Why you should experience The Bentway in Toronto, Ontario.
The Bentway is an innovative public space where CityPlace's urban creativity, architectural ambition, and waterfront revitalization have redefined one of Canada's most remarkable civic landscapes.
Set beneath the Gardiner Expressway along Fort York Boulevard near Strachan Avenue and just steps from Fort York National Historic Site, this award-winning destination combines landscaped trails, public art, skating routes, performance spaces, recreational amenities, gardens, and year-round programming into a civic environment that transforms once-overlooked infrastructure into an inspiring public realm. Bold contemporary landscape architecture integrates seamlessly with the monumental concrete structure overhead, while cultural events and community gatherings create an atmosphere where design, recreation, and city life naturally intersect. Throughout every season, The Bentway remains one of Toronto's most imaginative public destinations. The result is a place where CityPlace's innovative spirit, architectural vision, and commitment to urban transformation continue to shape one of Canada's most influential civic projects.
What you should know about The Bentway.
The Bentway is best known for transforming the 1.75-kilometre space beneath the Gardiner Expressway into an internationally acclaimed linear park, establishing a global benchmark for adaptive reuse of elevated transportation infrastructure.
Opened in 2018, The Bentway reimagined 1.75 kilometres of previously underused land beneath the Gardiner Expressway as a linear public park linking neighborhoods, parks, and cultural destinations. Designed by Public Work and Greenberg Consultants, the project introduced year-round recreation, public art, performances, and community programming while demonstrating how aging transportation infrastructure could become a vibrant civic asset. Its internationally recognized design has influenced urban planning conversations well beyond Canada. Few public spaces have so successfully transformed a major piece of highway infrastructure into a celebrated cultural destination.
How to fold The Bentway into your trip.
The Bentway is best experienced as an exploration of CityPlace's remarkable blend of innovative public spaces, contemporary design, and historic landmarks.
Begin at The Bentway, where dramatic landscape architecture beneath the Gardiner Expressway immediately establishes the destination's remarkable character. Continue to Fort York National Historic Site, whose original War of 1812 buildings reveal the birthplace of urban Toronto. From there, explore Canoe Landing Park, where imaginative public art and contemporary green spaces celebrate modern city building, before concluding at Stackt Market, whose creative shipping-container village provides a memorable finale to an afternoon shaped by architecture, history, and urban discovery. Along the route, pedestrian promenades, public art installations, landscaped gardens, cycling paths, neighborhood cafés, contemporary architecture, and vibrant gathering spaces demonstrate how CityPlace continues to celebrate one of Canada's boldest examples of urban reinvention.
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