Journal articles on the topic 'Land use, Urban – Ontario – Toronto'
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1
Merrens, Roy. "Port Authorities as Urban Land Developers." Articles 17, no. 2 (August 6, 2013): 92–105. http://dx.doi.org/10.7202/1017654ar.
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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.
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Vaz, Eric, Richard Ross Shaker, Michael D. Cusimano, Luis Loures, and Jamal Jokar Arsanjani. "Does Land Use and Landscape Contribute to Self-Harm? A Sustainability Cities Framework." Data 5, no. 1 (January 21, 2020): 9. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/data5010009.
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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.
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Perera, Nandana, Bahram Gharabaghi, Peter Noehammer, and Bruce Kilgour. "Road Salt Application in Highland Creek Watershed, Toronto, Ontario - Chloride Mass Balance." Water Quality Research Journal 45, no. 4 (November 1, 2010): 451–61. http://dx.doi.org/10.2166/wqrj.2010.044.
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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.
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Philip, Elizabeth, Ramesh P. Rudra, Pradeep K. Goel, and Syed I. Ahmed. "Investigation of the Long-Term Trends in the Streamflow Due to Climate Change and Urbanization for a Great Lakes Watershed." Atmosphere 13, no. 2 (January 29, 2022): 225. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/atmos13020225.
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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.
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Lembcke, David, Bill Thompson, Kaitlyn Read, Andrew Betts, and Dilan Singaraja. "REDUCING ROAD SALT APPLICATION BY CONSIDERING WINTER MAINTENANCE NEEDS IN PARKING LOT DESIGN." Journal of Green Building 12, no. 2 (March 2017): 1–12. http://dx.doi.org/10.3992/1943-4618.12.2.1.
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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.
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Anderson, Vidya, William A. Gough, Matej Zgela, Dragan Milosevic, and Jelena Dunjic. "Lowering the Temperature to Increase Heat Equity: A Multi-Scale Evaluation of Nature-Based Solutions in Toronto, Ontario, Canada." Atmosphere 13, no. 7 (June 28, 2022): 1027. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/atmos13071027.
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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.
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KENWORTHY, JEFF. "THE LAND USE AND TRANSIT CONNECTION IN TORONTO." Australian Planner 29, no. 3 (September 1991): 149–54. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07293682.1991.9657521.
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Schlegl, Lisa, and Sali A. Tagliamonte. "‘How do you get to Tim Hortons?’ Direction-giving in Ontario dialects." Canadian Journal of Linguistics/Revue canadienne de linguistique 66, no. 1 (February 16, 2021): 1–30. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/cnj.2020.34.
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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.
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Dear, Michael, and Glenda Laws. "Anatomy of a Decision: Recent Land Use Zoning Appeals and their Effect on Group Home Locations in Ontario." Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health 5, no. 1 (April 1, 1986): 5–17. http://dx.doi.org/10.7870/cjcmh-1986-0001.
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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.
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Fischler, Raphaël. "Development Controls in Toronto in the Nineteenth Century." Articles 36, no. 1 (May 16, 2013): 16–31. http://dx.doi.org/10.7202/1015817ar.
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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.
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Abdulazim, Tamer, Hossam Abdelgawad, Khandker M. Nurul Habib, and Baher Abdulhai. "Framework for Automating Travel Activity Inference Using Land Use Data." Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board 2526, no. 1 (January 2015): 136–42. http://dx.doi.org/10.3141/2526-15.
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This paper introduces a framework for inferring activity travel given nearby land use information that can be obtained from a location-based social network (LBSN) such as Foursquare. The first component of the framework implements a generic method for acquiring land use data from LBSN services, which is a prerequisite for the inference algorithm. Three inference algorithms are suggested, and situations in which each algorithm might be a better fit are discussed. Finally, a case study is presented for activity inference applied to a data set collected in the greater Toronto and Hamilton area, Ontario, Canada, during the fall of 2012. Results are encouraging and suggest that it is possible to infer daily activity travel automatically; this possibility could significantly reduce the burdens of personal travel surveys and allow for collection of long-period travel diary data that is not easily achievable with traditional survey methods.
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Vaz, Eric, and Jamal Jokar Arsanjani. "Crowdsourced mapping of land use in urban dense environments: An assessment of Toronto." Canadian Geographer / Le Géographe canadien 59, no. 2 (March 9, 2015): 246–55. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/cag.12170.
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Filion, Pierre. "Balancing Concentration and Dispersion? Public Policy and Urban Structure in Toronto." Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy 18, no. 2 (April 2000): 163–89. http://dx.doi.org/10.1068/c2m.
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By North American standards Toronto is a concentrated agglomeration. Its downtown has enjoyed spectacular growth since the 1960s; most inner-city neighbourhoods are perceived as desirable; and public transit patronage is high relative to that of same-size North American metropolitan regions. Still, it is within dispersed, car-oriented, suburbs that most post-1950 development has taken place. This agglomeration is composed of two realms—a concentrated and a dispersed realm—differentiated by their respective land-use-transportation dynamic. The concentrated realm is defined by a considerable reliance on walking and public transportation, a mixing of land uses and overall higher employment and residential densities than elsewhere in the metropolitan region. Meanwhile, the dispersed realm is car dependent, dominated by large monofunctional zones and developed at a relatively low density. The author links the coexistence and respective importance of these two realms in the Toronto agglomeration both to the nature of urban policies implemented since 1950 and to the circumstances that have led to their adoption. The construction of expressways, suburban type land-use planning, and a generous provision of open space have abetted dispersion. By contrast, the construction of a subway system and measures encouraging the redevelopment of underused land have promoted growth within the concentrated portion of the agglomeration. It is noteworthy, however, that these measures have failed in their attempts to induce concentration beyond the prewar urbanized perimeter. The author examines the positive and negative aspects of the presence of these two realms within a given agglomeration and highlights the threat newly adopted policies represent for the concentrated realm.
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Saarinen, O. W. "Provincial Land Use Planning Initiatives in the Town of Kapuskasing." Urban History Review 10, no. 1 (October 30, 2013): 1–15. http://dx.doi.org/10.7202/1019152ar.
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Kapuskasing, Ontario warrants special mention in the history of Canadian land use planning. The town first acquired special prominence immediately following World War I when it was the site of the first provincially-planned resource community in Canada. The early layout of the settlement reflected the imprints of both the "city beautiful" and "garden city" movements. After 1958, the resource community then became the focus for an important experiment in urban "fringe" rehabilitation at Brunetville, a suburban area situated just east of the planned Kapuskasing townsite. The author suggests that the role of the Brunetville experiment in helping to change the focus of urban renewal in Canada from redevelopment to rehabilitation has not been fully appreciated.
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Kidd, Scott, and A. John Sinclair. "The urban public and forest land-use planning: Tapping into the majority." Forestry Chronicle 83, no. 2 (April 1, 2007): 221–30. http://dx.doi.org/10.5558/tfc83221-2.
