensuring a mix of users and uses to animate the community, and giving people the chance to participate actively and engage the community.

The partnership resulted in a wide range of different housing options, catering to Toronto's diverse population. Regent Park offers something for everyone, including low-income families, middle-income earners, renters, homeowners, immigrants, and long-established Torontonians.

Key strategies for transforming Regent Park into a complete community while maintaining affordability and preventing gentrification focus on comprehensive revitalization that balances redevelopment with community retention and support.

The redevelopment includes replacing older social housing units with a mix of affordable, market-rate, and subsidized housing within the same neighbourhood. Significant funds are invested directly into community infrastructure, programs, and services tailored to residents' needs, promoting social cohesion and improving quality of life alongside physical redevelopment.

New planning frameworks emphasize fitting new buildings with appropriate scale and integration into the existing community fabric rather than overwhelming it, preserving community identity and accessibility. Redevelopment efforts prioritize creating safe, usable public spaces and community amenities, which improve livability without encouraging displacement through speculative real estate investment.

Infrastructure upgrades, such as better transit links, support access to jobs and services, benefiting current residents and attracting inclusive economic opportunities without aggressive gentrification. The panel reflects Toronto's diversity, with members selected based on gender, ethnic background, age, etc.

The HousingTO 2020-2030 Action Plan also emphasizes the importance of providing a range of different housing options, making public and private housing indistinguishable from one another. The City of Toronto created the Planning Review Panel, a 32-member advisory body to assist the city council in developing planning initiatives. Members of the Planning Review Panel are chosen through a Civic Lottery, with invitations sent out at random to people around the city.

The panel serves a two-year term after which the Civic Lottery is run again. Jennifer Keesmaat, the former Chief Planner of Toronto, knows the city's housing situation inside out and is a driving force behind these initiatives. The plan includes the adoption of a revised "Toronto Housing Charter - Opportunity for All", the maintenance and increased access to affordable rents, continued revitalization of neighborhoods, creation of new rental housing, and improvement of accountability and transparency in the delivery of housing services to residents.

In conclusion, Toronto's strategies for transforming Regent Park into a complete community while maintaining affordability and preventing gentrification are a testament to the city's commitment to creating a range of housing opportunities across the full housing spectrum. These strategies aim to create a complete community—one that is physically, socially, and economically integrated—with a strong emphasis on affordability and minimizing involuntary displacement through careful planning, community investment, and mixed-income housing policies.

Regent Park offers a variety of housing options catering to Toronto's diverse population, such as low-income families, middle-income earners, renters, homeowners, immigrants, and long-established Torontonians, reflecting the city's commitment to diversity.
The HousingTO 2020-2030 Action Plan emphasizes the importance of providing a range of different housing options, making public and private housing indistinguishable from one another, thereby promoting social cohesion in the city.
For a balanced redevelopment, the city invests significant funds into community infrastructure, programs, and services tailored to residents' needs, fostering personal growth and education-and-self-development opportunities.
In Regent Park, relationships are nurtured through ensuring a mix of users and uses to animate the community, allowing for interactions and engagement that support personal growth.
As the former Chief Planner of Toronto, Jennifer Keesmaat plays a crucial role in these initiatives, focusing on creating complete communities that balance redevelopment with community retention and support.
In Regent Park, residents can enjoy various aspects of lifestyle, from food-and-drink options to shopping, with new planning frameworks ensuring that these amenities are accessible to all while preventing the encroachment of luxury fashion-and-beauty stores or high-end cars. Additionally, travel possibilities are enhanced with infrastructure upgrades, making commuting more convenient for both work and leisure purposes.