From Displacement to Relation: A District of Disposal in Toronto’s Junction Neighbourhood

Abstract

North American waste systems are designed to operate invisibly, with little public presence, as the networks and infrastructures that manage waste have traditionally remained outside the scope of architectural designers. In Toronto, waste follows this pattern, creating limited public visibility and engagement, as materials are sorted and directed to transfer stations, landfills or exports. This fragmentation obscures public understanding of how waste is treated, handled and processed, while North American cities continue the cycle of consumption and displacement. While circular economy frameworks seek to position waste as a resource through the recovery of materials within production cycles, waste remains largely invisible, spatially and socially distant from the public.

The thesis examines how architecture can spatially integrate disposal, recovery and material transformation into visible, public and participatory processes within the urban fabric, creating new forms of civic activity built on material recovery, skill development and production knowledge. It proposes a larger urban vision of a district centred on disposal and its recovery, where skilled workers, artisans, entrepreneurs, salvagers and members of the public participate in an alternative economy to consumption grounded in waste material recovery, production, learning and exchanges.

West Toronto Junction, a major industrial production hub in the late nineteenth century, has gradually shifted from a landscape of production into one defined by consumption. Large corporations and retailers are concentrated within a shopping-oriented district, while disposal of post-consumed goods remains hidden from public view. Recovering waste and making disposal visible in urban civic life can inspire new publics to be created. Disposal becomes more than a management act, and instead a civic process capable of bringing together residents, recyclers, entrepreneurs, artisan makers and skilled labourers. Through participation, spatializing circular systems becomes an opportunity to learn about recovery, participate in labour or skill development and have access to facilities such as workshops, incubators, and shopfronts in light industrial operations.