The high-rise and the pool: amenities and the advertised spatial imaginary of density

Keywords: amenities, pools, condominiums, density, high-rise, leisure, recreation, planning, spatial imaginary
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Friday
Session Start / End Time: 2/25/2022 11:20 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/25/2022 12:40 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 71

Abstract

A recent media article quipped that Toronto's condo residents “just don’t care about” swimming pools anymore (Landau, 2021). The “condo boom” in Toronto has been well documented, but little has been said about the role of private building amenities, which can function as shared, public spaces for residents (March & Lehrer, 2019). We address this gap by using the swimming pool as a lens to examine “the internalization of amenities” (Lehrer, 2016), and the spatial imaginary of high-rise living in the densifying Toronto region. What do advertisements tell us about the role of pools in shaping the desirability of apartment living over time? In this paper we explore how the apartment pool went from being part of the package of “total living” in the roll out of Toronto’s modernist high-rise neighbourhoods to a contested luxury feature that adds value for some, but also adds costs in an increasingly unaffordable city.

Our methodology includes a qualitative content analysis and discourse analysis of advertisements for high-rise apartments. We draw our sample from the online archive of the Toronto Star newspaper and the locally produced Condo Life magazine. Our approach enables comparison across time and three geographies: outer suburban, inner suburban, and core urban areas within the Toronto metropolitan region. Our thematic findings are analyzed against a timeline of key legislative, policy, and zoning changes affecting amenities and high-rise development. This research contributes to the urban geography literature on density, amenities, and recreation.