Toronto and the taxpayers aren't spending anything at this point. This is an invitation for a company to draw up plans of how they think that area should be created.
There has been no talk of how it'd fit into the fabric of Toronto, or how their plan would need to go through months and months of deliberation and negotiation at different levels, with each level probably inserting stipulations that would answer to their constituents (affordable housing, accessible areas, community engagement, public spaces, etc.).
This is a gigantic step in the right direction, on the part of the city, to actually plan neighborhoods (like the Canary District, like the proposed Mirvish Village) instead of giving every awful developer a ticket to build a 30-something-story condo (like City Place).

Your disdain for comprehension, journalism and innovation, and your lack of understanding of the political process, and urban planning are somewhat disconcerting.