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Canadians desire involvement in forest management at normative or early planning phases. One way of accomplishing this is through meaningful public involvement in land-use planning efforts. The Provinces of Ontario and Manitoba have, respectively, completed or are completing the development of land use plans for large areas of forested landscapes. Both governments identified public participation as being an integral part of these processes. This paper examines how well these processes promoted participation by the general public, the vast majority of which resides in urban areas located outside the respective planning regions. It is determined that in both cases this was poorly done. Reasons are given for why and how increased participation by the urban public should be pursued. Key words: public involvement, land-use planning, forest management, urban centres, Lands for Life, East Side Planning Initiative, Canada
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Ma, Lingfei, He Zhao, and Jonathan Li. "EXAMINING URBAN EXPANSION USING MULTI-TEMPORAL LANDSAT IMAGERY: A CASE STUDY OF THE MONTREAL CENSUS METROPOLITAN AREA FROM 1975 TO 2015, CANADA." ISPRS - International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences XLI-B8 (June 24, 2016): 965–72. http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/isprs-archives-xli-b8-965-2016.
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Urban expansion, particularly the movement of residential and commercial land use to sub-urban areas in metropolitan areas, has been considered as a significant signal of regional economic development. In 1970s, the economic centre of Canada moved from Montreal to Toronto. Since some previous research have been focused on the urbanization process in Greater Toronto Area (GTA), it is significant to conduct research in its counterpart. This study evaluates urban expansion process in Montréal census metropolitan area (CMA), Canada, between 1975 and 2015 using satellite images and socio-economic data. Spatial and temporal dynamic information of urbanization process was quantified using Landsat imagery, supervised classification algorithms and the post-classification change detection technique. Accuracy of the Landsat-derived land use classification map ranged from 80% to 97%. The results indicated that continuous growth of built-up areas in the CMA over the study period resulted in a decrease in the area of cultivated land and vegetation. The results showed that urban areas expanded 442 km<sup>2</sup> both along major river systems and lakeshores, as well as expanded from urban centres to surrounded areas. The analysis revealed that urban expansion has been largely driven by population growth and economic development. Consequently, the urban expansion maps produced in this research can assist decision-makers to promote sustainable urban development, and forecast potential changes in urbanization growth patterns.
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Lam, Sharon T., and Tenley M. Conway. "Ecosystem services in urban land use planning policies: A case study of Ontario municipalities." Land Use Policy 77 (September 2018): 641–51. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2018.06.020.
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Rivers, Ray. "The price of sprawl in Ontario, Canada." Ekistics and The New Habitat 71, no. 424-426 (June 1, 2004): 52–55. http://dx.doi.org/10.53910/26531313-e200471424-426222.
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The author is an environmental economist who provides consulting services to a wide range of clients from private industry, environmental interest groups and the federal and provincial governments. He has worked with the federal departments of Environment, Agriculture and Fisheries and Oceans and the Ontario Ministry of the Environment; lectured at Concordia, the University of Ottawa and Wilfred Laurier University in Public Administration and Sustainable Development; and written widely on a range of environmental topics. Ray Rivers was the Canadian co-author of the Land Use sections in the 1996/1998 State of the Lake Ecosystem Conferences. The text that follows is an edited and revised version of a paper presented at the international symposion on "The Natural City," Toronto, 23-25 June, 2004, sponsored by the University of Toronto's Division of the Environment, Institute for Environmental Studies, and the World Society for Ekistics.
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Lv, Qi, Yong Dou, Xin Niu, Jiaqing Xu, Jinbo Xu, and Fei Xia. "Urban Land Use and Land Cover Classification Using Remotely Sensed SAR Data through Deep Belief Networks." Journal of Sensors 2015 (2015): 1–10. http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/538063.
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Land use and land cover (LULC) mapping in urban areas is one of the core applications in remote sensing, and it plays an important role in modern urban planning and management. Deep learning is springing up in the field of machine learning recently. By mimicking the hierarchical structure of the human brain, deep learning can gradually extract features from lower level to higher level. The Deep Belief Networks (DBN) model is a widely investigated and deployed deep learning architecture. It combines the advantages of unsupervised and supervised learning and can archive good classification performance. This study proposes a classification approach based on the DBN model for detailed urban mapping using polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (PolSAR) data. Through the DBN model, effective contextual mapping features can be automatically extracted from the PolSAR data to improve the classification performance. Two-date high-resolution RADARSAT-2 PolSAR data over the Great Toronto Area were used for evaluation. Comparisons with the support vector machine (SVM), conventional neural networks (NN), and stochastic Expectation-Maximization (SEM) were conducted to assess the potential of the DBN-based classification approach. Experimental results show that the DBN-based method outperforms three other approaches and produces homogenous mapping results with preserved shape details.
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Ma, Lingfei, He Zhao, and Jonathan Li. "EXAMINING URBAN EXPANSION USING MULTI-TEMPORAL LANDSAT IMAGERY: A CASE STUDY OF THE MONTREAL CENSUS METROPOLITAN AREA FROM 1975 TO 2015, CANADA." ISPRS - International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences XLI-B8 (June 24, 2016): 965–72. http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/isprsarchives-xli-b8-965-2016.
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Urban expansion, particularly the movement of residential and commercial land use to sub-urban areas in metropolitan areas, has been considered as a significant signal of regional economic development. In 1970s, the economic centre of Canada moved from Montreal to Toronto. Since some previous research have been focused on the urbanization process in Greater Toronto Area (GTA), it is significant to conduct research in its counterpart. This study evaluates urban expansion process in Montréal census metropolitan area (CMA), Canada, between 1975 and 2015 using satellite images and socio-economic data. Spatial and temporal dynamic information of urbanization process was quantified using Landsat imagery, supervised classification algorithms and the post-classification change detection technique. Accuracy of the Landsat-derived land use classification map ranged from 80% to 97%. The results indicated that continuous growth of built-up areas in the CMA over the study period resulted in a decrease in the area of cultivated land and vegetation. The results showed that urban areas expanded 442 km<sup>2</sup> both along major river systems and lakeshores, as well as expanded from urban centres to surrounded areas. The analysis revealed that urban expansion has been largely driven by population growth and economic development. Consequently, the urban expansion maps produced in this research can assist decision-makers to promote sustainable urban development, and forecast potential changes in urbanization growth patterns.
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Sahely, Halla R., Christopher A. Kennedy, and Barry J. Adams. "Developing sustainability criteria for urban infrastructure systems." Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering 32, no. 1 (February 1, 2005): 72–85. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/l04-072.
