Toronto needs to build more housing, period. It doesn't need to be "smart", it doesn't need to be "iconic", there just needs to be a lot of it and it needs to be close to amenities and jobs. As far as I can tell, the reason this is so difficult is a combination of powerful people making boatloads of money off the restricted supply, and inertia in favour of the low-density zoning that covers most of the city.
It is also unhelpful that transit in Toronto is packed to the gills, and so outer areas that are on a transit line that could also take development are basically full.
I will believe that the hemming and hawing over whatever the Ontario Line/Downtown Relief Line is going to be is over when there are shovels in the ground, but until then, Line 1 is packed to the gills, and the future extensions north are not helping.
