For as long as I've been paying attention, parks have been places where community engagement and stewardship intersect (and sometimes collide) with municipal governance. The evolution of Dufferin Grove, the artistic reclamation of Mabelle, and the formation of parks advocacy group Park People all point to a need to think differently about how Toronto's parks are managed, funded, and programmed. Problem is, conversations around these issues usually position community groups and city staff as adversaries in a turf war, which makes for great storytelling but little progress. Through ...

Although Spacing published its picks for Jane's Walk 2012 yesterday, I wanted to add one more to the list. Finding Mabelle: A Walk Through the Gloaming revolves around a little-known but impressive park in Central Etobicoke called Mabelle Park. Imagine a shrunken Dufferin Grove Park surrounded by highrise apartment towers and you're starting to get the picture. Over the last few years, and with the help of a non-profit called Mabelle Arts, area residents have transformed Mabelle Park with new benches, a bake oven, and a community garden, among ...

For ten days in September - the 7th through to the 16th - Exhibit Change is organizing a photovoice-inspired event called Through my Lens to encourage Torontonians to use their cameras to capture perspectives and tell stories about the city. For each day of the project, participants will receive an email with a question to inspire them, like "What is your favourite part of Toronto?" or, "What might you change?" Throughout the project, there will be a number of neighbourhood walking tours for people to join ...

In my story for the Winter issue of Spacing, I wrote about a women's hockey league that plays on the frozen lagoons of the Toronto Islands every Sunday. The Margaret Philp Cup is an important event in this community's calendar, one that celebrates the memory of the islander and Globe & Mail columnist who passed away from breast cancer in 2009. Kathleen Doody, one of the islanders I spoke with, made a short film about the tournament and its namesake called Sunday Morning Shinny and the Margaret Philp Cup. The film paints ...

WHERE: Urban Strategies: 197 Spadina Avenue, 4th floor WHEN: Thursday, February 4th, 5 – 7 pm HOW MUCH: Free (Requires registration) There will also be a live webcast of the event here. Social Media Week is a week-long international conference that explores “the profound impact that social media has on culture, business communications and society at large.” Toronto is one of six cities participating in this year’s conference, which features several events that may be of interest to Spacing readers. In particular, “We Built This ...

Spacing contributor Ian Malczewski spent September 30-October 3 in Niagara Falls at a joint conference held by the Ontario Professional Planners Institute and the Canadian Institute of Planners. He is sharing some of the lessons he learned there and reflecting on their implications on public space, livability, and sustainability in cities. When referencing urban planning processes, the term “public participation” often conjures up mental pictures of half-empty community centre halls, text-filled Powerpoint presentations, and confrontational NIMBY-inspired battles. These images are part of the reason that discussions of these processes often elicit responses ranging from indifference to frustration. Yet public participation remains one of the foundations of contemporary planning practice, and, in Toronto, some well-publicized stories have brought them to the forefront in recent years. The formation of Active 18 in the Queen West Triangle is probably the best-known of these stories, with residents and  business owners banding together to try and influence planning in their community. So when I saw a seminar at the OPPI / CIP Conference called “Joining the Conversation: New Strategies for Consultation and Action,” I highlighted it as one I needed to attend.

Spacing contributor Ian Malczewski spent September 30 - October 3 in Niagara Falls at a joint conference held by the Ontario Professional Planners Institute and the Canadian Institute of Planners. He is sharing some of the lessons he learned there and reflecting on their implications on public space, livability, and sustainability in cities. Like most people interested in Toronto's heritage, I harbour a bit of bitterness; perusing the Toronto Archives or learning about failed battles to preserve historic structures will do that to you. But amendments to Ontario's Heritage Act in 2005 changed the landscape for heritage preservation, giving planners and municipal governments new tools with which to preserve the character of our cities. A session at the OPPI / CIP conference on this subject, entitled “Saving our Cities: Contemporary Approaches to Heritage Planning,” piqued my interest. It was lead by Antonio Gà³mez-Palacio of the Office for Urbanism and architect Phil Goldsmith, who have worked on a number of heritage-related projects together. Although heritage often appears to be an issue of saving significant buildings, there is another, equally important conversation that I feel often gets short shrift: the preservation of intangible heritage.

Spacing contributor Ian Malczewski spent September 30 - October 3 in Niagara Falls at a joint conference held by the Ontario Professional Planners Institute and the Canadian Institute of Planners. He is sharing some of the lessons he learned there and reflecting on their implications on public space, livability, and sustainability in cities. The first session I attended at the OPPI / CIP conference was called LEED-ing by Design. The purpose of this workshop was to educate planners about Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design - Neighbourhood Development (LEED ND), which, according to the United States Green Building Council (USGBC), aims to “integrate the principles of smart growth, urbanism and green building into the first national system for neighborhood design.” Knowing a bit about LEED Building certification (as well as some of its critiques), I was curious to see what design elements would apply at the neighbourhood scale.

Spacing contributor Ian Malczewski spent last week in Niagara Falls at a joint conference held by the Ontario Professional Planners Institute and the Canadian Institute of Planners. He is sharing some of the lessons he learned there and reflecting on their implications on public space, livability, and sustainability in cities. My visit to Niagara Falls last week to attend the OPPI / CIP Conference, Building a Better World, was my first time to the city in a few years. I always find visiting Niagara Falls to be a ...

CityBuilders Toronto has been looking for nominations of young individuals or groups that are actively working towards building a better Toronto. Tomorrow, August 31st, is the deadline to nominate anyone you think fits the bill. Selected referrals will be published in an upcoming new book and photography exhibit, so head on over to their website to help contribute to a "snapshot of Toronto's love movement." WEBSITE: www.citybuilders.to