Evaluating The Conversion Of Employment Areas

Toronto is a thriving city where growth is occurring amid challenges of affordability and lack of space. Tensions are arising as the result of competing interests and are evidenced in the struggle of competing land uses. In fact, employment areas in former industrial districts are becoming increasingly threatened by this relentless growth. Many developers find these areas attractive for mixed use developments; however, the City of Toronto is making efforts to protect them from these uses to keep them exclusively for economic and business activity. This paper proposes a guideline to evaluate conversion proposals. It draws from relevant literature and similar cases to assess through a questionnaire approach the worthiness of future proposals for conversion. The intention is that any member of a community can reach a conclusion based on his or her answers to the guideline.