YunWei Lin

The Hub: The Evolving Role of Parkades in Toronto’s Cycling Future

Environmental Design

2025

As Toronto moves toward more sustainable transportation through reducing reliance on private cars and promoting active transportation, the infrastructure at Yonge-Dundas Square offers an important opportunity for intervention. This project focuses on the underground parking structure at Yonge-Dundas event Square, one of the busiest intersections in Ontario, adjacent to shopping centers, office buildings, apartments, schools, and public health facilities.Currently, the parking structure contributes little in terms of parking supply while detracting from the quality, safety, and efficiency of the transportation network. By repurposing the east half of this structure, this project proposes the creation of a major underground cycling hub — inspired by similar facilities in Amsterdam — to enhance commuter services and encourage cycling as a central mode of transportation in Toronto. Containing a cafe, bike shop, bike storage, lockers, and showers to accommodate cyclists in the city. The thesis will assess whether reallocating parking and road space from cars to cyclists can enhance the health, safety, and livability of downtown Toronto. Particular attention will be paid to design strategies that ensure the space remains accessible, inviting, and functional year-round, including during Toronto’s harsh winters. The project ultimately aims to make downtown cycling more convenient and attractive, contributing to the city’s broader sustainability goals.The highlight of this space would be the giant skylights which let sunlight into the underground area while also allowing for air to flow through during the warmer seasons, all without detracting from the space and regular functions of the existing event space. The design is meant for Many studies show that reducing car use through switching to alternative transportation including cycling can reduce the amount of deaths and respiratory illnesses in car dense areas by significant numbers.

“Downtown Toronto’s expanding cycling network faces political efforts to remove bike lanes, revealing limited commitment to cycling as a primary mode of transportation. This Thesis looks at how the underground parking structure underneath the Yonge-Dundas Square can be repurposed to become a healthier and safer space for a cycling hub. ”