Can Condominium Development Contribute to Social Sustainability? The Case of Inner Toronto.

Abstract

There are growing awareness and understanding of condominium boom at the city, national and international scales, but it remains unclear what role condominium development may play in social sustainability at a micro level and how it may be related to the processes of urban development and redevelopment. This study seeks to fill the gap through both qualitative and quantitative methods of the spatial distribution of condominium development and its relationship to prevailing patterns of intensification and socioeconomic polarization within the inner city of Toronto.

This thesis examines the spatial dynamics and future trends of condominium development at the neighbourhood level and explores the influential policies that fostered and regulated condominium growth in the City of Toronto, especially the inner city. A host of indicators of both condominium development and social sustainability are selected to analyze the effects of condominium development in either ameliorating or exacerbating levels of social sustainability. It is argued that, as a socioeconomic endeavour that is encouraged and regulated by local government, condominium development influences the urban form and life of local residents and thus implicates various aspects of social sustainability to some extent. The research explores these changes, and discuss the emerging nexus of urbanization, socioeconomic restructuring, and shifts of lifestyle that have coalesced around condominium development.