SUPERSTUDIO

Project

A possible future for the Golden Mile that combines farm, food and industry to create a Sustainable City Factory focused on healthy living and a range of new job opportunities from innovation, research and technology focused jobs at the McDonald’s Food Innovation Campus, to existing industry jobs we have maintained in the Industry Market area, and finally to new food processing and distribution positions at the Food Terminal East.

Research & Approach

The project is reflected on the historic development of the Golden Mile from an agriculturally productive zone to a major industrial employment area. As it exists today without real civic purposes, the proposal aimed to represent the good that the area has attempted to provide historically. It is observed that parking lots used to be a strong element to advertise Golden Mile attracting people; further, employing 20,000 jobs during the golden mile industry boom (around the period of WWII) which demonstrates the ability for innovation and production on the site to be an incubator for economic growth. Ironically, currently based on the proposed Golden Mile Secondary Plan, it is reported that residents in this area have a lower employment rate than the average of the city:

“2.9 LABOUR FORCE PARTICIPATION The unemployment rate for the study area is 11.1%, which is higher than the city’s rate of 9.3%. The labour force participation rate (those who currently have or are actively looking for a job) – is also lower than the rest of the city (62% compared to 64%).

- Golden Mile Secondary Plan”

Objective

The vision of the proposal is to create a hub for food innovation, production and distribution for the city of Toronto. Ultimately to set the stage for enhanced citizen health and engagement by requiring companies operating within the site to enact a high model of corporate social responsibility revolving around worker’s access to transit and housing in close proximity to their jobs, access to green space, and healthy and affordable food. We have imagined a series of productive public or semi-public spaces which act as both service hubs, and landmarks and destinations for the site. Our constituents are: Steelworker’s Union , GHFFA (Golden Horseshoe Food and Farm Alliance) and McDonald’s.

The proposal accommodates building programs: such as food processing for the experimental restaurants and food labs for opportunity to collaborate with surrounding existing institutions such as CDI and Centennial, and including student residences. And proposes a food terminal which acts as a heart for the project where food distribution initially happens, while having the outdoor space as a public event space.

Therefore, by combining strengths of our actors we imagine Golden Greens to provide a healthy lifestyle from the scale of an individual to the larger public and residences who engages with the project.