The Shape of the City: Toronto Struggles with Modern Planning

by John Sewell

Critics have long voiced concerns about the wisdom of living in cities and the effects of city life on physical and mental health. For a century, planners have tried to meet these issues. John Sewell... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 080207409X
• ISBN13: 9780802074096
• Release Date: September 1993
• Publisher: University of Toronto Press
• Length: 252 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

A history of Toronto and of Urban Planning in general.

Ever wonder why Toronto is designed the way it is? This book gives you a thorough explanation that's easy to follow. Through former Toronto mayor John Sewell's effective writing, you will see the evolution of Urban Planning throughout his history of Toronto, and you will get a clear picture of where we are going, and where we ought to be going.

If you like Toronto...

Former Toronto mayor John Sewell switches from anecdotal experience (as in his excellent Up Against City Hall) to raw research for this book, an exhaustive look at urban planning in Toronto. Filled with fascinating diagrams of almost-built structures like the Toronto Pyramid and diagonal streets disecting Toronto's grid-like downtown, Sewell discusses many planning projects, both implemented and rejected. In-depth looks at Don Mills ("Canada's first corporate suburb") and St. Jamestown (a superblock requiring extensive demolition) overshadow discussion of the Eaton Centre proposal and the Spadina Expressway, significant projects that got scaled back in the end, and covered in much more detail in other books. For someone who does so much writing about Toronto (Sewell writes a weekly column on Toronto politics for eye Magazine), it's surprising that this is only his third book.