The Lower Don Lands is a 125 hectare (308 acre) area that runs from East Bayfront (the Parliament Street Slip) east to the Don Roadway and from West Don Lands (the rail corridor) south to the Ship Channel. Waterfront Toronto plans to transform the largely underutilized industrial area into new sustainable parks and communities. The naturalization and shifting of the mouth of the Don River is the centrepiece of the plans for the Lower Don Lands.

The plans would see the Don River's mouth moved from its current location at the Keating Channel near the Don Roadway to Lake Ontario on the eastern side of Toronto’s inner harbour. The river would be re-routed through the middle of the Lower Don Lands between the Ship Channel and the Keating Channel. This will result in the Don River once again becoming a major feature of Toronto’s waterfront and the centerpiece of new mixed-use neighbourhoods and parks and green spaces in the Lower Don Lands. The changes to the river mouth will also provide the flood protection necessary to enable development of the immediate area and the larger Port Lands.

Waterfront Toronto’s plans were developed through a comprehensive environmental assessment process which has included the examination of several alternative planning solutions. The plans are rooted in planning designs developed by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates as part of the international design competition for the Lower Don Lands held by Waterfront Toronto in 2007.
 

The Keating Channel neighbourhood, located in northern quadrant of the Lower Don Lands, is the first precinct being planned for the area. The neighbourhood runs from East Bayfront to the Don River and from the West Don Lands to Villiers Street

Much of the Lower Don Lands is located in the Port Lands which was once the largest natural wetland on the Great Lakes. The Ashbridges Bay Marsh was created by the lower Don River as it emptied into Toronto’s inner harbour. The landscape in the area was dramatically altered in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Don River and the marsh it created posed many problems for the adjacent settlement of York and starting in 1870 a series of breakwaters, channels and other man-made structures were created to manage the area. Most failed or caused additional problems and in the 1910s plans were developed to change the area permanently.

In 1912, the Board of the Toronto Harbour Commission completed a plan for transforming Ashbridges Bay Marsh into a massive new industrial district with waterfront parks and summer homes. The mouth of the Don River was redirected into the concrete-lined Keating Channel in 1914 and infilling of the surrounding wetlands began. By 1922, more than 200-hectares (500-acres) of land had been created on the former marsh, with another 200-hectares soon to follow. These lands were quickly occupied by industry and plans for a major waterfront park and adjoining cottage community were never realized. After the Gardiner Expressway was built in the 1950s, the mouth of the Don River became lost amidst a tangle of off-ramps, bridges and abutments. Access to the river was virtually cut off. Over the past three decades, public calls for the naturalization of the mouth of the Don River have grown steadily stronger.

Discover more about why plans for the Lower Don Lands are helping to set a new global standard for sustainable urban development.

Take a walk through the Lower Don Lands with renowned urban designer Ken Greenberg and hear plans for the transformation of the area.

boundaries: From Parliament St. to the Don Roadway, the Rail corridor to the Ship Channel

size:

• 125 hectares (308 acres)
• 12,500 new residential units
• 500,000 sq. ft. of commercial and retail space
• 53 hectares (130 acres) of parks/public spaces including 24 hectares (58 acres) of park land with two event spaces

proximity: 20 minute walk to downtown, next to West Don Lands

design teams: Lower Don Lands Framework, Keating Channel Precinct, Landscape Architect and Team Lead: Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates Inc.

The Keating Channel Precinct, the Lower Don Lands’ first planned community, received the 'Best Futuristic Design Award’ at the Building Exchange (BEX) 2009 Conference. The fifth annual BEX International Awards, held in partnership with the World Green Building Council, promote global standards for environmentally sound buildings, large-scale developments and infrastructure. Judged by a panel of leading experts, the awards celebrate sustainability, innovation, efficiency and collaboration in the built environment and demonstrate consideration of the issues surrounding climate change, sustainable communities and future legacies.