mobility ecosystem

Clean and Healthy

The demand for physical space for new human development generates driving alone commuting which comes with unused excess capacity and unsustainable uses of limited natural resources. In spite of immense technological development and progress, our economies and societies still fundamentally depend on ecosystems to provide us with a hospitable climate, clean water, food, fibres and numerous other goods and services. Two planetary processes, fossil fuel emissions by private vehicles and auto-oriented sprawling land-uses, are gradually pushing the safe thresholds of “planetary boundaries”. By 2050, urban mobility systems will use 17.3% of the planet's bio capacities, five times more than they did in 1990. Following global trend, the transportation sector in the City of Toronto has grown exponentially to become the largest source (41% excluding rail, plane and boat) of green-house-gas emissions. Linking mobility patterns and greenhouse gas emissions, a Greater Toronto Area study concluded that most emissions are caused by “extreme commuters”, people who work in the old City of Toronto, but live in the outer suburbs and commute by private vehicle. Thus, unlike last century’s city planning, the focus of this new mobility model is to create a low-carbon “urban ecosystem” by mixing land-uses with appropriate density, addressing the depletion of natural and financial resources, and continuing to manage sustainable growth within “planetary boundaries” that will shift mobility patterns to achieve the target of GHG emissions.