The Don Mills area was first settled by Europeans in 1817. The area was a considerable distance from the town of
York, but the
Don River provided an easy means of transportation, and also a source of power for a number of mills along its length. While the city of
Toronto steadily expanded, the Don Mills area remained rural until after the
Second World War. It was cut off from the city by ravines to the south, east, and west. Only two roads connected to the area:
York Mills Road and
Don Mills Road. In 1950 the area consisted of about 20 farms.
Development , and the
modernist Bauhaus-style of architecture. Don Mills was designed as a model community between 1952 and 1965. Land use, architectural design and building materials were carefully regulated. Many aspects of its design have been imitated in suburban developments across Canada. Its planners would give people priority over industry and cars. This combination of emptiness and proximity to the city attracted the attention of industrialist
E.P. Taylor. His original plan was to erect a
brewery on the site, along with a small community to house the workers. Taylor had limited previous experience in the property development business, but had built a project named the Wrentham Estates in York Mills. Seeing the profit to be made with such projects, Taylor abandoned the brewery idea and decided to simply build a new town on the he had acquired. In 1951, he began planning the Yorktown community (as it was first known), and it was announced on March 11, 1953. The community was to be built on about of farmland centred at the intersection of Don Mills Road and Lawrence Avenue East, with an expected cost of $200 million. Development was headed by the Taylor-owned Don Mills Development Company, (known as O'Keefe Realty in the days of the brewery development).
Design principles The design of Don Mills was influenced by
Ebenezer Howard's
Garden City, and by the principles of two American town planners,
Clarence Stein and
Henry Wright, who developed the garden city community of
Radburn, New Jersey. Design of the project was entrusted to
Macklin Hancock, the son-in-law of Taylor's executive assistant. Still in his mid-20s, Hancock was a graduate student at Harvard when approached for the job. At Harvard Hancock had studied under a number of the founders of modernism and new town planning including
Walter Gropius,
William Holford, and
Hideo Sasaki. These studies led Hancock to envision a self-contained community distinguished by consistent design principles and a
modernist style. Several names were proposed for the new development, including Eptown after Taylor. It was called Yorktown at its initial unveiling, but the name Don Mills was finally adopted at the suggestion of Hancock. The design was based on five planning principles, which had not been implemented in Canada before: • The neighbourhood principle – which broke down the community into four neighbourhood quadrants, all surrounding a regional shopping centre,
Don Mills Centre, at the southwest corner of Don Mills and Lawrence. Each quadrant was to contain a school, a church, and a park. • Separation of pedestrian and vehicle traffic – which was accomplished through the creation of a network of pedestrian paths providing easy access through parks to area schools and the town centre, while roads were designed to slow vehicular traffic through the use of winding roads, T-intersections, and cul-de-sacs. • Promotion of modernist architecture and the modern aesthetic – Don Mills Development controlled the architectural design, colours, and materials of all buildings in Don Mills. As well, the corporation insisted that builders use company-approved architects who had been educated according to
Bauhaus principles, to prevent the project from deteriorating into a typical post-war subdivision of builder's homes.. • Creation of a greenbelt – linked to a system of neighbourhood parks that would preserve the beauty of the surrounding ravines. • Integration of industry into the community – which followed Howard's ideals for the Garden City. Planners felt that it was important for residents to live and work in the same satellite town so that Don Mills would not become a bedroom community. A sizable number of high residential densities—rental townhouses and low-rise apartments—was essential if the town were to attract a cross-section of residents working in local industries. Home situation design was also influential to subsequent subdivisions in Canada. The homes were located on square lots with long street frontages. Houses were previously situated on rectangular lots, narrow end to the street. The square lots meant that houses faced the street with their long side, but had less deep backyards. The developers also affected two highway projects being developed concurrently. The 'Toronto Bypass', now known as
Ontario Highway 401 does not have an interchange at Don Mills Road due to the development. The
Don Valley Parkway, built in part to service the community, was originally to be built on Don Mills Road, but was moved east to the Woodbine Avenue right-of-way north of Lawrence.
Recent history (2000–present) was opened in September 2014. In 2006,
Don Mills Centre was demolished to make way for
Shops at Don Mills, a large shopping centre. The shopping centre opened in April 2009. At Wynford Drive and the Don Valley Parkway, a new $300 million cultural project was built on of land. The foundation was laid on May 28, 2010, by
Prime Minister Stephen Harper and
His Highness the Aga Khan. It was designed by India-based architect
Charles Correa, Japanese architect
Fumihiko Maki, Lebanese landscape architect Vladimir Djurovic and the Toronto-based
Moriyama & Teshima Architects. The project was completed in 2014, with the opening of the
Ismaili Centre, the
Aga Khan Museum and a public park. The museum provides an exhibition space for Islamic art and history, ==Demographics==