Features

December 19, 2011

HYPOTHETHICAL CITY
Should Toronto be vertical?
Toronto is not a vertically-oriented city. Yes, the CN Tower is tall, but if you leave the radius of a few key blocks, you dont run the risk of a strained neck. Cranes hover high above the city in a handful of spots, but it would take a lot before Toronto could hold a candle to New York and Tokyo. Then again, in those cities of endless skyscrapers, building up is a solution to problems of limited space and expensive real estate. Its one thing to yearn for international prestige, but does Toronto really require upward expansion? The answer is yes, according to the Upper Toronto project. Upper Toronto proposes shifting the entire city to the sky, leaving its presentday incarnation to lie fallow below. The city of Upper Toronto would leave behind all the problems of its lowly counterpart. Commute times? Slashed. Public services? Improved. The

BY SIMON FRANK
city-in-the-sky idea needs to include all the people who live in this Toronto. By creating a sphere free of expectations, financial restraints, or current government, people can unreservedly imagine what would constitute an ideal city. In the process of real-life discussions and consultations, people can begin to ponder how positive changes can be brought about in their day-to-day urban environment. Ultimately, the project is about using casual and entertaining events to forge new ways to conceptualize and interact with the urban environment. People sort of take their cities for granted, says Plotnikova. I feel like it has immense potential to get people thinking about just their everyday lives in the city, and how to improve current situations, even if what they have. The imagination behind Upper Toronto can definitely lead to civic engagement.

Torontos City Hall with an added spire.

The Gooderham Building showed with imaginary spherical structures.

University of Torontos looming Robarts library with elevated houses on its side.

Photos by: Bernarda Gospic/The Torontonian

increased proximity consultation stage, the to the sun might even organizers will synthemake things warmer. size citizen recommenBest of all, Upper dations. Architects and Toronto wouldnt be designers will work to too expensive to build, create a visual represenmainly because it exists tation of the hypothetionly in the minds of its cal city. Then, the procreators. posal will be presented Upper Toronto is not in condo centres, public the garspaces, and gantuan The imagination arts festiplanning vals, just behind Upper blunder as a real Toronto can it may developappear definitely lead to ment plan to be civic engagement. might. at first. At the Instead, projects its a chance to use an conclusion, the orgaimpossible concept as a nizers will encourage framework for Toronto- Torontonians to write nians to ask important to their city council repquestions and actively resentatives to recomengage with urban afmend the construction fairs. of Upper Toronto. Still, its tempting Ambitiously, the to imagine what might organizers have planned occur if the sky-borne for this to be carried out city were actually conover the course of five structed. years. Since kicking off the Why aim for the imidea in early 2011, the possible, when the ultiorganizers have been mate result is a simple hosting consultations letter to a councillor? in public libraries, alUpper Toronto, as lowing people to come something that we have forward and shape what no intention to do, is Upper Toronto should a useful construct, take. explains Zimmer. The After the year-long science fiction, terrible,