Toronto Public Housing

Toronto located in Canada has over the time been affected by the problem of housing because of the large population and existence of different groups of people that are made different by their cultures. This challenges affects and hinders the government from coming up with projects that help benefit residents because such bring employment opportunities, social amenities such as health, education, and recreation. When there is communication difficulty, it becomes hard to share and exchange information among different cultures because each culture has the distinct language they speak. The government has come up with strategies to see that they have been able to provide enough housing facilities for the residents that are affordable and sufficient to serve the residents of Toronto. The model used currently to provide housing in Toronto addresses the needs of the large population at minimal rate because of social-spatial and the concept of polarisation in vast cities of Canada. There is another major problem of public housing in Toronto where the developers are responsible for the bottlenecks by application of land banking which results to low development because of delaying projects by these developers to wait for an increase in prices in the future.

Introduction

Public space refers to an open place that is available and accessible to citizens of a certain country or the state. Public space includes beaches, roads which also include pavements, parks, and public squares. Facilities that belong to the government that is meant to assist the public such libraries constructed for the public such as public space. Public housing refers to the ownership of property by the government authority located either locally or centrally. Public housing has a relationship with social housing where it mainly deals with renting of houses owned mainly by the state or other organizations such non-profit or both with their main purpose ensuring they provide affordable houses or housing to the people of the state. Public housing aims at providing cheap housing for the citizens who cannot afford luxury or those earning low incomes. Public housing site provides for the people of different incomes resulting to the international and national development of the country.

There is also an opportunity of economic development based on increasing of prices for the value of land and its development and considering ways in which these factors come together to affect the people living in Toronto. The federal government of Toronto sees the need for preserving the sense of neighborhood among people by bringing development and constructing houses for residents. The houses in Regent Park are modern and are built by engineers who are experienced to ensure that quality houses are provided to the residents and ensure they meet their needs. The government funds the projects by financing the engineers in charge of the projects because it is important to build long-lasting structures using the best resources available.

Regent Park and the importance of public space in public housing

Toronto Regent is located in Canada as the largest site on public housing occupied by the people of the fixed income. Toronto faces challenges especially lack affordable houses and the cost building or buying a house is high given that housing is a basic need for every person needs a roof over their head. There is a problem of supply of houses by the agencies that are responsible for leasing houses in Toronto, and the speed at which new homes are replacing the ones already demolished is very low, unlike the past years (Wise, and Clark 25-27). The people interested in buying homes have few choices of houses to select from while the projects that are multi-family have doubled. They also increase in tough rules on the environment have been put in the urban or developed areas while homes that are detached are still tight upon being tight in the supply of housing prices and given that the multifamily projects are still in action. However, the government notices that there are more social changes made as compared to physical changes. RegentPark has some unique characteristics such as they have a prestigious array based on programs about the community that results in peace and social cohesion among the residents of Toronto. The plan of growth updated by developer’s shows possibilities of increased density targets which create a mismatch in demand and supply in the regulations of the municipal.

Developing houses in Toronto assists the public in various ways such as facilitating enough accommodation for the people in the group of low incomes who cannot afford expensive houses and assisting the municipal government gets rid of the slums in Toronto to bring urban planning and construct new buildings. Old buildings are destroyed and new ones constructed to bring in the modern design of the urban areas because urbanization is increasing with people moving from the rural to urban areas. According to Mumford (1945), getting rid of the old buildings that are out of date encourages construction of new ones to meet the needs of the people because the old documents are not able to effectively satisfy the residents of the area. It brings an idea of starting from scratch by obtaining new designs of houses and creates Regent Park in modern ways. There are arguments concerning if an administration should control the organizations in Toronto or whether they should be independent. There are pressures from the representatives of the selected committees on whether the appointed organizations responsible for the reconstruction and development of Toronto because of the need to have eligible people in charge of that’s sector. The figures below shows public space in Toronto providing a pavement for residents. Fig 1 below shows a park where people rest when they want to cool off the heat or want some time to meet friends and talk. This is public space because it is not restricted to the residents by anyone like the private space where only people authorized can access, the residents from Toronto are able to access the place and perform their activities.

Fig 1: Villeneuve Phil, The fountain features 27 cast iron dogs, one scared-looking cat Marcanadian. Web.

