Academic literature on the topic 'Land use, Urban – Ontario – Toronto'

Port authorities have been important presences in Canada's port cities, playing major roles in determining the physical form and land-use functions of urban waterfront lands. Their formative roles warrant attention from scholars concerned with the city-building process in Canada. This study focuses upon one such body, The Toronto Harbour Commissioners, and how and why it has functioned as a land development agency. An analysis of the commissions Outer Harbour project between 1912 and 1968 shows the commissions central concern with land development: ostensibly presented as a harbour facility, the project was actually intended to be a key component in the commissions proposed redevelopment of Toronto's central waterfront for profitable commercial and residential use. The project also reveals the significance of landfilling in the commissions urban development role, and, incidentally, explains the existence of the three-mile artificial headland projecting out into Lake Ontario from Toronto's waterfront. The role of the commission as a development agency is explained in terms of its original 1911 mandate, which in turn reflects the intentions of the Toronto Board of Trade, the body that had led the drive to create the commission.

Self-harm has become one of the leading causes of mortality in developed countries. The overall rate for suicide in Canada is 11.3 per 100,000 according to Statistics Canada in 2015. Between 2000 and 2007 the lowest rates of suicide in Canada were in Ontario, one of the most urbanized regions in Canada. However, the interaction between land use, landscape and self-harm has not been significantly studied for urban cores. It is thus of relevance to understand the impacts of land-use and landscape on suicidal behavior. This paper takes a spatial analytical approach to assess the occurrence of self-harm along one of the densest urban cores in the country: Toronto. Individual self-harm data was gathered by the National Ambulatory Care System (NACRS) and geocoded into census tract divisions. Toronto’s urban landscape is quantified at spatial level through the calculation of its land use at different levels: (i) land use type, (ii) sprawl metrics relating to (a) dispersion and (b) sprawl/mix incidence; (iii) fragmentation metrics of (a) urban fragmentation and (b) density and (iv) demographics of (a) income and (b) age. A stepwise regression is built to understand the most influential factors leading to self-harm from this selection generating an explanatory model.

Abstract Occurrence of increasing chloride concentrations in urban streams of cold climates, mainly due to road salt application, has raised concerns on its adverse effects on aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Therefore, there is a need for a better understanding of processes associated with road salt application and subsequent discharge into the environment in order to develop management practices to minimize detrimental effects of chlorides. The chloride mass analysis for the Highland Creek watershed based on four years of hourly monitoring data indicates that approximately 60% of the chlorides applied on the watershed enter streams prior to subsequent salting period, 85% of which occurs during the period between November and March. Contribution of private de-icing operations on chloride mass input within Highland Creek watershed was estimated to be approximately 38%, indicating its significance in overall chloride mass balance. Salt application rates, as well as chloride output in the streams, vary spatially based on land use, influencing chloride concentrations in surface waters. The estimated groundwater chloride concentration of 275 mg/L indicates that some aquatic organisms in Highland Creek would potentially be at risk even outside the winter period under dry weather flow conditions.

Climate change and rapid urbanization could possibly increase the vulnerability of the Great Lakes Basin, Canada, which is the largest surface freshwater system in the world. This study explores the joint impact of climate change and land-use changes on the hydrology of a rapidly urbanizing Credit River watershed which lets out into Lake Ontario 25 km southwest of downtown Toronto, Ontario (ON), Canada; we began by classifying the watershed into urban and rural sections. A non-parametric Mann–Kendall test and the Sen slope estimator served to detect and describe the annual-, seasonal-, and monthly-scale trends in the climate variables (temperature, precipitation, and evapotranspiration), as well as the streamflow characteristics (median annual streamflow, baseflow, Runoff Coefficients (RC), Flow Duration Curve (FDC), Center of Volume (COV), and Peak Over Threshold (POT)) since 1916 for four rural and urban sub-watersheds. The temperature, precipitation and evapotranspiration (1950–2019) showed significant increasing trends for different months and seasons. Furthermore, the results indicated that the median annual streamflow, 7-day annual minimum flow, and days above normal are increasing; meanwhile, the annual maximum streamflow is decreasing. A total of 230 datasets were tested for their trends; of these, 80% and 20% increasing and decreasing trends were obtained, respectively. Of the total, significant trends (<0.05%) of 32% and 2% increasing and decreasing, respectively, were observed. The results of the FDC analysis indicated a decline in the annual and winter 10:90 exceedance ratio over the years for the rural and urban sub-watershed gauges. The BFI results show that the BFI of the rural areas was, on average, 18% higher than that of the urban areas. In addition, the RC also showed the influence of land-use and population changes on the watershed hydrology, as the RC for the urban gauge area was 19.3% higher than that for the rural area gauge. However, the difference in the RC was the lowest (5.8%) in the summer. Overall, the findings from this study highlight the annual, seasonal, and monthly changes in the temperature, precipitation, evapotranspiration, and streamflow in the watershed under study. Based on the available monitored data, it was difficult to quantify the changes in the streamflow over the decade which were attributable to population growth and land-cover use and management changes due to municipal official planning in the watershed.