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Research in the area of sustainable urban infrastructure reflects the need to design and manage engineering systems in light of both environmental and socioeconomic considerations. A principal challenge for the engineer is the development of practical tools for measuring and enhancing the sustainability of urban infrastructure over its life cycle. The present study develops such a framework for the sustainability assessment of urban infrastructure systems. The framework focuses on key interactions and feedback mechanisms between infrastructure and surrounding environmental, economic, and social systems. One way of understanding and quantifying these interacting effects is through the use of sustainability criteria and indicators. A generic set of sustainability criteria and subcriteria and system-specific indicators is put forward. Selected indicators are quantified in a case study of the urban water system of the City of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.Key words: sustainable infrastructure, sustainability criteria and indicators, energy use, urban water systems.
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Maoh, Hannah, and Pavlos Kanaroglou. "A tool for evaluating urban sustainability via integrated transportation and land use simulation models." Environnement Urbain 3 (July 6, 2009): 28–46. http://dx.doi.org/10.7202/037599ar.
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Abstract This paper is focused on developing a simulation tool that will be used to assess urban sustainability and inform the future of urban planning. The tool is developed as an add-on module in an operational integrated transportation and land use model (ITLUM) calibrated for two Canadian cities: Hamilton, Ontario and Halifax, Nova Scotia. Progress towards sustainability is gauged based on indicators that will minimize negative environmental and social impacts while maximizing economic benefits. To this end, the methods to model the sustainability indicators are highlighted and described. A simulation example is provided to demonstrate the operability of the devised tool.
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Steedman, Robert J. "Modification and Assessment of an Index of Biotic Integrity to Quantify Stream Quality in Southern Ontario." Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 45, no. 3 (March 1, 1988): 492–501. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/f88-059.
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A multivariate measure of stream quality, the Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI), was adapted to southern Ontario and calibrated to watershed land use on a variety of spatial scales. The fish fauna at 209 stream locations on 10 watersheds near Toronto, Ontario, was sampled with a backpack electrofisher in the summers of 1984 and 1985 to provide biological information for the IBI. Watershed urbanization, forest cover, and riparian forest were measured from 1:50,000 scale topographic maps and related to IBI estimates by linear regression. Of the biological measures tested, species richness, local indicator species (brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) and Rhinichthys spp.), abundance of large piscivores, fish abundance, and incidence of blackspot disease were found to contribute significantly to IBI estimates. Variation in IBI estimates at the same location ranged from 0 to 8% within the sample season and from 0 to 24% between years. Linear models based on measures of watershed urbanization and forest cover accounted for 11–78% of the variation in IBI scores, depending on the spatial scale of the analysis. Significant IBI/land use relationships were found with whole-basin IBI estimates and for IBI estimates from individual stream reaches. Land use immediately upstream of sample stations was most strongly associated with stream quality as measured by the IBI.
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Mashford-Pringle, Angela, and Suzanne L. Stewart. "Akiikaa (it is the land): exploring land-based experiences with university students in Ontario." Global Health Promotion 26, no. 3_suppl (April 2019): 64–72. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1757975919828722.
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Indigenous learning traditionally comes from the land. Akiikaa (‘it is the land’ in Algonkian) is designed to assist graduate students in thinking beyond the classroom and understanding the elements of life as known by Indigenous people to live a healthy life. Akiikaa will provide graduate students (both Indigenous and non-Indigenous) with opportunities to learn about Indigenous ways of knowing. They will learn from an instructor, Elders and their peers about how the land is an instrumental part of all aspects of Indigenous life including health and well-being. One of the goals of the Master of Public Health in Indigenous Health program (at the University of Toronto) and the land-based experiences is to shift the thinking away from humans being the dominating force on Mother Earth to equality amongst all aspects of life. Graduate students are introduced to ‘personhood’ rights for plants, animals, water, and air, which is a shift from the current World Health Organization’s view of public health that builds upon a population health approach but neglects the elements that surround humans as necessary for living a healthy life. It has been suggested that Indigenous land-based education acts as a method of decolonization through reclamation of Indigenous ideology and use of land. Land and land experience are highly prized by Indigenous people around the world as cultures and languages are based on the interaction of people with nature/land. This move to delivering the curriculum in the natural environment using Indigenous knowledges as its pedagogy is anticipated to change attitudes about Indigenous people and issues as well as improving the health and well-being of graduate students and, over time, Indigenous peoples’ health and well-being.
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Scheim, Ayden I., Ruby Sniderman, Ri Wang, Zachary Bouck, Elizabeth McLean, Kate Mason, Geoff Bardwell, et al. "The Ontario Integrated Supervised Injection Services Cohort Study of People Who Inject Drugs in Toronto, Canada (OiSIS-Toronto): Cohort Profile." Journal of Urban Health 98, no. 4 (June 28, 2021): 538–50. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11524-021-00547-w.
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AbstractThe Ontario Integrated Supervised Injection Services cohort in Toronto, Canada (OiSIS-Toronto) is an open prospective cohort of people who inject drugs (PWID). OiSIS-Toronto was established to evaluate the impacts of supervised consumption services (SCS) integrated within three community health agencies on health status and service use. The cohort includes PWID who do and do not use SCS, recruited via self-referral, snowball sampling, and community/street outreach. From 5 November 2018 to 19 March 2020, we enrolled 701 eligible PWID aged 18+ who lived in Toronto. Participants complete interviewer-administered questionnaires at baseline and semi-annually thereafter and are asked to consent to linkages with provincial healthcare administrative databases (90.2% consented; of whom 82.4% were successfully linked) and SCS client databases. At baseline, 86.5% of participants (64.0% cisgender men, median ([IQR] age= 39 [33–49]) had used SCS in the previous 6 months, of whom most (69.7%) used SCS for <75% of their injections. A majority (56.8%) injected daily, and approximately half (48.0%) reported fentanyl as their most frequently injected drug. As of 23 April 2021, 291 (41.5%) participants had returned for follow-up. Administrative and self-report data are being used to (1) evaluate the impact of integrated SCS on healthcare use, uptake of community health agency services, and health outcomes; (2) identify barriers and facilitators to SCS use; and (3) identify potential enhancements to SCS delivery. Nested sub-studies include evaluation of “safer opioid supply” programs and impacts of COVID-19.
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Feng, Boyu, Ying Zhang, and Robin Bourke. "Urbanization impacts on flood risks based on urban growth data and coupled flood models." Natural Hazards 106, no. 1 (January 29, 2021): 613–27. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11069-020-04480-0.
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AbstractUrbanization increases regional impervious surface area, which generally reduces hydrologic response time and therefore increases flood risk. The objective of this work is to investigate the sensitivities of urban flooding to urban land growth through simulation of flood flows under different urbanization conditions and during different flooding stages. A sub-watershed in Toronto, Canada, with urban land conversion was selected as a test site for this study. In order to investigate the effects of urbanization on changes in urban flood risk, land use maps from six different years (1966, 1971, 1976, 1981, 1986, and 2000) and of six simulated land use scenarios (0%, 20%, 40%, 60, 80%, and 100% impervious surface area percentages) were input into coupled hydrologic and hydraulic models. The results show that urbanization creates higher surface runoff and river discharge rates and shortened times to achieve the peak runoff and discharge. Areas influenced by flash flood and floodplain increases due to urbanization are related not only to overall impervious surface area percentage but also to the spatial distribution of impervious surface coverage. With similar average impervious surface area percentage, land use with spatial variation may aggravate flash flood conditions more intensely compared to spatially uniform land use distribution.
