The Vaughan Metropolitan Centre is often celebrated as a public square. Just how public is it?

City is promoting area as its new downtown and emerging cultural hub

Yorkregion.com
Aug. 30, 2023
Brian Capitao

How public is Vaughan's public square?

The City of Vaughan is promoting the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre (VMC) as its new downtown and emerging cultural hub.

According to a 2022 VMC Sub-committee report titled, “Update on the development of a cultural and performing arts centre in the VMC,” a cultural arts centre in the VMC can stimulate more than $100 million in economic activity related to one-time construction, and on an annual basis has the potential to bring in over $2.5 million directly to the local and regional economy.

Examining the ties between government and local business by closely looking at public art, such as the ArtWalk on Edgely Boulevard, in the surrounding area of the VMC, we can take a deeper look at a model of governance that’s been widespread in the Greater Toronto Area.

Governments have often opted into a private-public partnership model or P3, as a way of investing in infrastructure.

Growing municipalities want more cash and better return on their investment. This is why they look at P3s in combination with a similar concept called Privately Owned Public Spaces, or POPS.

“It's kind of like these quasi-public spaces that when you look at the underlying governance, they're actually privately owned,” said Matti Siematycki, senior professor of geography and planning and director of the Infrastructure Institute at the University of Toronto.

The land that ArtWalk is on is privately owned by developer SmartCentres and was part of what is known as a community benefit agreement in exchange for modified density in the VMC.

Formerly, under Section 37 of the Planning Act in Ontario, the permitted increase height and density could be modified through density bonusing, allowing for more development. This was later replaced with community benefit charges, to help municipalities fund capital costs of any public service associated with new growth.

“When you get into areas of city building and the arts, what you tend to find is that you see you're shifting more towards, if it's done well, you're shifting more towards relationships and the truer meaning of the word ‘partnership,’ and ‘collaboration,’” said Siematycki.

The thought is that governments can transfer risk to the private sector and build relationships with private companies in order to deliver a service, according to Siematycki.

“Government and business are lot alike,” said local city councillor for Ward 4 Chris Ainsworth. The city councillor was a local businessperson before running for local office.

“You're trying to put out fires and you're working very closely and building relationships, and ultimately it's a win-win for everybody,” Ainsworth told the Vaughan Citizen.

However, when it comes to POPS, the question of access is worth scrutiny.

“There's been a lot of discussion about who has access to them, how security is provided. How public are they, really? What types of uses are permitted and not permitted? And who decides?” said Siematycki.

In 2014, the City of Toronto took great pains to make the location of POPS more transparent through signage and even created an interactive map.

POPS like P3s give over control of public space to private enterprise.

The exchange or Value-for-Money is often touted as a reason to proceed with a P3 infrastructure project. Similarly, a POPS model provides needed infrastructure.

A 2013 City of Toronto report states, “as land values increase, however, it is not always possible to purchase properties to create new public parks in areas of the city that are most in need.”

It continues, “POPS, which may include plazas in front of office buildings, green spaces surrounding tall buildings and pedestrian walkways, have been secured through a variety of planning tools, including Section 37 and Site Plan Agreements.”

However, in the context of a new downtown, a POPS model may be just what the city needs to attract people to the city.

“These can be positive arrangements from a design and development perspective. They can also enliven our cities by bringing arts closer to where people live,” said Siematycki.