The Oak Ridges Moraine Battles

"The Oak Ridges Moraine Battles is the definitive book on this important chapter in Ontario environmental politics. The authors provide a wealth of detail and analysis of an interesting story that is significant not only locally and regionally, but also nationally, and to a certain extent, internationally. As an examination of the politics of suburban and exurban development in the Greater Toronto Region, this book is unlikely to be surpassed for some time." -- Andre Sorensen, Chair, Department of Human Geography, University of Toronto, Scarborough "The Oak Ridges Moraine Battles is a rare and superb model of the application of a critical political ecology approach to the analysis of land use conflict - work of such depth and temporal breadth is unusual, particularly in Canadian environmental studies. The authors do a wonderful job of mining the riches of this case study and grounding it in solid empirical research." -- Laurie E. Adkin, Department of Political Science, University of Alberta

The Oak Ridges Moraine Battles captures the hidden aspects of a story that received a great deal of attention in the local and national news, and that ultimately led to provincial legislation aimed at protecting the Moraine and Ontario’s Greenbelt.

The Oak Ridges Moraine is a unique landform that generated heated battles over the future of nature conservation, sprawl, and development in the Toronto region at the turn of the twenty-first century. This book provides a careful, multi-faceted history and policy analysis of planning issues and citizen activism on the Moraine’s future in the face of rapid urban expansion.

The Oak Ridges Moraine Battles captures the hidden aspects of a story that received a great deal of attention in the local and national news, and that ultimately led to provincial legislation aimed at protecting the Moraine and Ontario’s Greenbelt. By giving voice to a range of actors – residents, activists, civil servants, scientists, developers and aggregate and other resource users, the book demonstrates how space on the urban periphery was reshaped in the Toronto region. The authors ask hard questions about who is included and excluded when the preservation of nature challenges the relentless process of urbanization.