Toronto is burgeoning with development as new condos reach for the sky. Development is changing the face of the city and our lifestyles as residents. It’s natural to want to have a say in how the city changes. The city of Toronto has set out to improve its consultation process to better engage residents with the planning and development process in an initiative called Growing Conversations, launched in late June.
Have you ever found something concerning about a new development as a citizen or homebuyer? Development not only builds up the physical spaces we spend time in every day—it also shapes what kind of housing is available to us.
The possibility of consultation always brings out some cynicism in people—that developers always have their way regardless of what people think. However, an open and inclusive consultation process that aims to help people to better understand the effects of development on their communities can foster a more cooperative environment. Most reputable developers want to build a project that can improve a community and are open to addressing concerns that people have.
The city’s planning division wants the city to be the most engaged in North America. To improve the consultation process, the city is proposing five objectives:
1. Better understand the strengths and weaknesses of the current community planning process in Toronto.
2. Explore new engagement models and tools, particularly those that are intended to help build capacity, inform participation, and build stronger relationships between the community, stakeholders and the City of Toronto.
3. Explore opportunities and best practices related to implementing Community Planning Advisory Groups in each Ward.
4. Explore opportunities to broaden participation by engaging new audiences.
5. Identify other opportunities to improve the quality of feedback received through the community planning process.
The city of Toronto launched the program on June 24 with plans for many workshops, round-table discussions and online consultations throughout the year. It hopes to create a set of guidelines for consultations called the Pillars of Effective Engagement. The process is expected to be complete by July 2015 with a plan for future development consultations called the Engagement Action Plan.
Growing Conversations Planned Cycle
The plan will be divided into an Ethnic Media Strategy, a Stakeholder Partnership Strategy, a Youth Engagement Strategy and an Open Data Framework.
The city of Toronto making a major effort to evolve its public consultation process over new development. City planning and development can be difficult to understand and confusing, but the city aims to bring more clarity and ensure that people’s voices are heard. Now’s the opportunity to change the consultation process for the better.