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From 2015 to 2017, UrbanToronto and its sister publication, SkyriseCities, ran an occasional series of articles under the heading Explainer. Each one took a concept from Urban Planning, Architecture, Construction, or other topics that often wind up in our publications, and presented an in depth look at it. It's time to revisit (and update where necessary) those articles for readers who are unfamiliar with them. While you may already know what some of these terms mean, others may be new to you. We are publishing or updating and republishing Explainer on a weekly basis.
This week's Explainer is a refresh of an original that appeared in 2016.
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As vacant or low-density land is redeveloped with much larger buildings, land for parks in the world's quickly-densifying cities becomes ever more scarce, and local officials are faced with a dilemma: with all this development, how can room also be made for public spaces to serve the growing population? With skyscrapers reaching new heights, the ground-level experience and public realm can not afford to be an afterthought, and as cities wrestle with meeting budgetary demands, the provision of designated public spaces, such as plazas and parks, can be an expensive undertaking. Now, the COVID-19 pandemic has served to underline how important such urban breathing spaces are.
The battle for land acquisition between developers and cities has actually presented new partnerships and opportunities. In exchange for zoning concessions following negotiations with the municipality, developers often commit to provide a privately owned publicly-accessible space, or POPS, on part of the development site (or close by) meant for the enjoyment of everyone; residents, visitors, and passersby. Though operated by the developer, the space must be open for community use, and detailed wording is written into the agreement the City has with the developer to ensure continued public access to the POPS. Adopters of this program, including New York City and Toronto, have launched interactive digital tools to identify and advertise POPS to their residents.
Along with a POPS area, cities often require space from larger developments also be given over to the City as new parkland. In Toronto, most developers are required to give 10% of their lot to the City for such purposes, or the City may accept monies that go into a Park-in-Lieu fund instead of providing the land. The City then pools the fund monies to purchase properties to build new parks on.
If a developer does provide 10% of a building site for a park, it is usually close to the street, and if there is also a POPS space on the site, they are usually contiguous, or side-by-side, to make the usable green space larger.
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Do you have other planning terms that you would like to see featured on Explainer? Share your comments and questions in the comments section below!
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