Upper Toronto is science fiction design proposal to build a new city in the sky above Toronto.

Imagine a city resting on the Bay Street towers or the CN Tower as a walk-in restaurant.

Once Upper Toronto is finished, Lower Toronto will be abandoned and turned into a combination of national park, farmland and intentional ruin.

This is, of course, a terrible idea.

But it’s a terrible idea that allows us to imagine a new city. To ask what would happen if, knowing what we now know, we could start fresh.

While clearly infeasible, it is important that all the proposals that make up Upper Toronto are good ones, even if forced relocation to the sky is not.

This has to be a city that we, the people planning it, want to live in.

WHAT WE ARE DOING

Stage 1: Community Consultations – NOW
In partnership with theatres, libraries, science fiction conventions and city councillors, we are holding consultations across the city, talking to people about the city they imagine for their grandchildren.

Stage 2: Working with Experts – 2012-14
Upper Toronto will be made with geographers, urban planners, policy makers, architects, engineers, marketers and real estate folk.

Stage 3: Presentation – 2014/15
With models, animations, and model suites – in condo presentation centres, public squares, libraries, and art festivals – the city of Upper Toronto is presented, much like a developer’s pitch or a timeshare sale, to the people of Toronto. We ask only that they write their city councilor to propose a referendum on the adoption of Upper Toronto.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Connect us with a community
Do you know who we should be talk to? A school or community group we should be working with?

Connect us with an institution or partner
We’re going to need support and places to present. We’re looking for partners that provide space, time, and yes, even money.

Join the team
It takes a village to build a city (—sorry). Do you have skills, expertise and enthusiasm? We’re seeking long-term and short-term volunteers to help out with spreading the word, building an Upper Toronto community (or several), and idea-making.
We are forming working groups in a wide range of areas: public health, web presence, immersive gaming, and solving the problem of getting sunlight into Lower Toronto, to name just a few. If you’re a student, a practitioner, or a teacher, in any of those fields, we need people like you. We’re looking for experts who will approach Upper Toronto with rigour, curiosity and the appropriate amount of humour.

Please e-mail us at info at uppertoronto dot ca.

Upper Toronto acknowledges the support of the Ontario Arts Council through the Integrated Arts Section and Theatre Creators Reserve.