Toronto Captures Rain on Downtown Streetscape
Underground Rain Gardens Line Six Blocks of Bloor Street
Toronto has one of the most ambitious urban forestry plans in North America. In addition to setting minimum soil volumes for street trees of 30 cubic meters (1,059 cubic feet) per tree, they have set a goal of increasing their overall tree canopy from 17 percent to 40 percent.
In 2007, the Bloor-Yorkville Business Improvement Association and the City of Toronto formed a partnership to transform and revitalize a six block stretch of Bloor Street, an upscale commercial corridor in the heart of Toronto, between Church Street and Avenue Road, that will help contribute to these impressive goals. The unifying design element of this stretch of Bloor is the 138 new London plane trees.
Peter Clewes
Instead of just replacing the former boulevards with newer concrete curbs and sidewalks, Peter Clewes of Architects Alliance, Peter Simon with the City of Toronto, and James Urban, FASLA, an expert in urban trees and soil, worked to create a design that would increase the street trees and the amount of soil they receive using Silva Cells.
To Learn More:
To read the complete story, click on Urban Forestry: Silva Cells and Rainwater Capture in Toronto.