Canadian Urban Institute Podcasts
By Canadian Urban Institute
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Podcast Description
Welcome to Canadian Urban Institute podcasts. The Canadian Urban Institute (CUI) is a Toronto-based not for profit organization with a national and international reach. The CUI is an innovator and catalyst engaged in research, networking, leadership development, planning and policy solutions to improve the quality of life in urban regions in Canada and around the world.
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The Edible City | How should we think about food? According to new Metcalf Foundation reports edited by Philippa Campsie, we need to think and act very differently about how we grow, process, distribute and consume our food. Improved access to healthy and abundant locally-produced food is a worthy goal shared by the City of Toronto’s Board of Health, which just adopted “Cultivating Food Connections: Toward a Healthy and Sustainable Food System for Toronto” – 29 initiatives that promise to create a culture of “food systems thinking” within the municipal bureaucracy, linked to the many players who comprise the urban food supply chain. Dr.McKeown championed this process. So with all this positive thinking, why should food be seen as an issue in the lead-up to Ontario’s municipal elections in October? One part of the answer can be found in a report to be issued by the Martin Prosperity Institute (MPI). Kevin Stolarick will address the plight of low-income Toronto residents living in areas devoid of quality food stores known as “food deserts.” The MPI report echoes findings raised earlier in this election series by Professor David Hulchanski (Toronto Divided? Polarizing Trends that Could Split the City Apart). Through its trend-setting Toronto Food Policy Council (TFPC), Toronto’s efforts to promote food security have won respect internationally. Over a 20 year period, using the unique convening powers of food, the TFPC has brought together a diverse range of stakeholders from across Toronto, the Greater Golden Horseshoe, Canada and beyond. The TFPC has supported initiatives to bolster food security in places such asScadding Court. Alina Chatterjee will explain their strategy of developing community gardens and other innovations. The TFPC’s recently retired coordinator, Wayne Roberts, has also been vocal about the opportunity to realign the vested interests engaged within the food system. He will discuss moving from the “old” food system to the “new” – blending the best of both in a series of innovative new partnerships. Join us at Metro Hall on the 15th to add your thoughts on how and why food fits in the election agenda. | 9/8/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Toronto: How to Supersize the Vision, not just the Buildings | This latest session from the Election Issues Series is presented by The Canadian Urban Institute and the Cities Centre, University of Toronto. Keynote presenter: Lisa Rochon, Architectural Critic for the Globe and Mail with commentary from Dina Graser, Steering Committee Member, People Plan Toronto, Antonio Gomez-Palacio, representing the Toronto Society of Architects and Bronwyn Krog, Principal, Urban Forme Ltd, and Vice Chair, former Planning and Development Committee at the Board of Trade. Reworking the vision for Toronto’s waterfront has become a full-time job, it seems, made more complicated by dispersed responsibilities, overlapping jurisdictions and competing priorities. At issue is an insistence by the city manager’s office that a massive ice hockey arena, complete with acres of surface parking, be inserted into a scheme for the Lower Don Lands that is supposed to be developed as a highly urban, mixed use neighbourhood. The Waterfront Design Review panel’s job is to provide objective commentary on implementing the waterfront plans, but, they say, proceeding with the present scheme – “tinkering notwithstanding” – is likely to undermine years of painstaking work. Meanwhile, immediately adjacent to the Lower Don project, the West Don lands is set to be transformed into the athlete’s village for the Pan Am Games, so moving forward with a consistent vision for the waterfront area is critical, not to mention time sensitive. Everyone agrees that development on the waterfront – any waterfront – should be remarkable – “as compelling as a lake, as beguiling as the natural flow of a river,” to quote Globe and Mail architecture critic Lisa Rochon. We constantly see how other cities are able to fulfill their visions, apparently without compromise – why does Toronto seem to struggle? Should one element of a complex urban program be permitted to derail a grand vision? Who should make that call? The current controversy is about the waterfront, but the principles are relevant throughout the city – any city. This seminar series seeks to inform the municipal election debates. What is your view? Join us for an important discussion. | 6/10/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Fiscal Sustainability - Is Toronto Thinking Boldly Enough? | This latest session from the Election Issues Series is