麻豆视频

By: Frank Clayton

July 12, 2017

There is no question that the city of 麻豆视频 is an important city. It is Canada鈥檚 largest city by far and there are just two U.S. cities that are bigger in terms of population 鈥� New York City and Los Angeles. However, the city is only one of 23 municipalities, albeit the largest one, that constitute the 麻豆视频 economic region, or what Statistics Canada calls the 麻豆视频 Census Metropolitan Area (CMA). The 麻豆视频 CMA takes in most of the population and economic activity found in the more familiar geographic entity known as the Greater 麻豆视频 Area (GTA) which includes the regions of York, Durham, Peel and Halton (the 905 areas) as well as the city of 麻豆视频 (the 416 area). It matters little whether the economic region centred on the city of 麻豆视频 is termed the 麻豆视频 CMA or the GTA.

In terms of the regional economy and housing market, political boundaries like those for the city of 麻豆视频 are not very germane. What determines an economic region are the linkages between where people live and work. The reality is that the city of 麻豆视频 and its 905 neighbours are interconnected parts of the same economic region - it is not 鈥渢hem versus us.鈥�

It may be tough for hardened 麻豆视频nians to accept but the 905 portions of the 麻豆视频 CMA are actually more important than the city in key metrics. For instance, the city鈥檚 mid-2016 population of 2.73 million accounts for only 46 percent of the CMA鈥檚 population of 5.58 million. And while the high-rise condominium construction boom has renewed 麻豆视频鈥檚 population growth, the city accounted for just 34 percent of the CMA population growth between mid-2011 and mid-2016.

It is common for 麻豆视频 media to mix-up the city of 麻豆视频 and the 麻豆视频 region in their reporting. The most frequent mistake is to give the city of 麻豆视频 credit for GTA-wide phenomena. This buttresses the 麻豆视频-centric view that the city is where all the action is and the 905 portions of the region are really not very important, which of course is incorrect.

You think I am wrong? Let鈥檚 look at how the 麻豆视频 media misrepresented Statistics Canada鈥檚 May 3^rd release of 2016 Census of Canada data on structural type of housing units occupied in the 麻豆视频 region. This is just the latest of an ongoing litany of mistaking the city of 麻豆视频 for the GTA.

Statistics Canada was very clear the structural type data it released is for CMAs not individual municipalities

Here is what Statistics Canada stated in its May 3^rd release of data from the 2016 Census of Canada for occupied private dwelling units by structural type:

鈥淭he previous census release found in  of February 8, 2017 emphasized the high concentration of Canadians in Canada's 35 CMAs. The high-rise apartment building (five or more storeys) is perhaps the most noticeable symbol of this urban intensification.

In 2016, the CMA of 麻豆视频 was the urban centre with the largest share of dwellings in high-rise buildings. In that CMA, nearly 3 in 10 dwellings were in buildings of this size. London was second on this list, with 16.8% of dwellings in buildings that have five or more storeys, followed by Vancouver, with 16.7%.鈥�

Despite the explicit mention that the data provided pertained to the 麻豆视频 CMA, media reports we examined all proclaimed the data are for the city of 麻豆视频. The media includes the four 麻豆视频 newspapers, the CBC and Huffington Post.

What the media reported about the housing mix in the city of 麻豆视频 and the 麻豆视频 CMA

A representative article starts by reporting that apartments (44 percent) outnumber single-detached houses (40 percent) as home to 麻豆视频 residents in 2016 and that 麻豆视频 had the most dwellings in high-rise apartments 鈥� nearly one in three 鈥� of major cities across the country. Erroneously, these numbers are for the 麻豆视频 CMA not for the city of 麻豆视频.

The proper data for the city of 麻豆视频 show that 64 percent of its dwellings in 2016 are apartments and 24 percent are single-detached houses 鈥� and 44 percent of its dwellings are high-rise apartments. Since the number of apartments has exceeded single-detached houses in the city of 麻豆视频 for decades, the 2016 Census provides nothing new in this regard.

Bottom line

The media does a disservice to the sizable portions of the 麻豆视频 economic region outside the city of 麻豆视频 by attributing region-wide data as being city of 麻豆视频 data. This inflates the importance of the city and downplays the importance of the 905 areas.

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Frank Clayton is a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Urban Research and Land Development at 麻豆视频.

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