How many people would be able to live in Toronto if it had the same population density as, say, Paris?
Its worth saying as this juncture that Paris is the most densely developed city in Europe.
Its population is 21,000 per km2
But, at the same time, Berlin is only 3,900 per km2
London is just over 5,000
Toronto is 4,400 and change.
I clearly do think we can and ought to raise our density number, but I also like parkland, which we have a lot more of than Paris, and Paris also has a lot less permeability which impacts on water quality, less tree canopy.
If we used London as our target, and grew our population as currently projected; we will hit London-level density within 5-6 years.
We could be more ambitious still, and probably should............but again, I don't think Paris is actually the right target.
The thing in Toronto is we tend to do hyper-dense, as in downtown, mid-town and North York at Yonge and at Bessarion or very low density.
That creates odd quirks of 1/2 empty schools in parts of Etobicoke and Scarborough, and schools bursting at the seems at Yonge/Eg, downtown and parts of East York.
I think we should probably be looking to get density into the 1/2 of Paris range, or about 10,000 per km2
Here, let's note the current projections for Toronto will put us north of 4,000,000 people, in the City proper, in 12-20 years.
That would yield a density of 6,350 per km2.
Making us denser than most European cities.
Also the much vaunted comparison to Montreal........they are 4,500 per km2 or barely any denser than Toronto (far fewer skyscrapers)
Just a bit of contextual perspective.