This is an open, international ideas competition whose purpose is to gather a range of possibilities for the Green Line site in order to stimulate dialogue and action. The ideas will not be built, but they are meant to get the communities who live, study and work near the site to start thinking about its future. Also, the intent is to demonstrate the value of creating a unified vision along the length of the entire hydro corridor, rather than to have this space develop in a piecemeal way.

The competition results will be showcased in Spacing, an online and print magazine that reaches a wide and diverse audience interested in urban issues across Canada. Also, we intend to exhibit a selection of the competition entries along the Green Line site itself.

What Is The Green Line?

The Green Line is an overhead transmission line, or hydro corridor as they are known in Canada, in midtown Toronto that is more than 5km (3 miles) long. It passes through a wide range of neighbourhoods, from Davenport Village to the Annex. The Green Line is already well used by local residents. It has splash pads, sports fields, allotment gardens, parking lots and children’s playgrounds, but the spaces are mostly in poor condition and the corridor does not currently provide a continuous physical connection due to grade changes and fencing.

The Green Line crosses interesting and varied territory: the western end starts at Earlscourt Park and moves diagonally through a residential area where it follows Geary Avenue home to an indoor parkour gym, a costume rental warehouse, a karaoke bar, music and photography studios, autobody shops, bakeries, boarded up Victorian storefronts and a former factory now home to many creative industries. For the remainder of its length the Green Line runs parallel to Dupont Street immediately north of the Canada Pacific company’s rail line. The east end of the line, where much of the space is used for paid parking, passes social housing, new condos, George Brown College, a great view of historic home Casa Loma, the Toronto Archives and the Tarragon Theatre.

The Green Line Ideas Competition site is in Toronto, Ontario, Canada but a corridor of overhead transmission lines can be found running through many urban centres in North America. Therefore, the site and competition could be seen as a case study for this condition.