ABSTRACT
Today urbanization has become the way of life of a majority of the population. For two generations the people have accumulated a backlog of recreational needs; now wealth and leisure have converted these needs into an active economic demand and a pressing political force. This need for open space stems from the relatively recent massive urbanization and the technological revolution which gave it birth. The first two can be grouped as open space for structure and the latter two as open space for service. Open space that can be seen is that which is used for recreation, viewed from vantage points or felt in that it offers landscape relief. In examining the problems of urban open space it is helpful to view the region in three spatial contexts: the central city, the outer ring, and the urban region. Metropolitan Toronto offers an interesting example of use of drainage corridors as the main structural elements in provision of urban open space.
