This paper explores the governance of urban design on Toronto's waterfront. It examines the formation, mandate and powers of the Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corporation (TWRC) – now branded Waterfront Toronto – and critically evaluates the urban design policies, tools and mechanisms that have been put in place to support waterfront redevelopment and pursue a goal of ‘design excellence’ since 1999. The paper traces the key decisions that led to the creation of the TWRC by the federal, provincial and municipal governments and details the ambitious planning and design vision that emerged for the waterfront, but also argues that the TWRC was awarded a limited institutional mandate to fulfil its aims and objectives. The latter sections of the paper describe how a series of design-sensitive tools and mechanisms were introduced alongside the statutory planning framework for the waterfront to counter the governance and financial challenges faced by the Corporation. The paper contends that the Corporation is currently overseeing a broadly positive redevelopment programme that has been able to deliver a high quality public realm on the waterfront and facilitate design-led real estate development. An innovative public engagement strategy has been coupled with neighbourhood ‘precinct’ planning and design peer review to achieve these outcomes. It is argued that these positive shifts have begun to counter the long history of faltering post-industrial development and ‘jurisdictional gridlock’ that has plagued Toronto's waterfront since the 1960s.

中文翻译：

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追求卓越设计：多伦多滨水区的城市设计治理

本文探讨了多伦多滨水区城市设计的治理。它审查了多伦多滨水区复兴公司 (TWRC)（现在更名为多伦多滨水区）的组建、授权和权力，并批判性地评估了为支持滨水区重建和追求“设计卓越”自 1999 年以来。该论文追溯了导致联邦、省和市政府创建 TWRC 的关键决策，并详细介绍了为滨水区出现的雄心勃勃的规划和设计愿景，但也认为 TWRC 被授予一个有限的机构任务来实现其目的和目标。本文的后面部分描述了如何在滨水区的法定规划框架中引入一系列设计敏感的工具和机制，以应对公司面临的治理和财务挑战。该文件争辩说，该公司目前正在监督一项广泛积极的重建计划，该计划已经能够在海滨提供高质量的公共领域并促进以设计为主导的房地产开发。创新的公众参与战略与邻里“区域”规划和设计同行审查相结合，以实现这些成果。有人认为，这些积极的转变已经开始对抗自 1960 年代以来一直困扰着多伦多海滨的长期停滞不前的后工业发展和“司法僵局”。