The shortage in finances and inability to pay for mortgages because the banks in Canada fails to give loans and financial assistance to enable people to pay for the houses. The Canadian government also fails to put efforts in the sector of public housing because of lack of enough funding. However, after some time, the government of Canada in association with the municipality comes up with projects that mainly focus on developing and constructing houses to ensure enough and affordable housing for the residents. Rose also views the problem of housing as a result of the imbalance occurring in demand and supply which comes from economics and building practices when combined resulting to a change in the culture that involves and engage many families or a just a group of them. Intervention by the government also lacks when providing housing to the residents of Toronto, the residents of Canada are not able to afford some services or products due to the prices in the market as they find them too expensive (Leahy Laughlin 126-135). The cost of renting houses becomes too high for some of them especially those of low-income groups, the housing agency in Canada is in high demand because of the restrictions put by the government involving where to place or construct the buildings or carry out renovations of the old buildings.

This restrictions blocks resolution made because they are trying to protect the environment, after the World War II, new houses are constructed because the war caused destructions leading to houses and property brought down. Therefore the government sees the need to develop new houses to ensure affordable and enough housing for their residents, at this period the prices of houses decreases because of the post-war since many houses are built in Regent Park and as results the rates of income increases. The government of Canada gives the residents a capital percentage of 25% that approves the loans for paying mortgages for the NHA at reduced rates of interests. It allows them to pay for houses and obtain at a lower price because of the intervention by the government, the involvement by government in the mortgages currently results to a situation where the department takes the entire responsibility for the planning in the urban areas. It is due to the policies set for housing that controls all the activities that relate to housing and ensure the government plays its part in providing affordable and enough housing for the residents. This promotes development in Toronto because more people move from other areas to Canada to look for jobs and better lives.

The emphasis on the need to protect the environment and other sites of heritage and neglecting the need for development is also a major challenge of public housing in Toronto because they seem to value environment more and are protecting them and this discourages the construction and expansion of new houses or estates. The troubles or problems that Toronto faces are of concern to the national government because Canada plays a major role in the technological and financial sector which contributes to a large part of the state economy. The authorities in Toronto Canada have increased taxes on the buyers who are foreign in the state for what they consider speculative demand (Metroplan: Plan for the Urban Structure of Metropolitan Toronto 76-90). Through this, they are considering the major drive for prices such as bottlenecks that have over the time increased. According to the head of the housing agency, it is important to consider long-term housing projects in Toronto to curb the major housing problems facing the residents. Developers replace the houses in Toronto at a very low rate resulting in a shortage of houses.

There is also another major problem of public housing in Toronto where the developers are responsible for the bottlenecks by application of land banking which results to low development because of delaying projects by these developers to wait for an increase in prices in future. It greatly discourages any development to take place resulting in housing projects. The reasons for the delay results from regulations that are complex rather than the known speculations. A survey undertaken in 2016 shows that there are land regulations that show that Toronto is under strict regulations and the costs of compliance are also very high (Daswani, Bunce and Cummings 90-102). The developers are looking at ways of protecting some species which are at high risks in the process of transporting the needs or resources to obtain the approval from the municipal. The government is making efforts to bring in the social mix to the sector of public housing aimed at the development of the primary projects that mainly aim at altering various dynamics. These dynamics are social in areas that are highly concentrated in poverty and dominated by a group of minorities whose are thought to be the main cause of poverty and cause marginalization.

MacLean’s apartment in Toronto is among the apartments financed by the government in the state and easily noticed. The construction of this building is influenced by the need to have a large building that can accommodate a large number of people who intends to work in the rapidly growing city of Toronto. It also aims at providing space enough for holding a large number of people. The Canadian federal government is responsible for constructing of buildings such as the one exhibited in Fig 2 for the purpose of effective urban planning. For 32 years, the building holds the record of being the most attracting building until replaced by another building in the late years. Specifically, building, for example, those that resemble the one in Fig 2 are meant to serve the purpose of accommodating residents living in the state and those coming in from other states to work there as well as being a sign of development in the industry in Toronto. The issue of public space and public housing is clearly shown because the building being built by government association which in this case the apartment serves the public and the citizens are allowed to access the building for services such as employment or other needs.

Fig 2: Capreit, Shallmar Apartments, Web.