INTRODUCTION Winter snow and ice can have a significant impact on our mobility, whether on foot or by car. Alongside plowing, arguably the greatest tool in combating snow and ice is salt. The most commonly used salt for winter maintenance is Sodium Chloride (NaCl), the same salt used in food and water softeners, is applied to roads, sidewalks, and parking lots as it is an effective deicer when temperatures are between 0°C and −12°C. Studies have shown that deicing with salt reduces accidents by 88% and injuries by 85% (Salt Institute 2017). The effectiveness of road salt, as well as its relative affordability, means that as much as four million tonnes may be applied annually in Canada for deicing (Environment Canada 2012). However, while salt is relatively inexpensive to purchase, there are a number of external costs that are becoming increasingly apparent. These include corrosion of vehicles and infrastructure like concrete, bridges, and water mains; damage and staining to the interior and exterior of buildings; impacts to roadside vegetation and soils; and the contamination of fresh water. In fact, the environmental impacts are such that it prompted Environment Canada to propose that winter salt be considered a toxic substance primarily due to the quantity that is applied annually (Environment Canada 2001). The Lake Simcoe watershed, approximately 3,400km2 in size, is situated just 20km north of Toronto, Ontario, with the southern portion of the watershed being considered part of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), the most populous metropolitan area in Canada. As part of the GTA, the Lake Simcoe watershed has experienced and continues to experience considerable growth, and with this growth comes an increase in the amount of impervious surfaces requiring winter salting. Indeed, chloride has been showing a strong increasing trend in the urban creeks and in Lake Simcoe itself over the last 30 years. Even rural creeks are showing an increasing trend, albeit not as severe, nor are the concentrations of chloride reaching the same levels (LSRCA 2015). The highest chloride level recorded in a Lake Simcoe tributary was 6,120mg/l in the winter of 2013. Chloride guidelines for the protection of aquatic ecosystems utilize a guideline of 120mg/L for chronic exposure and 640mg/L for acute exposure (CCME 2011). While the high value recorded in the Lake Simcoe tributary greatly exceeds these guidelines, it is still drastically lower than values being recorded in larger, intensively urbanized catchments such as Cooksville Creek in Mississauga, Ontario, which sees concentrations in excess of 20,000 mg/L, the concentration of sea water, nearly every winter (Credit Valley Conservation personal comm). Similarly, in July of 2011 a small population of Atlantic blue crabs, a marine species, was found surviving in Mimico Creek in Toronto (Toronto Star: May 26, 2012). That a marine species was able to survive in this fresh water creek in summer demonstrates that the impacts of winter salt are not just limited to winter but are impacting shallow groundwater and thus summer baseflow, maintaining high chloride concentrations year round. The same is being seen in some urban creeks in the Lake Simcoe watershed, with summer baseflow concentrations exceeding the chronic guideline and trending upwards (LSRCA unpublished). While not yet as extreme as rivers in the more densely urbanized parts of the GTA, these examples foreshadow what is in store for Lake Simcoe rivers if current winter salt practices continue along with the projected urban growth. During the winter of 2012 an estimated 99,300 tonnes of salt was applied in the Lake Simcoe watershed, an amount that equals nearly 250kg of salt per capita, or ~3 times the average person's body weight in salt. This estimate was generated through a survey of local road agencies along with the total area of commercial/institutional