Beyond the tabula rasa: Gordon Stephenson and urban renewal in Kingston, Ontario

Gordon, David; Nicholson, Michelle

doi:https://doi.org/10.3828/tpr.2012.19

Town Planning Review (2012), 83, (3), 337–354.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3828/tpr.2012.19
Language: English
Pages: 18

Abstract

Gordon Stephenson conducted some of Canada's first urban renewal studies for Halifax (1957), Kingston (1958-60) and London (1960). Stephenson's Kingston study, done in collaboration with George Muirhead, was an unusual episode in Canadian planning history. Most urban renewal studies from the 1940s and 1950s suggested extensive clearance of ‘obsolete’ neighbourhoods. This report was one of the earliest in North America to suggest widespread renovation of historic buildings and selective infill with new construction. This approach was recommended for several neighbourhoods, the downtown and the central waterfront. Stephenson's report set the stage for extensive heritage preservation in Kingston.

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