There is sharing of space in this building given a lot of people accommodate this building because there are no houses available leading to competition. There is no restriction by the government to access this building making it a public forum. There is the intersection of public space and public housing where the space that is provided by the government for people to live and perform their activities in that building (Guirguis-Younger, McNeil and Hwang 34-39). Public space relates to public housing because the MacLean’s apartment provides space to the urban population caused by a rapid increase in urban population. This building contributes to the growth of the surrounding area due to industrialization resulting to development of houses by the state to cater for the mixed incomes people by providing them at affordable prices to ensure that every person can manage. Therefore when public space is available, there is likeliness of obtaining affordable and good housing by the state for the low or high low incomes to ensure there is enough housing for the citizens.

Over the course of time in this apartment, public space and public housing intersect because each is dependent on the other because when the states provide its citizens with space such as providing enough housing, it meets their needs. It, therefore, results in the state being encouraged to provide even better facilities for the citizens as enough housing and affordable accommodation to cater for the large population in the state (Wise and Clark 98). The federal government also builds houses for their employees working in the industries surrounding the apartment and those who would like to move closer to the urban area. Therefore public space empowers public housing by ensuring they provide space and housing for all groups of incomes whether low or high-income groups. Currently, this intersection between public housing and space has resulted in both positive and negative effects. Public housing and public space create equity apart from being a key driver to success and sustainability resulting to the attainment of the equitable city and better strategies in urban planning.

The positive effects of the intersection are that the citizens have been provided with cheap housing without discrimination because they receive cheap and affordable housing depending on the way one can afford. The government constructs houses enough to cater for the growing urban population because people are moving from the rural to urban areas in search of better life and services and others employment. There are key components which depend on the development and the creation of Regent Park by initiating development of the social plan. The development of social plan mainly focuses on development through consulting board members, institutions that are local, businesses that occur locally and residents. There is also the development of other amenities such as good hospitals, hotels and good and luxurious houses for people who love comfort. It has led to the provision of better services because of the development brought by the construction of the tower. The negative effects of the intersection are the overpopulation because of the provision of cheap and affordable houses around Toronto brought as a result of the construction of MacLean’s apartment. When there is the dense population in an area, environmental pollution increases, shortage of food and a shortage of important services such as education and health services reduces. Crimes increase due to a large number of people some of them performing crimes such as robbery to provide for them. It also resulted to reduction of space available for citizens and also leaving inadequate space for construction of facilities such schools and hospitals enough to cater for everyone as a result of competition for the same services. Therefore the intersection has both the positive and negative effects. Also, levels of education improved as well as satisfaction and availability of basic needs and increased levels of employment for those coming to Toronto to search for employment and those already living in the city.

The case study of the transformation of Toronto’s Reagent showing the way Toronto has transformed over a period. Public housing site provides for the people of different incomes resulting to the international and national development of the country. The case study mainly focuses on the right processes and the results of development on a large scale in trying to build marketing and non-marketing housing or neighborhood in Toronto. The federal government builds Regent Park using its finances, and overtimes it has shifted its management from being managed by the federal government to being managed by the provincial initiatives and finally by the municipal. Social housing funding has over the decades reduced in Toronto because of an attempt of the Regent Park to try to provide houses of good quality for the low-income groups where residents are income extensive. There is also an opportunity of economic development based on increasing of prices for the value of land and its development and also considering ways in which these factors come together to affect the people living in Toronto. The federal government of Toronto sees the need for preserving the sense of neighborhood among people by bringing development and constructing houses for residents. They also see the need to support the quality that life has by initiating organizations such as non-profit companies to benefit residents. They also see the benefit that Regent Park has basing on their location because its location results to ease access to transportation facilities, education, and health as well as employment facilities. The model used currently to provide housing in Toronto addresses the needs of the large population at very minimal rate because of social-spatial and the concept of polarisation in vast cities of Canada.  

The case based on Regent Park appears away from public housing is done in large scale to bring development projects done in the near years. Integration of opportunities that occurs socially results to the development of plans that emphasize the need to build a community with mixed incomes and people and it focuses on replacing the social housing(Juchymenko 124-132). There are key components which depend on the development and the creation of Regent Park by initiating development of the social plan. Programs meant to help the residents to develop themselves regarding leadership by providing them with opportunities to gain skills to lead and add new knowledge for their benefit. They are involved in the processes of development and taking part in initiatives in the community and through this those aspiring to become leaders gain new skills that enable them to develop regarding the work-related. The social development plan assists the residents of Toronto in engaging themselves in activities and has priorities such as obtaining mentorship at full levels. The development of social plan mainly focuses on development through consulting board members, institutions that are local, businesses that occur locally and residents. The plan does this by providing a guide that assists in successful building a cohesive and peaceful community in Toronto within the process of development in the future years. There is a possibility of mixed-income groups diving themselves by the level of income they earn and also according to their ethnic background as well as the length of tenure.

