The future of the city will depend on the quality of the public realm.

Calatrava, Tenerife Opera House

People should be aware that in post-amalgamation Toronto, we are regressing seriously on the urban design of our streets. All the innovations that were made in the seventies and eighties for pedestrian-friendly streets with sophisticated engineering are being swept away. The priority has been to moving traffic faster. An extreme contrast is the mayor of Boston who has made one of his platforms 'great streets throughout the city.' Instead of urban design being a little sideshow about street ornamentation, it is central to the design of streets.
Ken Greenberg

The future of the city will depend on the quality of the public realm. That's the bottom line. Where in other cities there are healthy trees on the street and the sidewalks are great. I saw it at the University of Toronto, and the need to establish endowment funds for its public realm. The city needs to be able to do that, and do it in a way that's really bold. A new vision has to be set.
Bruce Kuwabara