Landscape architect and Daniels Faculty Associate Professor Robert Wright wrote an article for Spacing Toronto on how to get Toronto’s recently announced Railway Deck Park right.

Last month, the City announced its intention to reserve 21 acres of space over the western rail corridor from Bathurst Street to Blue Jays Way for a future park — one that would not only provide much needed green space in Toronto’s increasingly dense downtown neighbourhoods, but also be an iconic signature park that would, in Mayor John Tory’s words, “transform the way we experience our city.”

The director of the Daniels Faculty’s Centre for Landscape Research, Wright emphasized the difficulties involved in growing things on a concrete slab — which, he argues, will need to be done with care: “the ecological challenges are great, but not technologically insurmountable.”

Working with the public to determine the park’s programming will also be important, and strong leadership will be needed to bring together technical, ecological, and community considerations, and ensure that the ultimate design doesn’t suffer from a lack of innovation or creativity, as with projects of the past, he says.

To read the full article, in which Wright shares further concerns and ideas for how to overcome them, visit Spacing Toronto.