A People’s Plan for the Don Valley River Park

Toronto is home to the largest ravine network of any city in the world. The Don Valley occupies a place at the centre of Toronto’s ravine network, and has served throughout history as one of its most travelled corridors. Over time, pollution, fragmented governance, and inadequate planning and management of the ravine system have produced limited access, a disconnected trail network, and few resources to improve conditions and draw visitors to the Lower Don. In 2015, Evergreen launched the Ribbon at the Lower Don campaign to mark the beginning of a new visual and physical relinking of the city to the Don Valley. The People’s Plan builds on this campaign and presents a vision for a 500-acre riverfront park on the banks of the Don River to embrace the potential to reconnect Toronto to the Don River Valley.

The People’s Plan began as an analysis of the Lower Don, and reviewed the story of its development, its ecological role within Toronto’s ravine system, its existing uses and conditions, and the demographics of its adjacent neighbourhoods. Past plans, reports and recommendations were consulted for themes that have persisted over 20 years of studying the Lower Don. From this, four interventions were chosen to occupy a central role in The People’s Plan: Access, People, History and Ecology. The interventions aim to invite people back to the banks of the Don River, to ignite new places, and to connect them seamlessly to each other and to the rest of the city.