The role of Regent Park is to ensure interaction between activities people engage in daily such economic activities with landscaping and planning in the urban areas; this enables the residents to rebuild their social life. The spaces in the urban areas of Canada are under pressure due to high demand brought about by housing especially those with low incomes; through this demand, the government of Canada sees the need to reconstruct Regent Park. This construction assists the government to know more the park and the main steps used in creating it because understanding the major climate of the house is very important. The expectancy of life has increased in Canada in the period of post-war. As a result, the growing population of the state at the current time. This rapid population growth also results in a shift of marriage patterns, equally the growth in population results from an increase in employment opportunities in the previous periods. Although high growth in population results in high demand for houses, the high demand reflects the high population in Regent Park. The high demand for housing also results from a shift in the distribution in the population.

Some people are forced to move from their homes to new places to look for better lives and escape from their religious and cultural struggles causing a shift in the distribution of the population. It also results in inequalities in wealth between people of different states; this results to movement’s labor and trade creation. Therefore this high growth in population and shifting of distribution in population in the urban spaces relates to the main shortage of housing in Toronto. When the post-war is considered, there was a major shift by residents which resulted to a decline in the number of people living in the households; the shift was caused changes in their culture which resulted to pressure on housing and rapid population growth in the new areas the residents shifted to for better services. The housing problem relates to failure to produce new houses and an increasing need for new houses by residents; these are the major causes of high demand for housing. There are other reasons also for the demand stated by Rose (1985: 18), an increase in the number of family members or formation of the new family which in this case are the new people migrating in Toronto, the family broken and those who move to and from other countries or states. The problem of accumulation in shortage resulting to the replacement the dwellings considered sub-standards and also the various accommodations or spaces required by families at the time of movement through the cycle of life. Even with the increasing need of housing in Canada, there is a shortage in the places to construct the new houses to cater for this shortage in the housing; this shortage is caused by the nature of housing occurring seasonal and the obsolete methods of distribution. The rising cost of construction due to high prices of materials for construction and rapid increase in the price of the process of developing houses.

The residents of public housing influences the process of developing Regent Park as well as the support of the people representing the municipal and provincial the agencies that are responsible for housing. Large governmental and non-profit organizations characterize Regent Park and influence its existence, the area has histories of a large number of households concentrated with people living in poverty and a large number of youths, the disabled, parents who are single, immigrants and elders make up a large number of people who live there(Wise and Clark 126). Therefore the agency and the government sees the needs to be located in such areas to provide housing and assist in serving the large population. There are also extensive help programs such as food programs, employment, and the media that focuses on the youth, training of music and programs meant to help the adults. Programs meant to help the residents to develop themselves regarding leadership by providing them with opportunities to gain skills to lead and add new knowledge for their benefit. They are involved in the processes of development and taking part in initiatives in the community and through this those aspiring to become leaders gain new skills that enable them to develop regarding the work-related. The social development plan assists the residents of Toronto in engaging themselves in activities and has priorities such as obtaining mentorship at full levels.

The federal government of Toronto also provides the residents with certain programs that are meant specifically to assist them to obtain various skills such as leadership in women and education for the youth that enables them to focus on the better way of developing the community. The residents apply this leadership skills learned in real life, and some of them use them to become important people and also become empowerment to the youth, women, and men in the society (Johnson and Schippling 120-122). The government also uses organizations to facilitate training based on functions of administration that’s helps to hold orientation and provide training to them to provide new representatives in the community and other members of the board. The skills learned by the residents help produce leaders and instill them with skills that enable them to understand about the important decisions about the budgets since they are mentored and trained on how to deal with important issues and find solutions to any problems. It also enables the leaders raised to have management skills and also be able to interact with people who are experts in various areas effectively. Public space and public housing provide the residents of Toronto to obtain opportunities where they can acquire skills which aim at offering mentorship which is informal to them so that they can act as role models.

