Guiding the development of the area is the West Don Lands Precinct Plan and Waterfront Toronto’s sustainable approach to development. The neighbourhood has already received Stage 1 LEED ND GOLD certification under the pilot program established by the U.S. Green Building Council and all development in the area must adhere to Waterfront Toronto’s Minimum Green Building Requirements.

Developed through extensive public consultation, the Precinct Plan outlines Waterfront Toronto’s vision for the area and defines the location, scale, character and function of all public spaces, streets, buildings and facilities in the community. The Plan was approved by Toronto City Council in 2005 and recognized with the 2005 Toronto Urban Design Award of Excellence in the Vision and Master Plans category.

The new streets in the community will enhance north south connections to adjacent neighbourhoods and the extended Mill and Front Street promenade lead to Don River Park. The West Don Lands will feature a mixture of mid-rise buildings and higher tower buildings in strategic locations, all required by Waterfront Toronto to meet LEED Gold certification. The scale of building heights is in keeping with that of surrounding communities.

Transit is a key feature of the West Don Lands. The new Cherry Street streetcar line will run within its own right-of-way between King Street and the rail corridor, with transit available within a five minute walk from homes and businesses. The streetcar line is expected to open following the 2015 Pan/Parapan Am Games.
 

The area will feature a number of striking design elements, and will be a stunning mixture of old and new. The five historic buildings within the West Don Lands site, located on Eastern Avenue and Cherry and Trinity streets, have been preserved and will be adaptively reused and incorporated into the new community, giving the new neighbourhood an organic, developed-over-time feel.

Woonerfs - an innovative street design - will be used for some of the area’s local interior streets. Woonerfs, or living streets, are pedestrian-oriented roads that blur the boundary between sidewalk and street and provide a common public space shared by pedestrians, cyclists and low-speed motor vehicles. Commonly found in Europe and elsewhere, the West Don Lands is the first place they will be used in Toronto.

Waterfront Toronto’s Public Art Strategy for the West Don Lands is first community scale comprehensive master art plan in Canada. Art will be displayed throughout the West Don Land’s parks and open spaces, creating an outdoor public gallery to provoke, delight and entertain residents and visitors.

The West Don Lands will be will be among the most connected in the world. It is part of Waterfront Toronto’s intelligent community initiative and will have a global leading ultra-high-speed broadband community network.
 

Historically, the West Don Lands was part of the Old Town of York, established by John Graves Simcoe in 1793.

“The Park,” as it was referred to on early maps, extended from Berkeley Street to the Don River as far north as Queen Street. It remained intact until the 1830s when it was subdivided and sold to finance the new provincial hospital. The Park was connected to the larger Garrison Reserve to the west by a shoreline promenade known as the Walks & Gardens. The only evident industrial uses dating to this period were the earliest brickyards.

The first non-government building on the West Don Lands portion of the park reserve was Gooderham’s 1832 windmill that evolved into the Gooderham & Worts Distillery. Associated uses followed such as cattle byres, harness making, and cooperages. Enoch Turner’s brewery on Taddle Creek near Parliament was an employer that attracted a considerable work force, and housing was quickly established in the surrounding area.

The arrival of the railways in the 1850s hastened the industrialization of the eastern waterfront. Maps from this period show gasometres, rail yards, roundhouses, work yards, abattoirs, foundries, lumber yards, and a large number of houses.

Over the years, the Don River which ran through the area was straightened, Taddle Creek was buried, marshes were filled in and land was levelled.

The 20th century brought refineries, rail yards, cement works, scrap yards, steel fabricators, salt storage, varnish factories, foundries, lumber yards, and automotive uses. With the pressure of railway expansion in the area, most of the residential uses left the site. As the city continued to expand, many of the industries relocated to the suburbs, or closed, leaving behind a number of buildings that are recognized today for their heritage value and large amounts of open space.

The provincial government took title of the West Don Lands in 1996.