The rapid transformation of Toronto's skyline is showing absolutely no signs of slowing in the coming years, and, if things continue on the current track, the cityscape of the future will be almost unrecognizable from what exists today.
Stephen Velasco, a digital marketer with a dedicated passion for urban landscapes, has been painstakingly building out a 3D digital model of the future cityscape
Velasco got his model building start by constructing an evolving cardboard diorama of the future Toronto cityscape in his teen years, featured by blogTO in 2011, eventually evolving to a computer-generated model using SketchUp in 2017, and ramping up his efforts in the quiet days of 2020.
Now six years into his Future Model Toronto project, Velasco has created a convincing representation of the city as it may appear just a few years down the road, including the hundreds of high-rise buildings both planned and under construction in the downtown area.
The graphic shows in blue over 100 major developments already under construction in the downtown core, while the buildings in pink represent the over 280 additional builds planned or approved in the heart of the city.
Velasco has spoken to blogTO about his creation on numerous occasions as the project evolves. As for his latest visualization shared in early July, Velasco tells blogTO that "there are over 100 high-rise buildings under construction in Toronto, and more than 300 proposed or approved."
Velasco explains that "the largest concentration of development in the city is occurring in the Downtown Core, notably along the Eastern Waterfront, King-Parliament, the Church-Yonge Corridor, and Yorkville."
"New towers will add significant height and density to these neighbourhoods over the next several years, in what will be a transformative growth period for the city skyline," says Velasco.
Velasco's work has also focused on specific nodes of growth in the city, including the impressive new height peak set to redefine skyline views in the coming years around the intersection of Yonge and Gerrard.
Other areas far beyond the downtown core are also covered, in what might be the most comprehensive representation of Toronto's future cityscape to date.