Olivia Chow wants Toronto to be the most sought-after business market in North America. Is her 25-year plan feasible?

Mayor Olivia Chow wants to “create the most competitive business environment in North America” with a plan to double Toronto’s GDP by 2050.
The economic strategy, contained in a staff report presented Wednesday by Chow and her economic advisory panel, emphasizes supporting small businesses, creating jobs and making Toronto attractive to tech and creative companies. The outline is included in a 72-page booklet entitled Sidewalks to Skylines: An Action Plan for Toronto’s Economy.
“It will help grow our economy and attract the next generation of global investment,” said Chow at a news conference. “This plan sets out a vision for a more prosperous, affordable and growing Toronto — a place where everyone can benefit from our economy.”
The plan, to grow the $171 billion gross domestic product output of the city, was written over the course of a year in consultation with local businesses and community organizations. It will be debated at the economic and community development committee next week.
But an urban economist questions the lack of “main pillars” in the strategy that also includes pledges to begin discussions with the provincial and federal governments to achieve a new, long-term intergovernmental funding deal for Toronto.
The report advises that the city should work with the province and local agencies to “urgently” address homelessness, mental illness and addiction. As well, it urges incentive plans for affordable housing, exploring “new technologies to facilitate traffic mitigation” and boosting green infrastructure programs. It also calls for opportunities for the city’s youth, entrepreneurs and the promotion of Toronto’s “rising culinary scene.”
But beneath these lofty goals, said economist William Strange, there doesn’t appear to be much substance.
“I still don’t know what the plan really does, other than invoking various buzzwords,” said Strange, a professor of urban economics at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management.
“What are the main pillars of the policy? Other than to cause vibrancy, somehow.” 
Strange said he appreciated that the report highlights the city’s prosperity — Toronto is “among the most economically successful places in the world,” the economic plan says.
He added that the city is expensive in large part because it is a desirable place to be. “That’s far from the worst problem a city could have, though it does burden a lot of our households,” Strange said. “Detroit would kill to have the economic problems Toronto has.” 
As for GDP-doubling, Strange said it’s a reasonable target given the “fortunate position” Toronto is in economically and the growth it is seeing. 
“We have lots of prosperous industries, such that people all around the world think of Toronto as a place they might want to be,” he said. 
The plan highlights a few niches for Toronto to pursue, such as becoming a tech hub and foodie destination. But it could prove “perilous to pick winners,” Strange said.
“Nobody foresaw that Boston would become a biotech city,” he said. “Governments aren’t really in the business of understanding which industries are likely to be the most prosperous. In the ‘70s Boston was subsidizing candy companies.”
The most important thing for Toronto to do, Strange said, is address congestion, which he said could drive people away from the city. Besides that, he said, the city needs to “do everything it can do” to make it easier to build more housing.