parking lots within the watershed. The exercise served to highlight a knowledge gap around application practices and rates in commercial/institutional parking lots. The majority of road agencies were found to record annual volumes, application dates and rates whereas literature values range from 10–40% of the salt applied in a catchment come from commercial/institutional parking lots (Perera et al, 2009; Trowbridge et al, 2010; Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority, 2015), and a survey of winter maintenance contractors cite an average value of approximately 58g/m2/application (Fu et al, 2013) ( Figure 1 ). [Figure: see text] While these values were used in the estimation as they were the best available, observational data suggested these may be on the conservative side ( Figure 2 ). [Figure: see text] Therefore, monitoring of a 14 ha commercial lot was undertaken for the winters of 2014/15, 2015/16, and 2016/17 to better quantify the amount of salt coming from this type of land use. The winters of 2014/15 and 2016/17 saw similar applications of 1,067 and 1,010 tonnes applied respectively, while the mild winter of 2015/16 saw 556 tonnes applied. While the amounts varied somewhat each winter, the impacts downstream were consistent. Maximum concentrations recorded in the melt water reached 3.5 to 4 times the salt concentration of sea water every winter, equating to chloride concentrations of 70,000mg/L to 85,000mg/L; two orders of magnitude above the water quality guideline. As with most parking lots constructed in the last two decades, the runoff from this parking lot is captured in a stormwater pond prior to entering the receiving watercourse. Interestingly, the winter salt also caused persistent chemical stratification in the permanent pool of the pond. The pond was monitored with continuous monitors for the ice free period of 2015 and 2016 (April to December) during which the bottom water chloride concentration remained distinct from the surface chloride concentration, indicating stratification ( Figure 3 ). This has two significant implications; first of which is that this pond, and therefore many other ponds like it, may not be functioning as designed which is leading to diminished performance (McEnroe 2012, Marsalek 2003). Second is that ponds are acting as salt reservoirs, slowly releasing salt year round and contributing to river chloride concentrations that continually exceed the chronic exposure guideline and thereby exposing aquatic life to harmful concentrations during sensitive life cycle stages. [Figure: see text] To determine the extent to which the catchment land use type impacts stormwater ponds, chemical profiles were measured on three ponds in February 2017. The catchments included the 24.6 ha commercial catchment with 14 ha of salt application surface, an institutional catchment (14.3 ha) with 6 ha of salt application area that includes parking lots and roads, and a 16.4 ha residential catchment with 3 ha of salt application area comprised of tertiary municipal roads. Interestingly, all three ponds showed chemical stratification, with the severity of the stratification and highest chloride concentrations relating to the amount of salt application area in the catchment. The residential pond yielded a maximum chloride concentration of 3,115mg/L in the bottom waters, the institutional yielded 16,144mg/L, and the commercial yielded 25,530 mg/L with chloride concentrations in the bottom 0.5m of the pond exceeding that of sea water. The maximum chloride concentration recorded in the receiving watercourse downstream of the commercial lot was measured at 5,406 mg/L, well in excess of the acute guideline of 640 mg/L. These results highlight that commercial parking lots are not only receiving a significant volume of salt but are also having the most dramatic impacts on receiving stormwater infrastructure and watercourses.

