The Lawrence-Allen neighbourhood is located in Toronto’s “Inner Suburbs” and is facing significant intensification pressures. SvN was commissioned by the City of Toronto to develop a comprehensive planning framework for the community to address these pressures head-on and serve as the background study for a Secondary Plan.

The resulting plan identifies how and where intensification should occur and should not occur, and explores ways of urbanizing the Allen Expressway, which bisects the site. As part of our work, SvN led an extensive stakeholder engagement program, which included intense negotiations with a number of landowners and would-be developers, including Toronto Community Housing Corporation, a public housing provider seeking to redevelop 1200 units of social housing with a dense, mixed-use neighbourhood.

In addition, the plan undertakes a critical analysis of local transportation options and suggests improvements accordingly. The Recommended Plan improves the function of the street network and its ability to support a balanced transportation system by providing legible and direct routes. It prioritizes walking, cycling, and transit in order to provide community members with transportation choices. The Recommended Plan builds upon the existing subway infrastructure in the Study Area and lays the foundation for service by surface transit. In addition to locating development in close proximity to the existing subway stations, the Recommended Plan establishes convenient routes for community members to walk and cycle to and from the subway and provides good potential routes for surface transit.