presented by The Canadian Urban Institute and the Cities Centre, University of Toronto. Many trees have been sacrificed to the cause of trying to understand the complex issues surrounding the sorry state of Toronto’s finances. Although interest in the issue is heightened because of the municipal elections this fall, another explanation is that there is simply no agreement about how to define “sustainability.” What is an appropriate test, and how should sustainability be measured? The answers are not clear. But Toronto’s budget woes are by no means unique. The challenges of replacing aging infrastructure, investing in new capital projects while keeping a lid on ever-rising operating costs constrained by essentially flat revenue streams are common to most municipalities. The reality is that municipal decision makers have relatively little room to maneuver after provincially mandated obligations have been met. In Toronto, for example, public transit, policing and social/housing services accounts for almost half of a budget of more than $9 billion. Labour contracts represent a significant, difficult to change proportion of all spending. Since there are strict rules about municipal indebtedness, what options do municipal leaders have? Can efficiencies be found? What is the appetite for increased taxes, higher user fees? Are these the right questions? Add your voice to the discussion and help refine the issues to be addressed by candidates for mayor in Toronto and the GTA. Moderator: Michael Fenn, Interm CEO & President, Canadian Urban Institute Speakers: Enid Slack, Director, Institute on Municipal Finance and Governance at the Munk Centre for International Studies, University of Toronto David Amborski, School of Urban and Regional Planning, Ryerson University Grant Bishop, Economist, TD Bank Financial Group | 5/10/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Designing Transit Cities: Keynote, Paul Goldberger | Keynote presenter Paul Goldberger is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of two new books (Building Up and Tearing Down, and Why Architecture Matters). As one of North America’s premier commentators on design and urban form, Paul’s “Skyline” column for The New Yorker blends controversy (what went wrong with plans to rebuild Ground Zero) with thoughtful historical perspective (retrospective on the 100th anniversary of Daniel Burnham’s plan for Chicago) to provide insights into the challenges of modern-day city building (can New Jersey replicate big-city vibe with suburban ambitions?). Paul will help us respond to the question: With billions committed to investing in new transit projects over the coming decades, can the vision for expanding the region’s transit network be successfully integrated with a sustained commitment to building a mix of appropriately located, well-designed, higher density development projects in city core and suburb alike? | 4/28/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
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Designing the City of Tomorrow – Are We Thinking Boldly Enough? | Although massive investments have been earmarked for Transit City, with possible delayed implementation, is there the political and practical will to start the process of city-building to support future transit? Why doesn't Toronto have more really beautiful public spaces? What does the recent spike in pedestrian fatalities in the Toronto area have in common with climate change? Who is responsible for the city's public realm? The linkages may not be obvious to most city dwellers but the urban designers behind the newly formed Council for Canadian Urbanism (CanU) argue that good urban design – from the micro scale to the scale of the city region - is fundamental to creating sustainable communities with “densities and designs that offer people a convenient range of transportation options – including walking, biking and public transportation – to meet their daily needs.” They argue that cities are the obvious place to begin the task of tackling suburban sprawl, reducing dependency on fossil fuel and ultimately reducing GHG emissions. Urban designers – architects, planners, engineers, landscape architects and others - work in the public and private sectors within the spaces that make the city work but also guide the vision for the shape and structure of the city. So getting decision makers and the public alike to discuss issues like safe, attractive streetscapes, re-imagine the spaces around Tower Renewal and find ways to marry urban form and transit in an effective, efficient and beautiful way is a priority. With municipal elections on the horizon, can this debate challenge the candidates to put forward bold visions for the future that knit together city and suburb? Can our panelists convince politicians that excellence in urban design is an investment, not a cost? To answer these and many other questions, join us for a spirited debate with an expert panel on the kind of actions that will fundamentally shape the look, feel and function of Toronto and its neighbours for decades to come. | 4/22/10 | Free | View In iTunes |
| Total: 5 Episodes |
