QUEEN’S PARK NORTH LANDSCAPE REVITALIZATION
Toronto, ON

The Planning Partnership was retained by the City of Toronto to develop the Queen’s Park North Landscape Revitalization Master Plan. Queen’s Park North is a significant and cherished landscape in the heart of downtown Toronto that holds tremendous cultural, social, and ecological value. Queen’s Park is one of the earliest public parks in Canada, and the largest public green space in the central core.

The Master Plan process was designed to engage members of the Queen’s Park North community to ensure the plan addressed the needs and desires of the neighbourhood as well as the broader public. Through this process our team identified a series of guiding principles which directed our work: enhance the quality of park destinations; rejuvenate the landscape (including trees and lawns); enhance the park as a place of respite; create a vibrant social heart; create a clear hierarchy of paths with upgraded paving materials; and improve seating.  The integration of key cultural elements within the overall plan was also carefully studied and choreographed to enhance the user experience and to increase the profile of these important elements.

Queen’s Park North is home to a significant collection of mature trees, including some of the largest oak trees in the city outside of ravine areas. The trees at Queen’s Park were under stress due to compaction associated with the over programming of the park and other stressors such as infestations. The Planning Partnership worked closely with the City’s Forestry Department to develop strategies and approaches to alleviate the stressors on the trees, and restore and reinvigorate the tree canopy.

The goal of the Queen’s Park North Master Plan is to celebrate the park’s history and honour its stature by creating a comprehensive plan and implementation strategy to ensure the park’s health and vitality for generations to come. Plan implementation began in 2017.