Nature-based solutions (NbS) present an opportunity to reduce rising temperatures and the urban heat island effect. A multi-scale study in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, evaluates the effect of NbS on air and land surface temperature through two field campaigns at the micro and meso scales, using in situ measurements and LANDSAT imagery. This research demonstrates that the application of NbS in the form of green infrastructure has a beneficial impact on urban climate regimes with measurable reductions in air and land surface temperatures. Broad implementation of green infrastructure is a sustainable solution to improve the urban climate, enhance heat and greenspace equity, and increase resilience.

AbstractIn this study, we target the speech act of direction-giving using variationist sociolinguistic methods within a corpus of vernacular speech from six Ontario communities. Not only do we find social and geographical correlates to linguistic choices in direction-giving, but we also establish the influence of the physical layout of the community/place in question. Direction-giving in the urban center of Toronto (Southern Ontario) contrasts with five Northern Ontario communities. Northerners use more relative directions, while Torontonians use more cardinal directions, landmarks, and proper street names – for example, Go east on Bloor to the Manulife Centre. We also find that specific lexical choices (e.g., Take a right vs. Make a right) distinguish direction-givers in Northern Ontario from those in Toronto. These differences identify direction-giving as an ideal site for sociolinguistic and dialectological investigation and corroborate previous findings documenting regional variation in Canadian English.

In this paper we consider the role of land use planning in the location of group homes. Exclusionary zoning policies have been used to restrict the entry of group homes into certain residential neighbourhoods. This has resulted in an unequal distribution of these facilities throughout the community. We concentrate on events in Metropolitan Toronto where it has recently been announced that group homes are to be regarded as a permissible land use in all residential neighbourhoods.

Histories of contemporary development control tend to situate its beginning in the first or second decade of the twentieth century, when modern zoning bylaws were adopted. Yet, as some researchers have pointed out, building and land-use regulations took shape in the nineteenth century and even earlier. This paper focuses on controls set by the City of Toronto between 1834, when it was incorporated, and 1904, when it adopted bylaw no. 4408, which is seen by many as the first step taken by the city toward modern zoning. In technical terms, it appears that a coherent, though minimal, apparatus of land-use regulation was already in place by the 1860s. Over the course of the nineteenth century, building codes and nuisance laws display the growing intervention of public authorities in the development of the industrial city. Municipal control over material production and over human activity diversifies and finds expression in increasingly complex ordinances. In political terms, the bylaws reveal a growing concern with socio-spatial differentiation and with the protection of property values rather than with health and safety. The incremental development of land-use regulation suggests that, even though North American cities borrowed from each other and from their European counterparts, they constructed zoning locally, in accordance to local needs, resources, and constraints (economic, political, and legal) and in a piecemeal fashion, one bylaw, one amendment at a time.

Urban Studies
Ph.D.
Although governments have implemented several reforms to better integrate or coordinate regional transportation and land use decisions, little is known about the effects of new institutional designs on planning and development outcomes. This study compares the effects of two different types of institutional reforms on the planning process, transportation investments and land use decisions, while assessing their characteristics in terms of accountability, democracy, and effectiveness. Using semi-structured interviews, planning documents, as well as transportation spending and land use decisions, this longitudinal, comparative case study assesses the effects of the centralized, regulatory framework implemented in Toronto in 2005-2006, to the collaborative governance framework adopted in Chicago in 2005. Although each institutional design features different sets of constraints and opportunities, both reforms improved the planning process by establishing a renewed commitment to the exercise of regional planning. However, their impact on transportation investments was limited because the allocation of transportation funds is still primarily controlled by the province and the state governments who continue to control the purse strings and allocate money to advance their own political agendas. Both cases also show how difficult it is to increase densities and curb urban sprawl because local land uses, zoning and development approvals remain the prerogative of local governments and a function of locational preferences of individuals and corporations, which are contingent upon the market and shaped by global economic forces. Besides stronger regional institutions, the evidence presented in this study calls for new political strategies that address the fiscalization of land use and that offer financial incentives for the adoption of smart growth policies.
Temple University--Theses

Thesis (M. Sc.)--York University, 2004. Graduate Programme in Geography.
Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 160-172). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004 & res_dat=xri:pqdiss & rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation & rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:MR00974.

Thesis (M.Sc.)--York University, 2004. Graduate Programme in Geography.
Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 158-174). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url%5Fver=Z39.88-2004&res%5Fdat=xri:pqdiss &rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:MR11927

In this thesis I recount the historical relationship between settlement and food lands in Southern Ontario. Informed by landscape and food regime theory, I use a landscape approach to interpret the history of this relationship to deepen our understanding of a pertinent, and historically specific problem of land access for sustainable farming. This thesis presents entrenched barriers to landscape renewal as institutional legacies of various layers of history. It argues that at the moment and for the last century Southern Ontario has had two different, parallel sets of determinants for land-use operating on the same landscape in the form of agricultural policy and urban planning. To the extent that they are not purposefully coordinated, not just with each other but with the social and ecological foundations of our habitation, this is at the root of the problem of land access for sustainable farming.

