[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_el3-9WN7Ss[/youtube] A few days ago I took the streetcar from Chinatown to Union station en route to visiting a friend. It was the first time I had traveled along the waterfront by streetcar in a while, and it gave me an opportunity to take in some of the work undertaken by Waterfront Toronto over the last few years. With the Spadina wavedeck and HTO park complete and open, and two more wavedecks under construction and scheduled for completion this year,  there is a palpable sense of change on the waterfront. The process has had its hiccups - and no ...

Cross-posted from ERA Architects' Tower Renewal Blog. Day: May 3rd Time: 11 am Start Location: North Kipling Community Centre, at 2 Rowntree Rd, Kipling and Rowntree Road, North of Finch End Location: Albion Centre Food Court Home to thirteen thousand living in nineteen towers, it is one of Toronto's largest apartment clusters. Arranged along the Humber Valley, these towers sit in an almost agrarian setting. The result is what may be the uniquely Toronto phenomenon of the ‘Tower on the Ravine'.

My family and friends have often (rightly) accused me of trying to do too much at once. While I admit that this is partly a result of my personal struggle with FOMO, I think at least some of the blame lies in the sheer amount of events deserving attention in this city.Public consultations are on the list of events I don't get to attend as much as I'd like. In a way this is ...

Since I've been in the Philippines, I've noticed more than a few things that are wildly different from any urban environment I've been in before, but the one that sticks out the most is the presence of "informal settlers" who occupy all areas of the landscape. Because the level of poverty in the Philippines is quite high, many people are unable to purchase or rent property, so they build their own shelters. Makeshift structures created from natural and recycled materials line streets both in cities and in the ...

Spacing correspondent Ian Malczewski is spending the summer interning with the Canadian Urban Institute in Iloilo City, the Philippines. During his time there he will share his observations of its public spaces.Since the Philippines is a country of islands (there are over 7 000 of them), it goes without saying that it has a special relationship with the water. Other than providing an abundance of postcard-perfect beaches and a wealth of seafood, the water here has also served as an important element in the country's urban development.Just like in Toronto, the urban waterfronts of most cities in the Philippines developed to accommodate shipping and industrial needs. Iloilo City is no different, with a port that developed to support textile and sugar industries. Though neither of these industries are still of major importance, the legacies of industrial warehouses and an inaccessible waterfront still linger.

Spacing correspondent Ian Malczewski is spending the summer interning with the Canadian Urban Institute in Iloilo City, the Philippines. Over the next few weeks he will share his observations of its public spaces. Iloilo City, Philippines - During World War II, the Philippines was a battleground between Allied Forces and the Japanese, and many of the country's cities still bear visible scars from this time. The capital city was essentially annihilated during the fierce Battle of Manila, and the devastation was such that the city lost nearly its entire stock of cultural and heritage landmarks, earning it the dubious title of the "Warsaw of Asia." The ensuing redevelopment resulted in a sprawling placelessness that most urban thinkers would associate with suburbia, but positive legacies also emerged. Few of these legacies contribute more to the urban fabric of the Philippines than the jeepney. At the end of the war, the Americans abandoned and sold their jeeps to the local population, who, desperate for public transportation, quickly adapted them to fit their needs. They gutted the jeeps to hold more passengers, outfitted them with flashy designs, and set them loose on the recovering cities. Now called jeepneys, they are a staple on Filipino streets, with new ones manufactured locally.

ILOILO, PHILIPPINES -- For the next three months, I am participating in an internship with the Canadian Urban Institute in Iloilo City, the Philippines. Given that some of my work here will involve analyzing the public realm of the city, I thought Spacing readers might be interested to see how a different culture relates to and plans its public spaces. Though internet and electricity are spotty here (especially in the wake of the typhoon that recently battered the city), I hope to be able to publish semi-regular updates. This first post is more of an introduction than in depth look at anything, but I've included some pictures to give some context and offer some background on the city. Situated on the island of Panay, Iloilo City is the capital of the Province of Iloilo, and the Regional Centre of the Western Visayas. With a population of over 400 000, it is the ninth most-populous city in the country, but it is among the Philippines' densest. The city's downtown is literally surrounded by water: a large river, the Iloilo River, divides the city in half, and the lower half of the city sits on the ocean. Because the Philippines is a developing country, evidence of poverty abounds not only in the city but also in its suburbs. Though panhandling does occur - especially to me, since I am an obvious foreigner and a visible minority - the city feels safe, and the people are genuinely warm and welcoming. Surprisingly, I find the panhandling in Toronto to be more visceral; in Iloilo I have not seen people sleeping on sidewalks or sitting with outstretched hands, though I have been assured it does happen. Like anywhere, though, poverty here is an incredibly complex issue, and one that is very much evident in the city's public realm.

Recently there has been a lot of noise about the proposed development by Smart!Centres on Eastern Avenue - a development suspected to be a Big Box store, possibly a Wal Mart. The City has stated the development does not belong there - as have former mayor David Crombie and ROM architect Daniel Libeskind, among other high-profilers - but currently the Ontario Municipal Board has the final say. While debate rages on about whether this kind of Big Box development ...

It's no secret that the Don River has seen better days. What used to be a sparkling habitat for many different animals and fish has become a dirty and polluted channel funneling at an un-natural 90 degree angle into Lake Ontario. There is no shortage of interest in and support for reviving the Don, and next Saturday, March 29th, the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (on behalf of Waterfront Toronto) is hosting a Public Presentation, Discussion, and Drop-In on the progress of the Don Mouth Naturalization and Port ...

On Friday, Waterfront Toronto announced the winning design for the Jarvis Slip Design Competition. The winning team, Claude Cormier Architectes Paysagistes Inc., designed the "Sugar Beach" proposal (Warning: large PDF file), which is similar to HTO Park a little west of the Jarvis Slip. The proposal most prominently features a number of multi-coloured umbrellas along a sandy beach that lead up to the water's edge, and also creates a strong connectivity between the space and the streetscape to its north.   Waterfront Toronto's news release states that the jury ...