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Lyon, Craig, Anwar Haq, Bhagwant Persaud, and Steven T. Kodama. "Safety Performance Functions for Signalized Intersections in Large Urban Areas." Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board 1908, no. 1 (January 2005): 165–71. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0361198105190800120.
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This paper describes the development of safety performance functions (SPFs) for 1,950 urban signalized intersections on the basis of 5 years of collision data in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Because Toronto has one of the largest known, readily accessible, urban signalized intersection databases, it was possible to develop reliable, widely applicable SPFs for different intersection classifications, collision severities, and impact types. Such a comprehensive set of SPFs is not available for urban signalized intersections from data for a single jurisdiction, despite the considerable recent interest in use of these functions for analyses related to network screening, and the development, prioritization, and evaluation of treatments. The application of a straightforward recalibration process requiring relatively little data means that the SPFs calibrated can be used by researchers and practitioners for other jurisdictions for which these functions do not exist and are unlikely to exist for some time. The value of the functions is illustrated in an application to evaluate a topical safety measure—left-turn priority treatment for which existing knowledge is on a shaky foundation. The results of this empirical Bayes evaluation show that this treatment is quite effective for reducing collisions, particularly those involving left-turn side impacts.
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Robson, Victoria. "Land fragmentation in southern Ontario: A tragedy of the spatial anticommons." SURG Journal 5, no. 2 (April 22, 2012): 22–27. http://dx.doi.org/10.21083/surg.v5i2.1328.
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Competition between agricultural operations, urban transplants, and ecological interests is changing the nature of property rights and land use in rural Ontario. In a region with valuable ecosystems and climate, soil, and location traditionally well-suited for crop and livestock production, plot sizes are decreasing as land is subdivided and allocated to non-agricultural residential use. Although this practice can increase property value for farmers, Michael Heller’s spatial anticommons may also be observed, such that “each owner receives a core bundle of rights, but in too small a space for the most efficient use” [2]. The purpose of this paper is to introduce a new application of Heller’s anticommons theory, examining how the increasingly patchwork-like distribution of rural land parcels can be expected to affect farm and ecosystem productivity. Ultimately, deadweight loss occurs because neither agricultural nor ecological economies of scale can be recognized on plots that are too small for efficient use. Using rural planning reports and habitat ecology studies, trends in the fragmentation process are described and compared to the aims of provincial land-use policy, including the Provincial Policy Statement, the Greenbelt Act, and the Places to Grow Act. While the goals of farmers and conservationists may at times seem discrete or incompatible, the anticommons framework may be used to identify shared challenges. Thus the two parties might consider how collective action could be used to overcome the difficulties of reuniting subdivided tracts of land.
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Ta, Martha, and Ketan Shankardass. "Piloting the Use of Concept Mapping to Engage Geographic Communities for Stress and Resilience Planning in Toronto, Ontario, Canada." International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 18, no. 20 (October 19, 2021): 10977. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182010977.
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The physical and social characteristics of urban neighborhoods engender unique stressors and assets, contributing to community-level variation in health over the lifecourse. Actors such as city planners and community organizations can help strengthen resilience in places where chronic stress is endemic, by learning about perceived stressors and assets from neighborhood users themselves (residents, workers, business owners). This study piloted a methodology to identify Toronto neighborhoods experiencing chronic stress and to engage them to identify neighborhood stressors, assets, and solutions. Crescent Town was identified as one neighborhood of interest based on relatively high levels of emotional stress in Twitter Tweets produced over two one-year periods (2013–2014 and 2017–2018) and triangulation using other neighborhood-level data. Using concept mapping, community members (n = 23) created a ten-cluster concept map describing neighborhood stressors and assets, and identified two potential strategies, a Crescent Town Residents’ Association and a community fair to promote neighborhood resources and build social networks. We discuss how this knowledge has circulated through the City of Toronto and community-level organizations to date, and lessons for improving this methodology.
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Miller, Gord. "Forest and community sustainability – An Ontario perspective." Forestry Chronicle 79, no. 1 (February 1, 2003): 110–12. http://dx.doi.org/10.5558/tfc79110-1.
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Challenges to the sustainability of communities in northern and central Ontario are both ecological and socio-economic in nature. Ecological challenges include persistent impacts such as acid deposition as well as emerging challenges such as the advance of forestry northward and its impact on wildlife populations. Socio-economic challenges of the communities in this region include a declining population level as well as a workforce that is aging. Despite these challenges, northern communities, and forestry planners in particular, have knowledge and experience of value to community planning throughout Ontario. Examples include the fact that foresters and forestry-based communities know how to plan at the landscape ecosystem level, integrate biodiversity conservation and decide on the long-term disposition of land. This knowledge could make a significant contribution to community sustainability in southern Ontario communities, and inadvertently enhance the credibility and influence of forest planning methods and foresters in urban centres. Key words: sustainability, Environmental Commissioner, land use, forest, caribou, ecology, population
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Davidson, Jenna L. "Canadian Federalism, Indigenous-state Relations, and the Algonquin Land Claim." Canadian Planning and Policy / Aménagement et politique au Canada 2022 (November 16, 2022): 114–36. http://dx.doi.org/10.24908/cpp-apc.v2022i1.14081.
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The Algonquin Land Claim negotiations have been ongoing for over 25 years in Ontario and will be the province’s first modern-day constitutionally protected treaty. Traditional territories of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg under claim include areas in the Ottawa River Valley and the City of Ottawa itself. As a result, this land claim is unique in jurisdictional complexity, situated in urban landscapes that are heavily populated and developed, as well as rural areas that feature cottage country, hunting and fishing camps, provincial parks and natural resource projects. To answer the question: what is the process for negotiating lands for transfer to Indigenous communities within urban and rural contexts? This research investigates the Algonquin Land Claim case study within Canada’s current jurisprudential landscape of Indigenous sovereignty and recognition, and the implications it has for land use planning in Ontario. As a practical profession operating within relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities, the study explores planning practices in the context of negotiating a modern-day treaty. This recount of Canada’s legislative history and its interaction with Indigenous nations infuses many references to the fundamental attributes of Canadian federalism, Indigenous jurisdiction and the tensions that lie between the two concepts.
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Leffers, Donald. "Real estate developers’ influence of land use legislation in the Toronto region: An institutionalist investigation of developers, land conflict and property law." Urban Studies 55, no. 14 (November 9, 2017): 3059–75. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0042098017736426.