District energy systems are a key component to addressing reductions in green house gases, encouraging compact settlement form and ensuring reliable community energy delivery. System development can also generate local economic benefits like aggregated energy pricing and employment creation. This research focuses on an exploration of Ontario’s planning framework with respect to energy generation and thermal energy distribution, providing broad recommendations to municipalities intended to help facilitate the development of district energy systems. In summary, this research was designed to accomplish the following objectives: 1. To craft a set of transferrable recommendations that will help Ontario municipalities facilitate the development of district energy systems where appropriate. 2. To add to the literature available on district energy system development from a municipal planning perspective. 3. To examine the tools available to planning practitioners to help engage communities and municipalities in planning for local energy generation and delivery. The methodological approach employed for this research is qualitative in nature, relying on an inductive style building from particulars to general themes. The characteristics of a qualitative study are best suited to address the research questions and objectives because community energy planning and land use planning are largely unexplored in conjunction, and this methodology provides a framework to explore where the fields have integrated in practice as well as reveal some of the challenges and potential solutions. Case studies were used to examine the development of two different Ontario district energy systems. Additionally, key informant interviews provide insights from planners, system operators, customers and industry experts to provide a practice based foundation of information to development transferable recommendations. The findings suggest that the development of a district energy system is a very complex process, requiring the expertise of many specialists, and the support from local stakeholders. There are planning implications for the implementation of district energy systems, which require forethought at the beginning of the planning process and opportunities to support community based energy solutions through policy. The adoption of a planning regulatory framework will ensure adequate consideration is given to community energy management in conjunction with land use and urban form. Going forward, accounting for the conservation of energy in land use will be imperative for achieving local, regional and provincial goals associated with infrastructure, the environment, and energy resource management.

