Trouble in Smogville

The Politics of Toronto’s Air Pollution during the 1950s

Bibliographic Data

ID11109129
AuthorsOwen Temby (0000-0001-6585-0418, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada, corresponding author)
Year2013
Volume39
Issue4
Pages669-689
Publication date2013-07-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Urban History (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0096-1442 • E-ISSN: 1552-6771
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0096144212441710
OpenAlexW2014050827
LanguageEN
Citations received9

By the mid-1950s the rapidly growing Toronto was arguably North America’s third-worst smog-stricken city. Its downtown waterfront area, referred to by the local media as “Smogville,” was home to a range of pollution sources, many of which were exempt from regulation by the city. At issue politically was whether the authority to regulate polluting sources would stay with Metropolitan Toronto or be handed to the Ontario government and whether the former would be able to regulate the exempt sources (in particular, trains, ships, and various types of manufacturers). By the end of the decade, Metropolitan Toronto still governed the pollution sources within its borders, but with substantially expanded authority to do so. This article provides an account of the politics of the city’s early attempt at air pollution governance, focusing on the role played by Toronto’s real estate interests in lobbying for air pollution relief

Archaeology · Business · Corporate governance · Downtown · Environmental planning · Geography · Government (linguistics · Local government · Metropolitan area · Political science · Politics · Real estate · Train · Finance · Law · Political and Economic history of UK and US · Public Administration

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