New 'landmark' park opening in 2028 could end up being one of Toronto's coolest

New parks in Toronto have a history of lacklustre design, but the City is hoping to put that all in the past with the launch of an international design competition for a forthcoming public space set to open in 2028.

The City announced the design competition on Thursday for the municipally-owned site at 34 Hanna Ave. in the Liberty Village neighbourhood. 

Currently home to a Toronto Parking Authority surface lot and a temporary public space set up ahead of the FIFA World Cup in 2026, the park is set to be transformed into what the City hails as a "vibrant green space."

Before the parking lot can be converted into a park, the two-stage design competition will call on landscape architecture and design firms from across the globe to forge visions for this mostly barren expanse of asphalt.

The competition's first stage will see teams submit their qualifications by Friday, Nov. 28, after which, City officials will comb through the qualifications and work experience of the bidding teams to evaluate their appropriateness for the job at hand.

A shortlist of teams will then be selected, with these qualified candidates invited to submit concepts for the park site for review by a design jury and committee, and subject to feedback from a community advisory committee, before a winning design and team are revealed to the public.

Deputy Mayor and Spadina-Fort York councillor Ausma Malik hailed the announcement, stating that, "Our parks and public spaces are essential to the health and well-being of all our communities, especially in our growing downtown neighbourhoods like Liberty Village."

"The new park coming to 34 Hanna will be a gateway for Liberty Village," said Malik, going on to "welcome talents in architecture and design from across Canada and the world to share their vision for this landmark park."

The City is following the model established by other public spaces, such as Love Park, which was pursued with a design competition that ultimately resulted in the heart-shaped gathering place that exists today.

These and other future parks represent a shift in thinking for the City of Toronto, away from parks designed as simple green spaces for sports and other recreational activities, into destinations with unique features that draw in people from surrounding communities.

Additional design competitions will follow in 2026 and further into the future.

The City plans to launch a design competition for a new park planned at 50 Queens Quay E., as well as a top-to-bottom reimagining of Olive Square Park into a new memorial space commemorating the tragic 2018 van attack that occurred in North York.