Urban History Theory Criticism

This course will present a history of the development of the urban form of the city and region of Toronto from the late eighteenth century until the present. In each session of the course, a presentation will be made by the course instructor (sometimes accompanied by visitors), and this will be followed in each session by class discussion. It is hoped also that it will be possible to organize a series of tours of significant parts of the city, but the tours in question will need to occur outside of the regular times of the sessions of the course, and will depend on the availability of students to participate in them.

The course will explore the characteristic relationships that have grown up over the years between the distinctive topography of the city; the early patterns of its settlement, and the evolution over time of its successive infrastructures, including railways, port facilities, expressways, transit lines and underground walkway systems. These characteristic infrastructures will be described in their eventual, systemic impact on the evolving form of the city.

At the same time, the architecture of the city will also be described, but this description will demonstrate primarily how buildings became typological in the historical evolution of Toronto. One might say that buildings will be depicted to the extent that they demonstrate the typical relationships of the city’s building typologies to its emergent urban morphology.

See full course outline here.