Separate parcels of land for different developers
Waterfront Toronto should prepare to release individual parcels of land to the development community. A variety of responses from individual developers and architects will produce more of an engaging urban dynamic. Seven mid-rise buildings will have to be built to provide 2,100 units. Think an entire symphony of architecture rather than a boring pop melody. Think Beethoven, not Britney.
Celebrate the work of architects and developers
Transparency and public engagement should apply. Show the drawings, put the word out. If there's nothing to celebrate, the work shouldn't get the privilege of being a permanent fixture in the city.
Create a separate West Don Lands development arm
Ian Troop's mandate as CEO of the Pan Am Games is impossibly broad. Follow the London 2012 Olympic strategy: Hire a big hitter with experience delivering major regeneration projects to lead the build-out of the athlete's village.
Establish a West Don Lands design-review committee
River City, the first set of condominiums going up on the north edge of the West Don Lands, is designed with an intriguing Montreal edge by Saucier + Perrotte architectes. Elsewhere on the site where the athletes will be housed, a clarion call needs to go out warning against mid-rise building blocks that could start to resemble East Berlin. A West Don Lands design-review committee with guest critics from outside Canada should be immediately established.