Regent Park was Canada’s first, and remains Canada’s largest, public housing project. It was built in two phases between 1947 and 1959. The project replaced a neighbourhood that was similar to the one that remains immediately to the north, however, unlike the adjacent, now gentrified, “Cabbagetown,” the Regent Park neighbourhood had been declared a slum. Following the analysis of “environmental determinism” common at the time, the poor physical conditions of the neighbourhood were seen as the root of the social problems experienced by the residents. The urban renewal of the area followed the edicts of modern architecture, setting buildings in park-like surroundings, segregating pedestrian and vehicular traffic, and providing an architecture that assumed a set of universal needs on the part of the tenants.

The problems that have emerged in the neighbourhood have followed patterns similar to those in other North American public-housing neighbourhoods. Residents identify personal safety as an issue, noting that police have trouble patrolling a neighbourhood with no through streets. And, informal surveillance is also difficult because of the ambiguity about who controls the various semi-public spaces in Regent Park.

Originally intended to re-house residents displaced in the demolition of the old neighbourhood, Regent Park was designed with a culturally homogeneous population in mind. In the late 1940s, Toronto accommodated largely European, English-speaking communities. This has changed dramatically and social service agencies report that area residents now speak more than 60 languages. Regent Park has become a primary immigrant reception area, and in the process, one of Canada’s most culturally diverse neighbourhoods.

Although it is common for outsiders to perceive Regent Park as an undesirable neighbourhood, the area includes many strong communities and dedicated residents who strive to improve the physical and social conditions, and to improve the neighbourhood’s image in the eyes of the broader public.

Regent Park North

Completed in 1954, North Regent consists primarily of unadorned brick buildings in three-storey “dumbbell” and six-storey “dog-bone” configurations. Designed by architect J.E. Hoare, the designs mirrored other North American public-housing projects of the period. Most of the 1,200 apartments are designed for households with children, including a large proportion of five-bedroom units. Although all the through streets were closed, their pattern is still discernible and the buildings roughly address the old alignments. Pedestrianized Oak Street, along with central ball diamonds and swimming pool, constitute the main social spaces for the neighbourhood.

There is little connection between the units and the common exterior spaces. Residents and social service agencies have been addressing some of the safety issues associated with this problem by initiating popular community garden projects in some of the more problematic areas.

In the year 2000, the future of the neighbourhood is uncertain as the Conservative provincial government has “downloaded” responsibility for public housing to municipalities, although most cities cannot support such capital-intensive projects on the property tax base. Through the 1990s, there were a number of proposals to rebuild parts of neighbourhood, including options for private initiatives that would retain the same number of rent-geared-to-income apartments while introducing a mix of household incomes.

Regent Park South

The completion of South Regent in 1959 was accompanied by great praise from the architectural community. The neighbourhood is dominated by five towers designed by Peter Dickinson of Page and Steele Architects and townhouses designed by J.E. Hoare. The project won the Massey Medal for Architecture and was cited for its innovation. The 14-storey buildings, which are oriented to the points of the compass rather than the street grid, define the major public space, Saints’ Square. The buildings themselves have a “skip-stop” elevator system that allows units to have two aspects and through-ventilation. Like North Regent, most of the units, even in the towers, were designed for families with children.

The 1959 Canadian Architect review of the project comments on the tower facades: “Envisaged as patterned walls … their vibrant pattern of glass and brick firmly controlled by the grid of the structure. The central recession produces an upward swing of the two side wings which, where the escape balconies punctuate the facade, has a vivacity that fills the court below with the joy of rhythm.” Residents, especially those with children, find the buildings problematic, however, and many prefer to live in the more banal buildings of North Regent.

Richard Milgrom