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This paper investigates the role of real estate developers in shaping land use legislation, land use planning and property law. The conceptual framework draws on third-phase institutionalism and socio-legal theory to examine actors and ideas that influence knowledge and practices of land use, planning and property. This paper confronts absences in planning theory that overlook the role of real estate developers in disputes over land, especially their role in shaping the legislative framework governing land use. The argument is that property law is not simply an objective system of rules interpreted by lawyers, judges and the courts. Neither is it a singular concept protecting private property rights. Rather, it is a complex concept and institution that emerges in practice through political processes, such as social movements, the exercise of power and influence by elite actors, and strategic acts by political actors navigating diverse and competing agendas. The empirical evidence informing this argument derives from case study research of land conflicts on the Oak Ridges Moraine in the Toronto region, Canada, with particular attention given to the relationship between real estate developers, social movement actors, and politicians involved in resolving the conflict.
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Chan, T. W., J. R. Brook, G. J. Smallwood, and G. Lu. "Time-resolved measurements of black carbon light absorption enhancement in urban and near-urban locations of southern Ontario, Canada." Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics 11, no. 20 (October 20, 2011): 10407–32. http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/acp-11-10407-2011.
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Abstract. In this study a photoacoustic spectrometer (PA), a laser-induced incandescence instrument system (LII) and an Aerosol Mass Spectrometer were operated in parallel for in-situ measurements of black carbon (BC) light absorption enhancement. Results of a thermodenuder experiment using ambient particles in Toronto are presented first to show that LII measurements of BC are not influenced by the presence of non-refractory material thus providing true atmospheric BC mass concentrations. In contrast, the PA response is enhanced when the non-refractory material is internally mixed with the BC particles. Through concurrent measurements using the LII and PA the specific absorption cross-section (SAC) can be quantified with high time resolution (1 min). Comparisons of ambient PA and LII measurements from four different locations (suburban Toronto; a street canyon with diesel bus traffic in Ottawa; adjacent to a commuter highway in Ottawa and; regional background air in and around Windsor, Ontario), show that different impacts from emission sources and/or atmospheric processes result in different particle light absorption enhancements and hence variations in the SAC. The diversity of measurements obtained, including those with the thermodenuder, demonstrated that it is possible to identify measurements where the presence of externally-mixed non-refractory particles obscures direct observation of the effect of coating material on the SAC, thus allowing this effect to be measured with more confidence. Depending upon the time and location of measurement (urban, rural, close to and within a lake breeze frontal zone), 30 min average SAC varies between 9 ± 2 and 43 ± 4 m2 g−1. Causes of this variation, which were determined through the use of meteorological and gaseous measurements (CO, SO2, O3), include the particle emission source, airmass source region, the degree of atmospheric processing. Observations from this study also show that the active surface area of the BC aggregate, which is measured by the LII as the PPS, is an important parameter for inferring the degree of particle collapse of a BC particle. In addition, PPS could be a useful measurement for indicating the importance of recently emitted BC (e.g. from gasoline or diesel engines) relative to the total measured BC in the atmosphere.
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Leffers, Donald, and Gerda R. Wekerle. "Land developers as institutional and postpolitical actors: Sites of power in land use policy and planning." Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space 52, no. 2 (June 8, 2019): 318–36. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0308518x19856628.
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Land developers play an active role as institutional actors that shape the development and governance of urban regions. In this paper, we find that developers not only influence state institutions governing land use, they are place-based actors whose influence is normalized as invited strategic stakeholders in planning exercises. Our analysis highlights the complementarity of institutional and postpolitical theories in offering a nuanced understanding of the multi-faceted and multi-scalar relationships among powerful actors engaged in land development processes. Postpolitical theories highlight the participatory processes of inclusion and exclusion in collaborative-based planning exercises that privilege certain stakeholders and exclude others. Through the lens of institutionalist theory, we move beyond specific land conflicts to focus on the day-to-day interactions and institutionalized roles of key actors, ideas and political influences in shaping contested land policy and outcomes. The analysis is based on multi-year research projects that drew upon interviews, observation and document analysis of key actors’ engagement in initiatives to formulate and implement growth management policies in the Toronto region.
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Crosbie, Barb, and Patricia Chow-Fraser. "Percentage land use in the watershed determines the water and sediment quality of 22 marshes in the Great Lakes basin." Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 56, no. 10 (October 1, 1999): 1781–91. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/f99-109.
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Data from 22 Ontario marshes were used to test the hypothesis that distribution of forested, agricultural, and urban land in the watershed determines the water and sediment quality of Great Lakes wetlands. The first three components of the principal components analysis explained 82% of the overall variation. PC1 ordinated wetlands along a trophic gradient; species richness of submergent vegetation decreased with PC1 scores. PC2 reflected the content of inorganic solids and phosphorus in sediment and the ionic strength of the water. Both PC1 and PC2 scores were positively correlated with percent agricultural land, whereas PC1 scores were negatively correlated with forested land. Correlation between PC1 and agricultural land improved when best-management practices were considered. Accounting for common carp (Cyprinus carpio) disturbance did not confound the relationship between land use and water quality. PC3, driven by soluble reactive phosphorus and nitrate nitrogen concentration in the water, was not correlated with land use. Concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and Metolachlor were correlated with urban and agricultural land, respectively, and may be useful as land use surrogates. Watershed management favouring the retention of forested land, or creation of buffer strips to trap agricultural runoff in the drainage basin, should help maintain aquatic plant diversity in coastal wetlands.
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Webber, Steven, and Tony Hernandez. "Big box battles: the Ontario Municipal Board and large-format retail land-use planning conflicts in the Greater Toronto Area." International Planning Studies 21, no. 2 (December 10, 2015): 117–31. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13563475.2015.1114451.
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PRESTON, VALERIE, and LUCIA LO. "Canadian Urban Landscape Examples - 21 ‘Asian theme’ malls in suburban Toronto: land use conflict in Richmond Hill." Canadian Geographer/Le Géographe canadien 44, no. 2 (June 2000): 182–90. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1541-0064.2000.tb00701.x.
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Pugliese, Stephanie C., Jennifer G. Murphy, Felix R. Vogel, Michael D. Moran, Junhua Zhang, Qiong Zheng, Craig A. Stroud, Shuzhan Ren, Douglas Worthy, and Gregoire Broquet. "High-resolution quantification of atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> mixing ratios in the Greater Toronto Area, Canada." Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics 18, no. 5 (March 8, 2018): 3387–401. http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-3387-2018.
