Toronto Star

Nowhere is the power of illusion more clearly demonstrated than at Regent Park. When the housing complex was designed and constructed in the late 1940s and early '50s, it was seen as the wave of the future, a Utopian project that would satisfy human needs as never before and bring out the best in residents. If only. Such schemes have proliferated since at least the 19th century, when pioneering urban planner Ebenezer Howard proposed the notion of the Garden City. Hugely influential, the idea called for small towns fully integrated into nature; they were independent communal societies where people would live quietly but happily ever after. Though there wasn't a shred of evidence to support Howard's views, the world desperately wanted to hear what he had to say. Regent Park was yet another expression of this deep-seated desire to build heaven on earth.