Many natural areas and systems within urban landscapes are small or narrow. Landscape ecology studies within forested and agricultural landscapes have found that small natural areas that are protected from development or resource extraction through land use planning are significantly affected by adjacent land use changes. Some eventually lose the values for which they were protected. Studies also indicate that natural area boundary structures and functions are important determinants of the extent to which external threats affect adjacent natural areas. Few studies have empirically tested whether small or narrow urban natural areas that are protected from development through municipal land use planning are significantly affected by adjacent land use changes. However, municipal planners and forest managers are concerned that activities of residents living adjacent to the forest edge, commonly referred to as residential encroachment, may be degrading the social values, and ecological forms and functions of their woodlands. Studies have recorded evidence of human impacts within suburban forest edges, indicating that both recreation and yard-related activities are occurring and that these activities occur at significantly higher frequencies in the forest edge than in the interiors of these forests. However, no study has differentiated residential encroachment activities from those of other recreationists. In addition, although a number of municipalities have developed policies to address these activities, little is known about these policies, the extent to which they are implemented, or their effectiveness in protecting their small or narrow forested natural areas from residential encroachment activities. The principal research questions answered in this research are: 1) Do municipalities within Southern Ontario have policies for protecting natural areas from the activities of residents living adjacent to suburban forest edges? 2) To what extent are they implementing these policies? 3) What encroachment activities, if any, are occurring in Southern Ontario municipal forest edges? and 4) Are municipal boundary-related policies effective in limiting edge-resident encroachment activities? Using a mixed method approach, the research incorporates qualitative and quantitative data collection to answer these questions. The content analysis of official and secondary plans and social surveys of key informants within six Southern Ontario municipalities identify boundary-related policies for protecting municipal natural areas from residential encroachment activities. They also determine the extent to which the study municipalities implement these policies. Field studies in 40 forests within these municipalities used unobtrusive measurements of encroachment behaviour to describe encroachment activities under two implemented municipal boundary demarcation policies, and other boundary treatments The three research methods, together with a literature review, were used to determine whether Ontario municipal policies are effective in limiting edge-resident encroachment activities within municipal forest edges. The content analysis and interviews indicated that, in general, municipal policies were insufficient to address the edge-resident encroachment issue. Policies had been established, but not at a sufficiently authoritative policy level (i.e. the official plan level) to support their implementation by staff. In addition, policies were missing explicit goals, objectives and strategies to direct their implementation, and the municipalities had not integrated their disparate policy components into an integrated course of action through time and space. The municipalities were successful in implementing policies to prevent edge resident encroachment within natural areas adjacent to newly developing subdivisions. However, they had infrequently implemented their policies for preventing encroachment within natural areas adjacent to established subdivisions. Furthermore, all the municipalities were not frequently implementing their policies to remediate existing encroachments within natural areas adjacent to newly developing or established subdivisions. The unobtrusive measurement of encroachment behaviour confirmed that residential encroachment activities generated a housing effect zone of impact within municipal forest edges. The distribution of the evidence of encroachment was significantly biased to the forest border. Encroachment traces were highly prevalent within study forests, occurring in over 94% of sites and covering 26 to 50% of the sampled area. Encroachment traces were particularly intense in the first 8 metres from the forest border; but extended a mean maximum extent of 16 metres from the forest border, with 95% of the evidence of encroachment lying within 34 metres. Boundary type significantly affected the mean frequency, intensity and maximum extent of encroachment. Mean frequencies, intensities and extents of all encroachment, and of most encroachment categories, were generally higher in sites with boundary types that allowed edge residents ready access to the forest edge. Conversely, sites with boundary treatments that had barriers to entry, such as fences or grass strips, tended to have lower encroachment levels. Sites with multiple barriers, such as those with fences, grass strips and paths, tended to have the lowest mean frequencies, intensities and mean maximum extents of encroachment. While sites with implemented municipal post and fence policies had significantly lower mean frequencies, intensities and, in the case of fences extents of encroachment, they were not significantly different from those of sites under some of the boundary types not subject to municipal policies. They were also significantly higher than those of sites with fences and grass strips (with or without pathways). Sites with municipal posts had significantly lower mean intensities of encroachment than sites with other boundaries that enabled residents to enter the forest edge, and had significantly lower mean frequencies of waste disposal traces than fenced sites. Sites with fences also had significantly lower mean intensities of encroachment than sites with no boundary demarcation, or sites with fences and gates, and were particularly effective in reducing the incidence of yard extension encroachments, and mean maximum extents of encroachment. Despite the effectiveness of these boundary demarcation policies, and that of some of the other boundary treatments evaluated, none of the boundary treatments was effective in eliminating encroachment traces. A buffer of between 10 and 20 metres in width would be required to segregate the mean maximum extent of encroachment activities from sensitive forest edges, depending on the boundary demarcation policy, or type. The research concludes that current municipal policies are insufficient to meet the complexity and scope of the encroachment activities occurring. Some preventative policies have been developed and are regularly implemented within natural areas adjacent to new subdivisions. However, implemented boundary demarcation policies are insufficient to eliminate, or minimize residential encroachment. Wider more complex boundary policies that limit different types of encroachment and include elements that reduce access, spatially separate, and encourage informal residential surveillance (such as fences, grass strips and pathways) can further reduce encroachment levels. Few municipalities have established boundary demarcation policies to prevent encroachment within natural areas adjacent to established subdivisions, and study municipalities infrequently implement policies and bylaws to mitigate existing encroachments within these areas. Yet interviewees, and the results of the unobtrusive measurement of encroachment in study forest edges, indicate that encroachment activities are highly prevalent within these municipal forests. Policies at all levels, and particularly at the official plan level, are required to protect natural areas from edge resident encroachment, and other forms of post development impacts on natural areas. These policies are required to support the more rigorous enforcement of encroachment bylaws, and the negotiation, and implementation of effective buffers and boundary demarcation treatments. In consideration of these results and conclusions, the dissertation describes the implications for municipal planning policy and urban and regional planning theory, and provides recommendations for future research.

