Provincial Growth Plan – Further Intensification. Is This What We Want?

The province recently completed a 5 year review of the Greater Golden Horseshoe Growth Plan implemented by the liberal government to fix urban sprawl and intensify built-up areas, coupled with a greenbelt plan that took out millions of acres of potential development land for 10 years.  The provincial review document can be found at placestogrow.ca   On the one hand, it looks like the plan has been successful, according to the province at least, as its policies created an intensification of urban areas of a quotient to 54% (54% of all growth was within existing urban boundaries) as against 22% intensification without the plan.  According to the growth plan, over 800 kilometres of agricultural and rural land will have been preserved by 2031.   The review ignores numerous anomalies in areas such as Cambridge and Durham where the boundary lines between the intensification areas, the white areas (the areas for future development), and the greenbelt areas have artificially skewered lands that should be included in development but are otherwise restricted.  The corresponding severe restriction on land supply has resulted in a corresponding drop in new home sales and significant increase in the cost of housing, making it virtually unaffordable for the average family.   As reported in other blogs, this has benefitted the high-rise industry, both in the GTA and elsewhere, with tremendous growth in condominium new housing to replace the lack of affordable low-rise housing.   But is this the direction the average family wants to go?  Live in a high-rise to raise a family or move out beyond the GTA boundaries to find affordable housing and either a 2 hour commute, or a different lower paying job outside of the GTA.  The growth plan has much merit in attempting to bring some semblance of rationality to urban growth and sprawl, including the transportation systems and the type of housing.  However, the growth plan needs to be opened up and reviewed in detail to eliminate anomalies, and to ensure that the white belt areas designated for future development are really treated as such, and not as quasi greenbelt areas.  The October 2011 provincial election should prove interesting in terms of the direction of the growth plan for the future.