ABSTRACT
Toronto’s housing situation is a mixed blessing between a booming housing market and many residents left behind unable to find, compete for, and maintain affordable housing. This chapter explores public land as an important catalyst for affordable housing and provides best practices where the City of Toronto has leveraged the use of public and surplus land to support affordable rental housing through a range of public/private/non-profit housing partnerships. The Housing Now Initiative is a new city-building approach to create mixed-income, mixed-use, transit-oriented communities providing a range of housing opportunities for Toronto residents. The initiative is expected to create approximately 10,000 new residential units, with at least 50% of the rental units as affordable housing. A critical reflection on challenges and opportunities in the implementation process offers a practitioner’s view on more effective public land strategy for affordable housing.