AbstractRecently, the display and use of the rainbow flag in historically defined gay neighborhoods has grown even as gay residents and businesses have been driven away by gentrification, rising real-estate costs, and cultural homogenization. At the same time, prevelence and use of the rainbow flag and the rainbow motif has increased in areas not usually considered part of recognized gay neighborhoods. This chapter explores the prevalence and persistence of the display of the rainbow flag and rainbow motif in nine neighborhoods across Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The visual assessment of rainbow flag use across these neighborhoods serves as a potential model for examining the rate of spread of rainbow flags and visual rainbow motif symbols as a means for tracking the movement of the LGBTQ+ community across urban neighborhoods. Initial results suggest potential significance of the prevalence and persistence of the rainbow flag and the rainbow motif. These include; (1) a possible diaspora of LGBTQ+ residents from traditionally defined gay neighborhoods to newly emerging gay or LGBTQ-friendly neighborhoods, (2) a newfound inclusivity or pride among residents of other neighborhoods, and (3) “rainbow washing” due to overuse of the rainbow motif by non-LGBTQ businesses and organizations connected with pride celebrations. While overuse of the rainbow flag may diminish historically coded meaning of the rainbow, that well-intentioned use of the rainbow flag is a positive and welcoming indicator for LGBTQ+ individuals and it may lead to the emergence of additional LGBTQ-friendly enclaves that, over time, could potentially emerge as new gay neighborhoods.

Water covers 70% of the earth’s surface. Only 3% of this is freshwater, which is indispensable in sustaining plant and animal life. The amount of freshwater is maintained constant by the hydrological cycle. This cycle involves evaporation from oceans and inland waters, transpiration from plants, precipitation, infiltration into the soil, and runoff of surface water into lakes and rivers. The infiltrated water is used for plant growth and recharges groundwater reserves. Although the global supply of available freshwater is sufficient to maintain life, the worldwide distribution of freshwater is not even. In some areas the supply is limited because of climatic conditions or cannot meet the demands of high population density. In other places, although there is no shortage of freshwater, the water supply is contaminated with industrial chemicals and is thus unfit for human use. Moreover, fish and other aquatic species living in chemically contaminated water become unfit for human consumption. Thus, water pollution deprives us and other species of two essential ingredients for survival: water and food. An example of hydrologic changes caused by urbanization is given in Figure 11.1. Conditions before and after urbanization were measured in Ontario, Canada, by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (1). In the urban setting, pervious areas are replaced with impervious ones (such as streets, parking lots, and shopping centers). Groundwater replenishment is greatly reduced and runoff is considerably increased by these changes. Thus, urbanization not only contributes to water pollution; it also increases the possibility of floods. Nitrogen is an important element for sustenance of life. However, in order to be incorporated into living matter it has to be converted into an assimilative form—an oxide or ammonia. Until the beginning of the twentieth century most of the atmospheric nitrogen was converted into assimilative form by soil microorganisms and by lightning. Nitrogen compounds which were not utilized by living matter did not accumulate because the denitrifying bacteria decomposed them to elemental nitrogen which was then released back into the atmosphere. In this way the nitrogen cycle was completed.

<em>Abstract.</em>—–We demonstrate the effects of percent impervious cover (PIC) on biophysical properties of Lake Ontario tributary streams. Biophysical data (fish assemblages, benthic invertebrate assemblages (benthos), instream physical habitat, and temperature) were collected from more than 575 wadeable stream sites. A geographic information system application was developed to characterize the landscape upstream of each site (i.e., drainage area, surficial geology, land use/land cover, slope, stream length, and climate). Total PIC of catchments was estimated from land use/land cover, and a base flow index was derived from the surficial geology. The relationship between PIC and biophysical responses was determined after statistically removing the effects of natural landscape features (i.e., catchment area, slope, base flow index) on those responses. Contrasts in PIC from natural conditions (<3% to 10%) were related to variations in fish and benthos assemblages. Both coldwater sensitive and warmwater tolerant fish and diverse benthos assemblages were found in catchments with low PIC. At more than 10 PIC (i.e., about 50% urban), both fish and benthos consisted of mainly warmwater or tolerant assemblages. For example, trout were absent and minnows were dominant. While some of the apparent PIC effect may have been confounded by land use/land cover and surficial geology, the consistency of the findings even after natural catchment conditions were considered suggests that the threshold response is valid. Percent impervious cover had a weaker effect on instream geomorphic variables than on biological variables. The models derived from this study can be used to predict stream biophysical conditions for catchments with varying levels of development.