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Abstract. Many stakeholders are seeking methods to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in urban areas, but reliable, high-resolution inventories are required to guide these efforts. We present the development of a high-resolution CO2 inventory available for the Greater Toronto Area and surrounding region in Southern Ontario, Canada (area of ∼ 2.8 × 105 km2, 26 % of the province of Ontario). The new SOCE (Southern Ontario CO2 Emissions) inventory is available at the 2.5 × 2.5 km spatial and hourly temporal resolution and characterizes emissions from seven sectors: area, residential natural-gas combustion, commercial natural-gas combustion, point, marine, on-road, and off-road. To assess the accuracy of the SOCE inventory, we developed an observation–model framework using the GEM-MACH chemistry–transport model run on a high-resolution grid with 2.5 km grid spacing coupled to the Fossil Fuel Data Assimilation System (FFDAS) v2 inventories for anthropogenic CO2 emissions and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) land carbon model C-TESSEL for biogenic fluxes. A run using FFDAS for the Southern Ontario region was compared to a run in which its emissions were replaced by the SOCE inventory. Simulated CO2 mixing ratios were compared against in situ measurements made at four sites in Southern Ontario – Downsview, Hanlan's Point, Egbert and Turkey Point – in 3 winter months, January–March 2016. Model simulations had better agreement with measurements when using the SOCE inventory emissions versus other inventories, quantified using a variety of statistics such as correlation coefficient, root-mean-square error, and mean bias. Furthermore, when run with the SOCE inventory, the model had improved ability to capture the typical diurnal pattern of CO2 mixing ratios, particularly at the Downsview, Hanlan's Point, and Egbert sites. In addition to improved model–measurement agreement, the SOCE inventory offers a sectoral breakdown of emissions, allowing estimation of average time-of-day and day-of-week contributions of different sectors. Our results show that at night, emissions from residential and commercial natural-gas combustion and other area sources can contribute > 80 % of the CO2 enhancement, while during the day emissions from the on-road sector dominate, accounting for > 70 % of the enhancement.
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Karrow, Paul F. "Geology from Engineering, Urban or Otherwise." Géographie physique et Quaternaire 42, no. 3 (December 18, 2007): 325–29. http://dx.doi.org/10.7202/032740ar.
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ABSTRACT Exhortations of the mid-nineteenth century to take advantage of construction activities as sources of geological information have been paid heed only occasionally. While some advantage has been taken of information from engineering activity, most is unrecorded geologically. Geological study of urban areas is complicated by many difficulties and comprehensive treatment requires a permanent staff with appropriate experience. Even though geological data have clearly demonstrable practical use in better use of land resources, urban geology should embrace both practical and curiousity-based research. Thus far, opportunities to gain enormous amounts of information of great practical and scientific value have been commonly ignored. Toronto is Canada's largest and geologically most famous city. The fame is based on its unique Quaternary stratigraphy, which includes lllinoian, Sangamonian, and Wisconsinan deposits, many of which are fossiliferous. Tragic losses of important information about its Quaternary history occur nearly continuously as large scale surface mining continues and little record of the temporary exposures is kept.
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Higgins, Christopher, and Pavlos Kanaroglou. "Rapid transit, transit-oriented development, and the contextual sensitivity of land value uplift in Toronto." Urban Studies 55, no. 10 (July 13, 2017): 2197–225. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0042098017712680.
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Rapid transit projects that increase accessibility should result in a localised land value uplift (LVU) benefit for locations near stations. A rich history of research has tested this hypothesis, generally operationalising transit accessibility by proxy through distance from a transit station. However, a growing body of research has also demonstrated LVU effects from transit-oriented development (TOD) as individuals sort themselves into locations that best match their preferences and willingness to pay. Considering the interdependence of transportation and land use in the urban system, we argue that these benefits create a spatial bundle of TOD goods around transit stations and hypothesise that households are willing to pay a premium for locations in more transit-oriented station catchment areas. Utilising latent class analysis, we quantify station area TOD submarkets. Next, interactions between these submarkets and station proximity in spatial hedonic regressions reveal that TOD is capitalised into land values in Toronto, though the maximum amount and spatial impact area of this capitalisation differs by TOD context.
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Rosatte, Rick, Paula Kelly, and Mike Power. "Home Range, Movements, and Habitat Utilization of Striped Skunk (Mephitis mephitis) in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada: Disease Management Implications." Canadian Field-Naturalist 125, no. 1 (January 1, 2011): 27. http://dx.doi.org/10.22621/cfn.v125i1.1121.
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A total of 28 Striped Skunks (Mephitis mephitis) were fitted with radio-transmitters and their movements were monitored in Scarborough (Toronto), Ontario, in 1986 and 1987. Mean annual home range size for combined sex and age classes of Striped Skunks was 0.9 km2 (SD = 1.4) (range = 0.1-5.0 km2). Home ranges were smaller during winter (avg = 0.04 km2, SD = 0.05) than during fall (avg = 0.67 km2, SD = 1.09) (P = 0.055) but not different from ranges during spring (avg = 0.25 km2, SD = 0.31) or summer (avg = 0.27 km2, SD = 0.43). Nightly movements ranged between 0.1 km and 3.0 km and were greatest during October. Skunks were located more often in field habitats (56% of observations) than in residential (23%), field/industrial (10%), or industrial (8%) habitats. Ecological data on Striped Skunks were used in the design of rabies control tactics for use in urban areas in Ontario, Canada.
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Vaz, Eric. "Archaeological Sites in Small Towns—A Sustainability Assessment of Northumberland County." Sustainability 12, no. 5 (March 6, 2020): 2018. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su12052018.
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Background: Land-use change, resulting from urban expansion, has led to the unprecedented importance of rethinking our interactions with the environment in general. The consequences of anthropogenic activity on natural land, as well as sustainable land use types, is a significant concern to the detriment of small towns. In this article, I assess the changes in the urban footprint morphology of Northumberland County while evaluating the consequences of urban fragmentation on archaeological sites. Northumberland has a total population of 85,598 divided into seven municipalities and the Alderville First Nation reserve. Northumberland County is a commuting distance of one hour from Toronto, one of North America’s most important economic hubs. It is of the highest importance to measure and understand the current characteristics of land-use change and its impacts on the sustainability of small towns and local communities. Methods: A total of archaeological sites are used to test the impacts of urbanization and land-use change throughout the perimeter of Northumberland county. Spatial analysis is conducted employing spatial autocorrelation techniques (global and local) to assess the existence of hotspots of archaeological sites and the potential endangerment of these sites due to urban pressure. A hexagonal topology is used to derive a regional understanding of impacted regions within the county, allowing the richness of archaeological heritage sites as well as the possible concerns of these spatial clusters to be examined. Results: It is shown that a significant number of archaeological sites are present in Northumberland county, with a clear indication of a hotspot around Rice Lake. Future urbanization as well as land-use fragmentation may have an impact on the sustainability of these archaeological sites. It is shown that hexagonal geometries may establish relevant spatial surfaces to compare urban and archaeological sites as criteria to understand the endangerment of archaeological sites. The availability of the Global Urban Footprint (GUF) creates a particularly rigorous framework for the detection of impact on archaeological sites. Conclusion: The findings suggest that archaeological sites in small towns can benefit from high-resolution urban land-use footprints to detect impacts on archaeological sites and the relations of land-use change and intrasite management. This is of utmost importance in times of significant anthropogenic change brought by increasing urban pressure on small and medium-sized towns.
