Regent Park Revitalization

990 Words4 Pages
Assignment #1: Newspaper Article Review – Regent Park Revitalization The Toronto revitalization infrastructure project in Regent Park has created much awareness and concern regarding the success and outcome of the project. The first problem identified by the author was the cost of the revitalization project. Since Toronto is also considering the redevelopment of Union station, there is much debate regarding the division of the ‘building Canada fund’ from Parliament (Galloway, 2009). However, the City of Toronto decided to allocate $1 billion towards the six phase rejuvenation project (Baker, 2009). Environmentally speaking, community members feared that the demolition of older buildings may cause deterioration in the quality of the surrounding…show more content…
The author seemed more conscious and concerned about the environmental effects of the project as opposed to the culture that it would impose on Torontonians. The author mentioned that relocation is a concern for residents but failed to satiate readers’ concerns. In fact, the Toronto Community Housing alongside the City of Toronto has addressed this issue and created relocation strategies through a community engagement process (Toronto Community Housing, 2007). The author also failed to inform the audience about the ultimate goal of this project. This revitalization project was designed to create a form of social development plan and promote inclusion and address transitional issues in the Regent Park community (Toronto Community Housing, 2007). Regent Park is characterized by a high rate of poverty, unemployment, and a diaspora city (Statistics Canada, 2006). As a result, it experiences a higher level of violence, drug abuse, and social ills compared to other cities in Toronto. People outside of the Regent Park area fail to identify with and commit to this area which has created much under awareness and unwillingness to invest in this community. Even individuals that live in this area see the community as a “transitional community” (Statistics Canada, 2006). Many residents believe that when they become more financial stable, they are deemed to leave to area. As a result, this reformation was designed to encourage diversity and introduce a broader mix of income and tenure to the population (Toronto Community Housing, 2007). It also creates an opportunity for underprivileged children, which constitute 11% of the Regent Park population to live, learn, and work with people from other communities and hopefully experience a higher standard of living (Toronto Community Housing, 2007). In the end, subsidizing such a project has the ultimate goal of
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