The lack of foresight by municipalities and others in preserving corridors for utilities means that there are increasingly fewer opportunities to locate linear facilities in large urban centers such as the City of Toronto. In those corridors that do exist, there are competing land uses that make it difficult to accommodate any new use. Many of these land uses are directly related to the people living adjacent to and in the vicinity of the corridors. In 2003, the Ontario Energy Board approved new “Environmental Guidelines for the Location, Construction and Operation of Hydrocarbon Pipelines and Facilities in Ontario”. The Guidelines include specific new requirements for planning pipelines in urban areas. Among other things, these new requirements involve the identification of indirectly affected landowners and a more detailed analysis of public issues and how they were resolved. Through the use of a case study, this paper identifies the public issues that were encountered in planning the location of a NPS 36 (Nominal Pipe Size 914 mm or 36 inch diameter) natural gas pipeline through residential neighbourhoods in the City of Toronto and the Town of Markham. It also describes how the public involvement requirements contained in the Ontario Energy Board’s new guidelines were incorporated into the planning process. The case study begins with a rationale for the study area selected. A description of the public issues follows. The techniques used to address these issues and the success of the public involvement program that identified 180 directly affected and 3,200 indirectly affected landowners is documented. The study results illustrate that it is possible to plan a right-of-way through an urban corridor in such a manner as to satisfy the general public, be compatible with existing development, conform to the new Ontario Energy Board Guidelines and minimize the amount of remedial work required to mitigate the impacts occurring on and adjacent to the right-of-way.

The Regional Municipality of York is located immediately north of the City of Toronto. It is the fastest growing municipality in Ontario. The rapid expansion of residential, industrial and commercial development in the municipality has led to a weakness in the electrical and gas infrastructure. The Ontario Power Authority (the agency responsible for managing the power requirements in the Province of Ontario) has recognized this weakness and has developed plans calling for a new gas-fired generating station and improvements to the electrical grid. The shortages of gas supply and electricity have not developed overnight. Hydro One, which runs the electrical grid, initiated a supply study in 2002. The study recommended upgrading a 115 kV transmission line to a double circuit 230 kV transmission line on the existing corridor. The ensuing public outcry resulted in the municipality passing a resolution against the upgrade. Similarly, a large gas-fired generating station proposal was abandoned as the result of citizen opposition. In 2003, the Ontario Energy Board approved new Environmental Guidelines for the Location, Construction and Operation of Hydrocarbon Pipelines and Facilities in Ontario. The guidelines include specific new requirements for planning pipelines in urban areas. Among other things, these requirements involve the identification of indirectly affected landowners and a more detailed analysis of public issues and how they were resolved. It became clear that in order to achieve regulatory success, not only would the public have to become actively engaged in the decision-making early in the process, the technical reviewers (federal, provincial and municipal agencies) would likewise have to be actively involved. Through the use of two case studies of proposed large-diameter natural gas pipelines initiated in York Region in 2005, this paper describes the techniques used to engage the public and the regulators. It also describes how the public involvement requirements contained in the Ontario Energy Board’s new guidelines were incorporated into the planning process. The case studies begin with a rationale for the study area selected. A description of issues follows. The techniques used to address these issues and the success of the program are documented. Techniques include face-to-face project initiation meetings, use of technical and citizens’ advisory committees, sub-committee meetings to resolve specific issues and site-specific field work. The study results illustrate that it is possible to plan a right-of-way in such a manner as to satisfy the general public and regulators, be compatible with existing development, conform to the new Ontario Energy Board guidelines and minimize the amount of remedial work required to mitigate the impacts occurring on and adjacent to the right-of-way.