Toronto's reclaimed Port Lands built to withstand another Hurricane Hazel

National Post

30-07-2025

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Laura Solano, the lead designer, said the project was 'duty bound to address catastrophic flooding,' but stressed it offered 'much more.'
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Because the area has been reformed to cope with flood waters, parts have been declared safe for new housing — an urgent need in the expensive metropolis. There is also a new park, trails and people can canoe or kayak through the rehabilitated Don.
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Solano stressed Toronto's initial decision to alter the area was consistent with the times, when North American cities moved to 'industrialize their waters … to raise their economic position.'
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But now, 'every city is looking to reclaim their waters,' she told AFP.
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The Port Lands 'shows the world that it's possible to fix the past and turn deficit and remnant industrial lands into living and breathing infrastructure.'
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'It's all planned so that it can flood, the water level can rise, the river can get about three, maybe four times wider than it is now, absorb all of that volume of water,' he said.
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'When the storm event subsides, it will shrink back down to this.'
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It's a planning approach that recognizes 'we're seeing more and more of these events.'
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'Like in Texas, you see very tragic outcomes when you haven't really tried to plan for nature,' he told AFP, referring to flash floods in early July that killed at least 135 people.
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He urged planners to 'reposition' their relationship to nature and ditch the mindset that 'humans (can) control everything.'
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'Let's acknowledge the river is going to flood. Let's build the space for it.'
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