AUGUST 2014
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the Greater Toronto Area. Incorporating flood
protection into the revitalization of the water-
front is critical at the Don River watershed—
an area where flooding from the bottom of the
river, if left unchecked, would essentially flood
all of the eastern part of the downtown all the
way to Bay Street, a 210-hectare area that in-
cludes Toronto’s financial district.
Waterfront Toronto devised an exemplary so-
lution in green revitalization by using extra land
brought in from construction sites to compress
the landform, and then reshaped the land to
make a superior city park that is Corktown
Common naturally bordering the Don River to
the east. In addition to the landform, flood pro-
tection was provided by widening the channel
of the Don River so that it could accommodate
a larger flow of water—think approximately
two-thirds of the water flowing from Niagara
Falls! Toronto and Region Conservation carried
out this work as part of the Lower Don River
West Remedial Flood Protection Project. Con-
sequently, the Don River Park was built out of
the unique topography provided by the land-
form in the new West Don Lands community.
In light of Waterfront Toronto’s achievements
in revitalization to create new sustainable com-
munities, Campbell recognizes that it all comes
down to quality of place. His advice to other
developers is a simple motto of what he de-
scribes as the three “p’s” of: purpose, passion
and persistence. He added that it is not always
easy to be patient when trying to effect policy,
or to do what one thinks is the right thing as
a developer when regulations haven’t adjusted
yet to reflect new policies. Forward, long-term
thinking is critical to success.
“You’ve got to future proof your neighbor-
hoods. You cannot be building cities looking
out the rear view mirror. You’ve got to be look-
ing out the front window. This is an economic
long-game because talent and capital is highly
mobile and it can go anywhere, so we need to
be thinking about a quality of place and a qual-
ity of life that allows us to attract the best and
brightest people, that’s how we stay competi-
tive,” concluded Campbell. “Some people think
we’re just building pretty parks, but that’s just
on the surface.”
