Students in Grade 9 Exploring Canadian Geography classes at Bloor Collegiate Institute recently wrapped up an urban design jam project focused on redesigning Croatia Street, which lies right beside the new Bloor Collegiate building.
The project came about when, in September 2024, the Toronto and East York Community Council voted to adopt the Wallace-Emerson Neighbourhood Streets Plan, which supports “closing Croatia Street to motor-vehicles between Brock Avenue and the motor-vehicle access to Brockton Stadium.”
This decision created the perfect opportunity for students to engage in a real-world challenge to make the urban planning unit in Geography more relevant and meaningful for them. They were tasked with planning out a redesign that would make the street a more sustainable, liveable, and safe space for all, and to create a site plan showing their ideas.
The project culminated with students pitching their redesigns to a panel made up of City of Toronto staff working on the Croatia Street file, graduate students from the School of Urban and Regional Planning at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU), and representatives from the TDSB Sustainability Office and the Master’s of Teaching program at OISE (University of Toronto).
Key elements of the student proposals focused on:
- Creating more green spaces with native tree species, pollinator gardens, and community food garden spaces;
- Providing a variety of outdoor furniture and equipment that could be used by both students and community members;
- Building multi-use bike lanes and walking paths to promote active transportation;
- Adding in green infrastructure such as the use of permeable pavers and curb extension bioretention planters.
“I loved the Urban Design Jam assignment. The real-world potential of it really motivated me to do well and I
appreciated the opportunity to present our ideas” shared one student. Another student added, “I look forward to checking for liveability, sustainability, and complete communities in the real-world beyond the school community.”
Liam Ryan, TMU Graduate Planning student and Plan Bold Jr. Program Coordinator shared ""This project is something I would have loved to do in high school. This local scale of planning is the foundation of our larger planning system and having high schoolers engaged in the process makes the community an active participant. I am excited to see how this project shapes the future of planning in our city."
As the Croatia Street closure moves forward, City of Toronto staff will use the data collected from the student proposals to help inform the next steps of the Croatia Street redesign.