Living atlas of quality
in architecture and the built environment
TMU Working with the City of Toronto on a Review of the Toronto Urban Design Awards
Tuesday, September 19, 2023
Spatial justice
Mayor Olivia Chow opens the 2023 Toronto Urban Design Awards celebration at the Palais Royale, Toronto, September 13, 2023
Over the years, many projects on the Toronto Waterfront have been recognized with a variety of architectural and urban design awards. The TMU team’s analysis of various award programs revealed that of all the various programs, the Toronto Urban Design Awards (TUDA) is the one that has regularly recognized Waterfront projects. This prompted the TMU team to approach the City of Toronto Urban Design group to join the QCBE as a project partner, with a focus on how the awards program has recognized excellence on the Toronto Waterfront, and how the evolution of the TUDA program over the past 20 years reflects changing values in relation to the recognition of quality in the built environment.
The adjudication of the 2023 Toronto Urban Design Awards took place in May and June of 2023. The City of Toronto allowed members of the TMU team to observe the selection proceedings, including jury discussion of the awards criteria, the review of project submissions, site visits to short listed projects, and discussions concerning individual projects and the nature of awards to be bestowed on the winners. The award winners for 2023 were announced at a public event at the Palais Royale on the Toronto Waterfront on Wednesday 13 September 2023.
The TMU team is reviewing documentation prepared during the review process and will follow up with jury members and representatives of the City of Toronto to review the awards process, including the call for submissions, project categories, criteria for evaluation, barriers to submission, along with a variety of other factors, and will report back to the City with observations and possible recommendations for the next round of awards in 2025.
The TMU team is very grateful for the opportunity to observe the process up close, and for the openness and transparency of both the City of Toronto and this year’s jury members in permitting access to the process.
To take a look at the full jury report of the Toronto Urban Design Awards for 2023, click here.
To learn more about the research site led by Toronto Metropolitan University, click here.
