Reurbanization in Toronto: Condominium boom and social housing revitalization

Over the past few years, a condominium boom has transformed the City of Toronto: developers have bought up land in industrial and residential areas and built high-rise condominium towers that left their imprint on the urban landscape. This new interest for the inner city was sparked by a combination of legal and political shifts that had the intent to redirect growth to already built-up areas, and to change preferences for housing and planning practices that allowed intensification (as well as gentrification) of neighborhoods. In our contribution we will discuss two examples: the condominium boom driven by developers, and the redevelopment of the largest inner city social housing complex in Canada. Both of them, as we argue, are fostered by a market-based approach to re-urbanization. We will pay particular attention to the role that the social construction of a particular urban lifestyle has in the appropriation of spaces for reurbanization.