The residents of Toronto also are involved in the all the steps and processes involved development and planning. Therefore the government has ensured that it develops all the neighborhoods in Toronto to avoid inequality in the distribution of wealth and ensure that all areas are well developed. It ensures it implements the social development plans and ensures all areas are equally accessed; the main aim of public housing is to provide sufficient and affordable accommodation for residents because housing has become a major challenge in the area and so it has built houses to ensure that at least every resident has accommodation. However, there are more social changes made as compared to physical changes. Regent Park has some unique characteristics such as they have a prestigious array based on programs about the community that results in peace and social cohesion among the residents of Toronto. Some people are forced to move from their homes to new places to look for better lives and escape from their religious and cultural struggles causing a shift in the distribution of the population. It also results in inequalities in wealth between people of different states; this results to movement’s labor and trade creation. Therefore this high growth in population and shifting of distribution in population in the urban spaces relates to the main shortage of housing in Toronto. The image of Toronto at one point is characterized by the fact that it had a history of stigmatization and there that increased cases of both economic and social stress; there were also cases of increased criminal activities. The residents of social housing welcome development by engaging in important activities such as plans and processes to help in the development of Toronto as a whole. There are uneven opportunities for the people because of there no satisfaction and fewer engagements by the people of Toronto leading to underdevelopment of the entire state.

Challenges are facing Toronto such as the lack or shortages of funding for development projects to be undertaken, division that are brought by the difference in cultures and language barriers due to culture. This challenges affects and hinders the government from coming up with projects that help benefit residents because such bring employment opportunities, social amenities such as health, education, and recreation. When there is communication difficulty, it becomes hard to share and exchange information among different cultures because each culture has the distinct language they speak (Juchymenko 124-132). The government is making efforts to bring in the social mix to the sector of public housing aimed at the development of the primary projects that mainly aims at altering various dynamics. These dynamics are social in areas that are highly concentrated in poverty and dominated by a group of minorities whose are thought to be the main cause of poverty and cause marginalization.

Summary

Toronto faces challenges especially lack affordable houses and the cost building or buying a house is high given that housing is a basic need for every person needs a roof over their head. There is a problem of supply of houses by the agencies that are responsible for leasing houses in Toronto, and the speed at which new homes are replacing the ones already demolished is very low, unlike the past years. The government of Canada gives the residents a capital percentage of 25% that approves the loans for paying mortgages for the NHA at reduced rates of interests. It allows them to pay for houses and obtain at a lower price because of the intervention by the government, the involvement by government in the mortgages currently results to a situation where the department takes the entire responsibility for the planning in the urban areas. There is also an opportunity of economic development based on increasing of prices for the value of land and its development and also considering ways in which these factors come together to affect the people living in Toronto. The federal government of Toronto sees the need for preserving the sense of neighborhood among people by bringing development and constructing houses for residents. According to the head of the housing agency, it is important to consider long-term housing projects in Toronto to curb the major housing problems facing the residents. Developers replace the houses in Toronto at a very low rate resulting in a shortage of houses.

Developing houses in Toronto assists the public in various ways such as facilitating enough accommodation for the people in the group of low incomes who cannot afford expensive houses and assisting the municipal government gets rid of the slums in Toronto to bring urban planning and construct new buildings. The role of Regent Park is to ensure interaction between activities people engage in daily such economic activities with landscaping and planning in the urban areas; this enables the residents to rebuild their social life. The spaces in the urban areas of Canada are under pressure due to high demand brought about by housing especially those with low incomes; through this demand, the government of Canada sees the need to reconstruct Regent Park. There are key components which depend on the development and the creation of Regent Park by initiating development of the social plan. The development of social plan mainly focuses on development through consulting board members, institutions that are local, businesses that occur locally and residents.

There is also another major problem of public housing in Toronto where the developers are responsible for the bottlenecks by application of land banking which results to low development because of delaying projects by these developers to wait for an increase in prices in future. There are arguments about whether the administration should control the organizations in Toronto or whether they should be independent (Milisiewicz 125).Some people are forced to move from their homes to new places to look for better lives and escape from their religious and cultural struggles causing a shift in the distribution of the population. It also results in inequalities in wealth between people of different states; this results to movement’s labor and trade creation. Therefore this high growth in population and shifting of distribution in population in the urban spaces relates to the main shortage of housing in Toronto. There are pressures from the representatives of the selected committees on whether the appointed organizations responsible for the reconstruction and development of Toronto because of the need to have eligible people in charge of that’s sector.

Conclusion

Public space and public housing have resulted in both positive and negative effects