The ultimate test of any planning initiative is whether or not its recommendations are implemented and if so, the extent to which they achieve their objectives. In examining existing nodes, this part of the report evaluates the successes and failures of nodal planning in the Toronto region. Its findings have also been used to develop the policy recommendations in the final part of the report.
In this part of the report, the performance of nodes and other types of study areas is compared with criteria found in plans, and to nodal characteristics described in the literature on urban intensification: inner synergy effects, overall intensification of metropolitan regions, and contribution to a metropolitan-wide reduction in dependence on the automobile (e.g., Bunce, 2004; Dieleman and Wegener, 2004; Jabareen, 2006; Song, 2005; Vallance, Perkins and Moore, 2005).