Tower Neighborhood Revitalization in Toronto and Canadian Environmental Justice Politics

Abstract

Abstract In 2008, Toronto's City Council agreed to support the Tower Renewal Project, an ambitious proposal to renew over 1,000 aging concrete high-rise apartment buildings constructed largely between the 1960s and 1980s in socially and economically marginalized areas across Toronto, Canada. Over 500,000 residents live in these comparatively affordable high-rise buildings. These structures now require significant environmental upgrades to conserve energy and reduce carbon emissions. In addition to proposing structural retrofits, the Tower Renewal Project is concerned with addressing environmental justice issues in high-rise neighborhoods such as the spatial organization of inequalities, transportation concerns, health inequalities, problems with existing zoning bylaws, and public participation. Despite the challenges to naming, framing, and applying the concept of environmental justice in Canada, this article argues that the Tower Renewal Project addresses environmental justice concerns and politics uniqu...