Don Mills

Don Mills was planned as a model town that would humanize urban life in an age of industry and the automobile. Initiated and financed by businessman E.P. Taylor and designed by Macklin Hancock, a young urban planner, it was built between 1952 and 1965 on 835 ha of land between the west and east Don River valleys. Hancock's planning team envisioned a self-contained community distinguished by consistent design principles and modernist style. Industry, commerce and major roads were arranged to be accessible but insulated from residential areas. Greenspaces preserved natural watercourses and provided pedestrian routes between different neighbourhoods. An immediate critical and commercial success, Don Mills has been imitated in suburban developments across Canada.