SMART GROWTH

Summary:

1. The Problem with Sprawl 

1. • Sprawl has led to inefficiencies, high infrastructure costs and mismanagement of ecosystem services, including the destruction of wetlands and watersheds. Municipal development charges do not fully cover infrastructure costs, nor do they cover infrastructure upkeep over time. They also don’t cover costs associated with increases in flooding caused by paving over forests and farmland. We have prioritized building single family detached homes and one story commercial developments over adding density where the infrastructure already exists

2. Housing and Growth Challenges 

1. • Ontario’s population is rapidly increasing, making housing a scarce resource. Intensification (adding density within urban areas, instead of building out onto Greenfields) can help manage growth more efficiently and reduce costs

3. Transportation and Transit 

• • Transportation is Ontario’s largest source of emissions (36%). Investing in public transit, including cost sharing with municipalities, is key to Smart Growth.  Sprawl-based development has made transit inefficient, leading to car dependency. We also have some of the worst traffic in the world in Ontario. We need to both reduce the number of vehicles on the road and reduce our reliance on combustion engines. 

 

Green Party Solutions:

WE NEED TO GROW SMARTER. More sprawl is not the answer when it comes to Smart Growth. More cars and highways are not the answer when it comes to Smart Growth. Smart Growth means:

1. Intensification

• Update planning laws to expand intensification corridors / strategic growth areas to include all major transit routes and allow for more flexible development, with a focus on 3-5 storey midrise development
• Require that intensification targets are met with distributed density throughout urbanised areas
• Update planning laws to pre-zone all commercial/retail zoning description property, allowing for construction of 1-3 stories of residential units above the storefronts (where possible)
• Remove development charges on homes, condos and apartment units under 2,000 square feet that are built within urban boundaries
• Streamline the process for building missing middle housing and remove barriers to developing existing buildings like abandoned plazas and warehouses
• Build 1.5M homes in a variety of innovative forms within urban boundaries over the next 10 years

2. Low Impact Development

• Mandate all new developments on greenfields adhered to Low Impact Development stormwater management practices such as permeable pavement, remove parking requirements, stream and buffers, and green roofs
• Mandate inclusionary zoning and require a minimum of 20% affordable units in all housing projects above a certain size

3. Transportation and Transit

• Restore the 50% provincial cost-share for transit operations and support electrification plans for all municipal transit systems
• Establish a clean, affordable, accessible intercity electric bus service to connect all communities across the province, ensuring connections in small, rural communities

4. Assisting Municipalities

• Create an Affordable Communities Fund to assist with municipalities’ housing infrastructure cost
• Implement a $2 billion-a-year Climate Adaptation Fund to help municipalities make their infrastructure more resilient to the impacts of climate change
• Reinstate the brownfield remediation fund to support municipalities to safely build new homes on previously industrial sites

 

Background Information:

Throughout history, Hamilton has always been innovative – known first for its electricity generation, then its manufacturing of textiles, and most recently as a steel city. Due to the city’s position at the westernmost point of lake Ontario, it is one of Canada’s oldest and most industrialized regions.

Hamilton is also known for its sprawl. Sprawl has been the easiest way to accommodate population growth in our lifetime. However, sprawl has left us with huge infrastructure and environmental debts. We have destroyed, and are in the process of destroying, wetlands and watersheds in this area. 

Some of the most expensive services that communities rely on are the ones we don’t notice, like the underground pipes that supply water and handle sewage from our homes. In the case of sprawl, we are continuously extending our services to areas they didn’t exist in previously. Development charges rarely cover the full costs of providing these services. About 40% of sprawl costs are passed on to municipal taxpayers. 

As we grow, we need to grow smarter. 

 

Issue #1: Why is sprawl so problematic?

Historically in Ontario, developers have reaped the rewards of developing suburbs without much liability for the initial or long term infrastructure funding. Profit margins are highest when building on “shovel ready” land that does not require redevelopment (aka Greenfields, former farm land). 

Traditional urban development practices create paved surfaces that reduce water infiltration and create runoff. As we remove an area’s ability to manage rainfall (rainfall is increasing in Ontario due to climate change), the impacts of increased rainfall are felt: basement flooding, foundations cracking, combined sewer overflows, increased water-borne pollution (e.g. sewage, garbage, road salt, farm runoff), and degradation of aquatic habitats. Flood control is an example of an “ecosystem service”. We will further discuss the concept of ecosystem services in the Protect the Greenbelt, Protect the Waterfalls section. 

Today, developers build homes to maximize profits and beat the warranty – after 3 to 5 years, they are off the hook. They take the money and run. Who pays for the damage caused by flooding? Developers are extracting value from the land by paving it over and selling it, then running away from the economic consequences caused by removing an area’s ability to mitigate increased rainfall. 

Unfortunately, development charges are one of the few revenue tools that municipalities possess. Over the years, provincial governments have downloaded costs in many areas onto cities. Increasing development charges have contributed to the meteoric rise in housing costs as well as causing developers to complain that they can’t afford to build (aka profits aren’t maximum anymore). This has created a spiral where municipalities are broke and houses aren’t getting built.

Adding people to established urban areas where many infrastructure services are already in place, instead of sprawling out onto Greenfields, makes the infrastructure cheaper to maintain. This allows municipalities to allocate more funds to other essential services. Redevelopment is also an opportunity to do critical infrastructure maintenance and upgrades.

 

Issue #2: Where will the people go?

Ontario is growing: Ontario received 43.2% of Canada’s immigrants in 2023. In the last 12 months alone, Ontario’s population has grown by more than 3%. We have grown, and are still growing, beyond our capacity to manage it. Many people who have lived their entire lives in Hamilton’s five ridings are now unable to afford to buy a home in their own neighbourhoods, due to scarcity and the commodification of housing. Ontario’s cities and towns are busting at the seams trying to accommodate a growing population with infrastructure that was not designed with this increased burden in mind.

Smart Growth refers to physical expansion only. The concept of affordable housing is referenced in the Prosperous Population section.

 

Issue #3: How can we more efficiently travel inter- and intra-regionally?

A key pillar of Smart Growth is cost effective, reliable, efficient transit. The largest source of emissions in Ontario is transportation (36%). We need to reduce our reliance on combustion engines to travel from point A to point B. Historically, our communities have been designed with sprawl in mind, and today it is challenging to navigate Hamilton (and especially Flamborough-Glanbrook) without a vehicle. Even in areas where commuting by bike is possible, it is often unsafe for cyclists to share the road with vehicles.

Ontario could be a leader in high speed electric rail, but we have spent the past several decades ignoring this opportunity.