The Toronto Islands will soon be getting a sibling in the form of a human-made landmass currently coming to fruition as part of the Port Lands Flood Protection Project, an incredible feat of ecoengineering taking place in front of our eyes.

With a new, renaturalized mouth of the Don River recently carved into the landscape and filled with water, grounds for the future Villiers Island are now being prepped for the years of construction that will turn the barren area into an entirely novel neighbourhood.

Residents can look forward to a complete precinct with stores, parks, restaurants, offices, community spaces and thousands of homes — in fact, the City just moved to increase density by about 60 per cent (based on residential gross floor area), and also designate more of the island's units as affordable (30 per cent, up 10 per cent from the initial proposal).

With the land set to become liveable by 2031, things are moving along. But now that much of the excavation of the pocket is complete, what's next?

By far one of the most exciting city-building projects happening in North America is the transformation of Toronto’s port lands.

The Eglinton Crosstown aside, don’t let people say we can’t build big things. Let’s celebrate the wins.https://t.co/8iAVE9sxyu

— Chris Rickett (@rickett_chris) July 3, 2024

Based on public feedback, the City, Waterfront Toronto and CreateTO are kicking off the in-depth, no doubt arduous design process in the coming months, working from the newly amended 2017 Villiers Island Precinct Plan. (Amendments include the aforementioned density increases, but also changes to zoning and more.)

As Waterfront Toronto explained in an update last week, this next stage of work will include the following:

• Developing an overarching vision and landscape framework for the Island, including a connected network of walkways, public spaces, parks and plazas, and streets
• Identifying opportunities for climate positive design across all elements 
• Confirming the road network and the requirements for each segment of roadway in the network, including evaluating all right-of-way widths and mode splits

"With park construction and flood protection nearly complete, the next step toward realizing this vision is the design and implementation of all the enabling local infrastructure to deliver a complete operating system, streets, public squares, and promenades needed to support development,"  the organization writes.

"This will begin as a design exercise, focused on delivering on the island's potential to be walkable, human-scale, active and sustainable. Ambitions for this community are high. It should set new standards of sustainability, innovation, accessibility, design excellence and Indigenous place-keeping that can serve as a model for future developments."

Villers Island will soon be an island when the new water channels that empty the Don River are filled!

A new community will spring up with a school, community centre, recreation facility & 30% affordable housing. https://t.co/KyiLR1aHW6

— Chris Glover (@chrisgloverndp) February 1, 2024

Residents can keep abreast of progress on the community, and see the latest photos and videos from the site on Waterfront Toronto's social media accounts as this exciting new corner of Toronto is born.