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Mees, Heleen-Lydeke P., and Peter P. J. Driessen. "Adaptation to climate change in urban areas: Climate-greening London, Rotterdam, and Toronto." Climate Law 2, no. 2 (2011): 251–80. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/cl-2011-036.
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This article aims to gain insight into the governance capacity of cities to adapt to climate change through urban green planning, which we will refer to as climate-greening. The use of green space is considered a no-regrets adaptation strategy, since it not only absorbs rainfall and moderates temperature, but simultaneously can contribute to the sustainable development of urban areas. However, green space competes with other socio-economic interests that also require space. Urban planning can mediate among competing demands for land use, and, as such, is potentially useful for the governance of adaptation. Through an in-depth case study of three frontrunners in adaptation planning (London, Rotterdam, and Toronto), the governance capacity for climate-greening urban areas is analysed and compared. The framework we have developed utilizes five sub-capacities: legal, managerial, political, resource, and learning. The overall conclusion from the case studies is that the legal and political subcapacities are the strongest. The resource and learning sub-capacities are relatively weak, but offer considerable growth potential. The managerial sub-capacity is constrained by compartmentalization and institutional fragmentation, two key barriers to governance capacity. These are effectively blocking the mainstreaming of adaptation in urban planning. The biggest opportunities to enhance governance capacity lie in the integration of adaptation considerations into urban-planning processes, the establishment of links between adaptation and mitigation policies, investment in training programmes for staff and stakeholders in adaptation planning, and providing infrastructure for learning processes.
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Grapentine, Lee, Quintin Rochfort, and Jiri Marsalek. "Benthic Responses to Wet-Weather Discharges in Urban Streams in Southern Ontario." Water Quality Research Journal 39, no. 4 (November 1, 2004): 374–91. http://dx.doi.org/10.2166/wqrj.2004.050.
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Abstract Urban stormwater and combined sewer overflow (CSO) discharges are important sources of sediment and contaminants (trace metals, PAHs, nutrients and road salts), and cause changes in flow, sediment, chemical and thermal regimes of receiving waters. Over the past several years, benthic conditions of streams representing a range of exposure environments were assessed in Hamilton, Toronto, Oshawa and Kingston, Ontario. Studies progressed from initial surveys of sediment contaminant levels, sediment toxicity and benthic invertebrate community structure to more spatially intensive sampling and experimental approaches that included the use of artificial substrates, in situ water toxicity tests and measurements of contaminant bioaccumulation. Results showed that while sediments and some biota at sites exposed to wet-weather discharges were often contaminated with metals and PAHs and enriched with nutrients, significant biological degradation measured by sediment toxicity or depauperated benthic communities was not evident. Exposure to stormwater discharges at sites below outfalls could alter the composition of benthic communities, but these effects were not strongly related to contaminant concentrations in sediment or invertebrate tissue. No outfall-associated toxicity was observed for caged amphipods held in the water column. Effects of wet-weather discharges on benthic communities at the urban stream sites studied appear to be small, and their detection was limited by several inherent conditions, including natural heterogeneity in the distribution of benthic invertebrates, episodic (intermittent) exposure to discharges and contaminant fluxes allowing some recovery, “background” levels of disturbance, poorly delineated changes in communities caused by physical effects such as flow and sediment transport, and community response dynamics. Detection of stormwater discharge effects should be improved by sampling on smaller temporal and multiple spatial scales to better quantify stressor exposure and invertebrate responses.
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Le, Annie N. "Serious Games for Public Safety: How Gamified Education Can Teach Ontarians Emergency Preparedness." Frontiers in Education Technology 5, no. 4 (November 29, 2022): p1. http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/fet.v5n4p1.
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According to the Canadian Emergencies act, a national emergency is an urgent, critical situation that threatens the health and safety of Canadians (Department of Justice of Canada, 2022). Emergencies can also take on many forms: pandemics, natural disasters, civil unrest, or armed conflict. Currently, the Provincial Emergency Response Plan implemented by the Chief of Emergency Management Ontario is the framework that keeps Ontarians safe, allowing for organizations and municipalities to organize disaster relief, send out emergency alerts, and educate Ontario residents on emergency preparedness (PERP, 2019). This paper explores how serious games can prepare the public for emergencies based on response frameworks currently in use in metropolitan Ontario, Canada (cities such as Toronto, Ottawa, and Hamilton). This example was selected because it represents modern urban settings that require response plans and provides a framework that can be used to elaborate on. This paper will present the positive features of serious game applications concerning public safety and emergency management education. Case studies of serious game applications currently used for public health and safety purposes will be examined. Serious games may be a useful instrument for public safety education to enhance existing emergency preparedness and public safety education frameworks.
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Konstantelos, Natalia, Ahmad Shakeri, Daniel McCormack, Anabel Campos-Meade, Tara Gomes, Michelle Murti, Valérie Pierre-Pierre, and Mina Tadrous. "Regional differences in access to direct-acting antiviral treatments for hepatitis C across Ontario: A cross-sectional study." Canada Communicable Disease Report 48, no. 4 (April 6, 2022): 170–78. http://dx.doi.org/10.14745/ccdr.v48i04a08.
Full textAbstract:
Background: Direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) are curative treatments for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, a condition affecting over 100,000 Ontarians. Although DAAs are covered under the public drug programs in Ontario, receiving prescriptions depends on access to healthcare. The aim of this study is to understand the relationship between DAA treatment rates and distance to prescriber in Ontario, Canada. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study and identified patients who filled a DAA prescription through the Ontario Drug Benefit (ODB) in 2019. We calculated crude (per 100,000 ODB recipients) and adjusted (by a regional HCV infection rate) DAA treatment rates by public health unit (PHU). We reported median distances to provider for all visit types, in-person visits, virtual visits, and proportions of visits that were virtual. Results: In 2019, the crude DAA treatment rate for Ontario is 83.0 patients per 100,000 ODB recipients. The HCV-adjusted DAA treatment rate ranges from 28.2 (Northwestern Ontario) to 188.5 (Eastern Ontario) per 100,000. In our primary analysis, patients in rural PHUs, including Northwestern and Porcupine, were among the highest median distances to prescriber for all visit types (1,195 km and 556 km, respectively). These PHUs also had the highest proportions of virtual visits (greater than 60%). Urban PHUs, such as Toronto and Ottawa, had smaller median distances for all visit types, with smaller proportions of virtual visits (10.8% and 12.4%, respectively). Conclusion: We observed heterogeneity in treatment rates, distance to DAA prescribers and use of virtual care in the management of HCV. Increasing use of telemedicine in regions with limited utilization of DAAs may improve access.
