Mapping the patterns across Toronto’s yellowbelt is key to introducing gentle density in the most thoughtful way!

Funded By:
Neptis Foundation

Date:
May 2022 - October 2025

Team:
Michael Piper, Samantha Eby, Janna Levitt (LGA), Toby Evans, Callum Gauthier, Sara Ghorban Pour, Angela Gou, Anusha Prakash, Irina Rouby Apelbaum, Conrad Speckert, Daniel Wong

Collaborators:
Elishua Ben-Choreen & Michael Hopkins (Blackwell Engineering), Giovanni Rea (RDZ Engineering), Sean Galbraith (Glabraith & Associates), Mark Guslits, John Lornic

The Study

This report summarizes ReHousing's systematic study of how the history of the development of Toronto’s neighbourhoods shape its current reality and the issues and opportunities its urban fabric presents.

Infill development uses vacant or underutilized land within cities as opposed to sprawling to previously undeveloped land. The act of “filling in” the city requires knowing what is there, what is needed, and what can fit in the gaps. Finding patterns in building construction - from house types, to lot proportions, to relationships of houses to the street - helps us to find the gaps in into which infill development can insert itself.

Understanding these gaps, both in terms of physical spaces and gaps in services and infrastructure, can allow for a more holistic understanding of infill development, and what policy, economic, and social infrastructures are needed to make it happen.

Download the report here or scroll down to view it below.

The Methods

We used a variety of methods including statistical data and mapping, as well as anecdotal, photographic and qualitative information to develop our understanding of the city.

A series of historical maps and studies were used to trace the trajectory of Toronto's development and distill its development eras into 3 periods: 

• Prewar (Pre-1941)
  
• Postwar (1941-1967)
  
• Metroburb (1967-1992)

These periods each have their distinctive lot size, lot arrangements, and house types that were built along with them. We took a close look at these eras’ street patterns, block sizes, and categorized repeating houses into the 13 most common types.

The Result

This research forms the basis for ReHousing’s past and ongoing design and consultation work regarding infill and middle-scale development in Toronto.

The different design projects you will find on this website - multi-unit renovations, new fourplexes, new sixplexes, and small apartment buildings - all build off a continuous study of the City’s urban fabric, parcel types, and neighbourhood realities.

This knowledge and the methods used in this report are applicable to other municipalities as well!

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