Today, with advances in technology such as Google Earth and Bing online maps, it is possible to zoom into an intimate view of one’s own backyard. But the bigger picture is often overlooked. It is only by zooming out that we can see the region as a whole, with all its interconnections.
The Neptis Foundation, in collaboration with As the Crow Flies cARTography and the Cartography Office in the Department of Geography at the University of Toronto, created this unique view of the Toronto metropolitan region to help its residents and policymakers visualize those connections and better understand the region. Going forward, the map will be used as a base for layering other information to convey important policy issues. The map is available as a large poster (28" x 40") and in an interactive webpage (click on the zoom image above) . THE STORY
The Toronto region is home to about eight million people, and growing by one million people every decade. The businesses, industries, farms, and resources in the region produce nearly one-third of Canada’s gross domestic product. The region is composed of a network of economically and functionally inter-related urban areas, a city of cities clustered around the City of Toronto, yet also an area with some of the best-quality agricultural land in Canada, thousands of hectares of forest, several unique landforms, and hundreds of fresh water lakes and rivers.
The big picture shows how the region’s metropolitan footprint borders three of the five Great Lakes. The dark green land cover in the northern quadrant of the map is the Canadian Shield, the largest area of exposed Precambrian Rock on earth. It is home to Algonquin Park, Canada’s first provincial park, established in 1883. The map also highlights prominent landforms, such as the Niagara Escarpment and the Oak Ridges Moraine, both of which are now part of the regional Greenbelt, which protects about 1.8 million acres of land.
The map includes dozens of separate municipalities, regional municipalities and counties, all of which make decisions about urban form, environmental protection, transportation, water and waste management, and other matters. Yet the big picture reminds us that these entities do not act in isolation. A decision in one municipality can affect its neighbours, or even the region as a whole. The Toronto metropolitan area is a functioning system, in which every part contributes to the whole.
For more information on how this map was made (click here) or how it can be used, please contact Marcy Burchfield, Geomatics Research Program Manager at the Neptis Foundation at (mburchfieldATneptisDOTorg) or (416-972-9199 ext 24).
A copy of the poster is available for $20.00 (plus shipping and handling). To pay by credit card, follow the link below to our PayPal account. For multiple copies, please email publications@neptis.org for a discount on shipping and handling costs. |