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McPherson, T. S., and V. R. Timmer. "Amelioration of degraded soils under red pine plantations on the Oak Ridges Moraine, Ontario." Canadian Journal of Soil Science 82, no. 3 (August 1, 2002): 375–88. http://dx.doi.org/10.4141/s01-084.
Full textAbstract:
Soil degradation and subsequent amelioration were studied on soil chronosequences of old-growth forest, abandoned fields, and young and mature conifer plantations on the Oak Ridges Moraine, an environmentally vulnerable landform near Toronto threatened by encroaching urban development. The chronosequences reflect a history of pre-settlement deforestation, exploitive pioneer agriculture and ensuing land abandonment that led to soil fallowing and/or wind erosion in the 1920s followed by soil stabilization after extensive planting with red pine (Pinus resinosa Ait.). Key pedogenic processes were identified and rates and magnitude of soil recovery were quantified in terms of morphological, physical and chemical characteristics of soil profiles. Soil degradation generally involved reduced fertility with profile simplification (haploidization) on non-eroded fallowed fields, and topsoil loss by wind erosion (deflation) on more exposed eroded fields. After reforestation, soil restoration was characterized by cessation of erosion, accelerated horizon development and differentiation, reduced soil bulk density, and increased fertility and acidification of the soil. Chronofunctions revealed substantial recovery in soil organic C, total N, available P, and exchangeable K, Ca and Mg status within 75 yr of initial reforestation on non-deflated, fallowed sites. In contrast, estimated recovery of these parameters on severely deflated sites was delayed far beyond plantation maturity. Key words: Oak Ridges Moraine, plantation (red pine), ecosystem restoration, deflation, soil degradation
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Rakotoarinia, Miarisoa Rindra, F. Guillaume Blanchet, Dominique Gravel, David R. Lapen, Patrick A. Leighton, Nicholas H. Ogden, and Antoinette Ludwig. "Effects of land use and weather on the presence and abundance of mosquito-borne disease vectors in a urban and agricultural landscape in Eastern Ontario, Canada." PLOS ONE 17, no. 3 (March 10, 2022): e0262376. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0262376.
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Weather and land use can significantly impact mosquito abundance and presence, and by consequence, mosquito-borne disease (MBD) dynamics. Knowledge of vector ecology and mosquito species response to these drivers will help us better predict risk from MBD. In this study, we evaluated and compared the independent and combined effects of weather and land use on mosquito species occurrence and abundance in Eastern Ontario, Canada. Data on occurrence and abundance (245,591 individuals) of 30 mosquito species were obtained from mosquito capture at 85 field sites in 2017 and 2018. Environmental variables were extracted from weather and land use datasets in a 1-km buffer around trapping sites. The relative importance of weather and land use on mosquito abundance (for common species) or occurrence (for all species) was evaluated using multivariate hierarchical statistical models. Models incorporating both weather and land use performed better than models that include weather only for approximately half of species (59% for occurrence model and 50% for abundance model). Mosquito occurrence was mainly associated with temperature whereas abundance was associated with precipitation and temperature combined. Land use was more often associated with abundance than occurrence. For most species, occurrence and abundance were positively associated with forest cover but for some there was a negative association. Occurrence and abundance of some species (47% for occurrence model and 88% for abundance model) were positively associated with wetlands, but negatively associated with urban (Culiseta melanura and Anopheles walkeri) and agriculture (An. quadrimaculatus, Cs. minnesotae and An. walkeri) environments. This study provides predictive relationships between weather, land use and mosquito occurrence and abundance for a wide range of species including those that are currently uncommon, yet known as arboviruses vectors. Elucidation of these relationships has the potential to contribute to better prediction of MBD risk, and thus more efficiently targeted prevention and control measures.
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Li, James, and Peter McAteer. "Urban Oil Spills as a Non-Point Pollution Source in the Golden Horseshoe of Southern Ontario." Water Quality Research Journal 35, no. 3 (August 1, 2000): 331–40. http://dx.doi.org/10.2166/wqrj.2000.023.
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Abstract Being the economic engine of Canada and the home of 5 million people, the environmental health of the Golden Horseshoe is very important. Among various pollution sources into the lake, urban oil spills as a non-point pollution source have not caught the attention of most residents. These spills can cause terrestrial impacts by poisoning animals and plants, groundwater contamination by infiltration, and surface water pollution by algal bloom and fish kills and destruction of freshwater invertebrates and vertebrates. In order to investigate the significance of this pollution source, 10 years of spill records in the Golden Horseshoe have been compiled. On the average, about 1050 L per day of oil escaped to the land, water and air environment in this region. About one-third of these spills eventually entered Lake Ontario. Among various types of spilled oil, gasoline, diesel fuel, aviation fuel and furnace oil accounted for the highest reported volume. The former Metropolitan Toronto led the frequency and volume of spills, while Hamilton-Wentworth followed closely. Spills frequently occur on roads, at service stations and at electrical transformers, while the highest spill event volumes occur at bulk plants/terminals/depots and at refineries. The predominant causes of spills are related to leaks from containers, pipes and hoses, and cooling systems. However, the principal reasons for oil spills are human error and equipment failure. The transportation, public and petroleum sectors are responsible for 60% of the reported spill cases, while the petroleum sector alone accounts for nearly 50% of the reported spill volume. Given the significant volume of spilled oil, it is important that all levels of government and private industries increase their effort to promote pollution prevention such as preventive maintenance, improved employee training and/or retraining, and proper vigilant supervision. Additionally, control devices such as oil-water interceptors should be sized properly and implemented at strategic location across the Golden Horseshoe.
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Chisholm, Stewart. "The growing role of citizen engagement in urban naturalization: The case of Canada." Ekistics and The New Habitat 71, no. 424-426 (June 1, 2004): 35–44. http://dx.doi.org/10.53910/26531313-e200471424-426219.
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The author (MA, MCIP, RPP) co-manages Evergreen's Common Grounds program which focuses on the protection and restoration of public lands in urban areas. He has a Master's degree in urban planning from the University of Waterloo, a Bachelor's Degree in resource geography from the University of Victoria , and he is a full member of the Canadian Institute of Planners. Over the past five years, he has developed urban greening resources for land use professionals and community groups including a national grant program, guidebooks, research reports, municipal policy guidelines and case studies. He has also developed and led professional training workshops for public land managers and other municipal officials on partnership approaches for protecting and stewarding urban green spaces. Prior to joining Evergreen, Stewart worked in the private and public sectors leading a variety of land-use planning, environmental assessment and resource conservation projects. Mr Chisholm has written journal articles and presented papers at national and international conferences including the Canadian Institute of Planners (2002) and the Society for Ecological Restoration (2001). The paper that follows is based on a presentation that he gave at the international symposion on "The Natural City," Toronto, 23-25 June, 2004, sponsored by the University of Toronto's Division of the Environment, Institute for Environmental Studies, and the World Society for Ekistics.