A former abandoned airport in Toronto, Canada, is moving closer to becoming a £22bn city for approximately 66,000 people. Downsview Airport, which closed in 2024, is being redeveloped into a massive mixed-use community spanning 370 acres.
The project, known as YZD, is anticipated to take more than 30 years and will include homes, shops, schools and parks. A 1.24-mile former runway will be transformed into a park connecting the neighbourhoods, described as the area's 'connective tissue'.
Revised plans for the Downsview West District section, adjacent to the former airport, were submitted last month. The plans, by Urban Strategies, Trophic Design and ERA Architects, divide the area into three neighbourhoods: Station Quarter, Heart at the Crossroads and the Mews. The tallest structures, up to 197m, will be concentrated closest to transit.
The development would deliver about 8,800 residential units, 20% of them affordable, plus employment, retail, institutional and community uses. The plans also advance the Depot Mews 'shared street' concept.
The Downsview Airport site was used for warplane production during the Second World War before being taken over by an aerospace firm in the 1990s. Northcrest Developments, which is transforming 370 acres of the site separately, aims to retain existing buildings to reduce carbon impact.
