ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½

For now, Rogers Stadium — Live Nation’s 50,000-person, temporary venue, which opened Sunday with a performance by K-pop superstars Stray Kids — is filling that role, hosting Oasis, Coldplay and Hozier, among others, in its inaugural summer.

So could the area be the site of a permanent stadium after Live Nation packs up shop?

Urban planning experts say the location is both intriguing and unique, but the land’s owners don’t intend to forgo greenspace in favour of a fixed stadium. Here’s what we know about the future of the site.Ìý

Is DownsviewÌýa good spot for a permanent stadium?ÌýÌý

In theory, stadiums normally work in areas where the land is cheap and the parking is plentiful, or in a central location served by transit and large population centres, says Laura Taylor, an associate professor of urban planning at York University.

But Downsview sits somewhere between those extremes.

“This particular spot is not really either of those. It’s not in the middle of nowhere, and it’s not in the middle city,� Taylor observes. “It’s a bit of an experiment in many ways.�

Still, Taylor notes that it’s a huge area inside an otherwise completely suburban part of ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½, which gives it a walled-off feel.

“It’s unique for us. It’s not unique when you think about cities across the world who have had to deal with military industrial areas that have been redeveloped,” Taylor observes. “Most cities have similar examples, but it is definitely like that for us.”Ìý

The temporary nature of the stadium wouldn’t necessarily be disqualifying, either. There’s a precedent for temporary infrastructure leading to more permanent city fixtures, notes Karen Chapple, a professor of geography at the University of ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ and director of the School of Cities.

New York’s Arthur Ashe Stadium stands on the site of the U.S. Pavilion, which was built for the World’s Fair in 1964 and demolished just over a decade later. In Vancouver, the SkyTrain monorail was constructed, in part, for Expo 86, and it still continues to be the city’s predominant rapid transit system.Ìý

“You see other cities functioning like that,” Chapple said. “They’ll support a large temporary intervention in the hopes that it will spur long-term catalytic change.”

Why won’t it work as a site for a permanent stadium?

Much of the surrounding land has been plotted for use in a sprawling, live-work-play region composed of 15 transit-oriented neighbourhoods, expected to eventually houseÌý.ÌýConstruction is expected to begin in the next few yearsÌýand won’t be ready for decades, at the earliest.Ìý

Rogers Stadium currently stands on the former site of Downsview airport, which is owned by Northcrest Developments, a subsidiary of the Public Sector Pension Investments Board, a federal Crown corporation. Canada Lands Company, another federal Crown corporation, owns additional land planned for development, including .

That area — home to Festival Terrace (which hosts VELD), a dog park, and a network of trails — has no future as the site of a stadium.

“The forest, the park area is going to stay forever,” said Rob Ng, Canada Lands’ director of attractions. “As the neighbourhoods develop around Downsview Park, we are very proud to say that that green space is going to be there, and we think that it’s going to form sort of a central park in North ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½.”

Sarah Phipps, the project director who is overseeing Downsview’s redevelopment for the city, notes that the “stadium” suffix in the current venue’s name makes it seem more permanent than it actually is, but there’s no plan to change it to allow for a stadium to be built long-term in the park itself.Ìý

“It would not be our advice or our recommendation to council to change the designation of any of that land to allow for that kind of use,” she told the Star. “There’s nothing in our planning documents that indicate that it should be anything except parkland.”

How long will Rogers Stadium last?

During a tour, Live Nation confirmed that the venue would last for five years and would be partially torn down at the end of every summer.Ìý

“Ideally, we can leave some of the scaffold structure up because that’s the hard part,” says Wayne Zronik, Live Nation Canada’s president of business operations. “I liken it to opening and closing a cottage or a cabin in the woods. You have to winterize it.”

This summer, it’ll host Coldplay for four nights and Blackpink and Oasis for two nights each, among others. Between that octet of shows alone, as many as 400,000Ìýfans could pass through its turnstiles.Ìý

Zronik declined to specify the total cost of the stadium, but referred to it as “a worthwhile investment” that will drive “broader economic impact.”Ìý

“We’ve made a sizeable investment, let’s just say that,” Zronik said.

What happens after the stadium is gone?

Festivals and concerts will continue at Downsview, but not in the form of a permanent mega-stadium or to a degree that would negatively impact residents of the to-be-constructed neighbourhoods, Ng said.Ìý

“Maybe the scale of our events will change. Maybe it’s a question of shaping or placing the events in a different spot rather than Festival Terrace,” he noted. “But taking away the venue space from the city is not going to be good for the city. It’s not good for the arts, it’s not good for entertainment.”

East of the park proper, YZD — the 370-acre, seven-neighbourhood development by Northcrest on the former airport site where Rogers Stadium currently stands — as the apartment and condo buildings, shops and public spacesÌýare built.

Mitchell Marcus, Northcrest’s executive director of site activation and programming, said that they’re going to be engaging with local arts partners and organizations for programmingÌýas part of their “meanwhile use strategy” as the neighbourhoods get built.Ìý

“We’re saying yes as much as possible to things that couldn’t happen in ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ were it not for the fact that we collectively have this big site,” Marcus said.ÌýÌý