migration and identity simultaneous cities
urbanism | migration by lejla odobasic
Toronto’s skyline has gone through a vast visible transformation over the past fifteen years spurred by high-rise condominium buildings that started first in the former industrial lands along the lakeshore and eventually spread into vacant pockets of available land all over the downtown.Although the quality of space, design, unit sizes, material choices and their general effect on the streetscape is often debated among the design community, condominium towers offer very appealing real estate prices that ensure their continuous sales. Of course it is not merely the square footage that is marketed here; perhaps even more importantly these places come with a promise of a certain lifestyle:The Cosmopolitan, King’s Landing, Cityplace and South Hampton – one is buying into a life of luxury and opulence depicted in polished renderings and a list of amenities. The majority of units are designed as one-bedroom with a den, geared towards young professionals and people moving into the city in pursuit of a career and the excitement of city living. In certain cases groupings of condo towers are revitalising entire neighbourhoods, for better or for worse, and we get Liberty Village, once abandoned industrial land just southwest of the downtown, now becoming the new ‘it’ place.
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Lejla Odobasic
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