Malls in Toronto are being re-developed or demolished: Is this an establishment of 15-minute cities in Canada?

BY MICHAEL THOMAS

Westside Mall, Scarborough Town Centre, Yorkdale, Sherway Gardens, Fairview Mall, the ongoing redevelopment of Galleria Mall, Yorkgate Mall, Agincourt Mall, Atrium on Bay, Dufferin Mall, Centrepoint Mall, Cloverdale Mall, and Malvern Town Centre.

Above is a list of malls that are scheduled for, or are presently under re-development or demolition, and now the latest is Jane Finch Mall, a fixture in Toronto’s Black community.

These shopping malls are allegedly to be replaced with humongous condo communities, parks, and endless bicycle parking spots, 2,109 bicycle spots to be exact, just for the Jane and Finch location alone.

In this article, we shall focus a lot on the Jane and Finch Mall transformation project. Alongside the massive condos, the planners are also showcasing retail and a lot of new park space.

Remember earlier when I highlighted the huge amount of bicycle parking spots? Guess what, there will only be 400 automobile parking spaces for residents and visitors within the first phase.

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This did not start yesterday; in fact, it has been in the works since 2019. Most recently, property owners have pitched a proposal to city planners calling for a dozen buildings up to 50 stories’ high.

According to the planners and designers, there will be lots of room to bike and walk around, to be precise a total of 8,448 square meters (about the area of a Manhattan city block) of new public parkland and a sprawling 1,846-square-meter plaza that would act as a focal point for the community. Also, on deck, there will be 4,600 residential units and a central string of retail outlets carved into the mix. No rentals are included in the mix for the initial build-out.

While reading up on the changes, this paragraph caught my eye, “A FreshCo location within the mall would be the last retailer to vacate under this plan, by which time a new grocery store should be operational within the new buildings.”

This tells me that supermarkets like FreshCo will not be a part of the new equation, an Amazon grocery outlet might be just fine.

When I read that a company or companies named  BDP Quadrangle was responsible for putting these packaged living quarters together, I went digging to find out just who BDP Quadrangle was.

This is what I came up with. BDP Quadrangle is one of Canada’s leading architecture, design, and urbanism practices. Based in Toronto, Canada, their specialty is designing for the full spectrum of the built environment including mixed-use, residential, workplace, retail, transit, media environments, education, and health.

BDP was founded in 1961 in the UK, and Quadrangle, a 35-year-old practice well-known in North America for its design, business sense, and integrity, joined BDP in 2019 and became BDP Quadrangle in 2020. “Our 200-person studio strives to create places that foster well-being, inclusivity, and sustainable futures,” the company’s website boasted.

I could not help myself from feeling that I had hit the jackpot when I stumbled on this sentence right in place and straight out of Agenda 2030 and the WEF’s playbook of talking points, let us do this again… “Our 200-person studio strives to create places that foster wellbeing, inclusivity, and sustainable futures.”

When I went under the company’s status I found their famous pitch, but I think they purposely omitted one word. “BDP Quadrangle designs for the good of clients and communities.” For the greater good. “Greater” was left out.

As I continued reading this elaborate scheme of what I strongly see as a 15-minute city, a few questions came to mind:

Did the planners consult with the Jane and Finch community?

Do they care how this new scheme would affect them?

Why is there so much emphasis on bicycles as a means of transport instead of personal cars?

Could all this be a grand “Climate Change” scheme in the making?

Is this an establishment of 15-minute cities?

Could this be a method to restrict people from going outside of what might be deemed their approved limitations?

Who complained about the living conditions and the mall at Jane and Finch?

After all this time, why now?

The community at Jane and Finch, and Canadians as a whole need to be concerned about these so-called sustainable living projects that have the full potential to become 15-minute city traps. Canadians, wake up and recognize the game. Do not become the frog in the pot of warm water…ever.