On April 29, CivicAction held their quadrennial city summit, Canvas, which brought together nearly 1,200 civic leaders from all sectors to discuss solutions to pressing urban challenges in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton region. The UPL was an official event partner. Incoming 2019-20 UPL graduate fellow Jolene Funk attended the event and shares her reflections on the day’s conversations.
The Urban Policy Lab’s “Dispatches from Abroad” blog series provides an opportunity for students at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy to share their experiences working or studying in cities outside Toronto, whether during their internships, while on exchange, or via extracurricular activities. In this dispatch, Andrew Thies, a second-year Master of Public Policy student, reflects on his academic exchange at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, in Singapore, and what the experience taught him about urban heritage preservation.
In the face of rapid development, urban areas around the world struggle to prevent historically significant buildings from being torn down (R.I.P Honest Ed’s).
Why should a city preserve its built heritage? Because heritage preservation amounts to an effort to foster and grow a collective identity in the face of rapid social and economic changes. It is a source of pride for communities, as well as a chance to develop personal and shared identities. We can learn from heritage, and sometimes it can better help us to face the future.
The Urban Policy Lab’s “Dispatches from Abroad” blog series provides an opportunity for students at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy to share their experiences working or studying in cities outside Toronto, whether during their internships, while on exchange, or via extracurricular activities. In this dispatch, Michael Zusev, a second-year Master of Public Policy student, reflects on his academic exchange at Sciences-Po, in Paris, and what the experience taught him about urban density and spatial economics.
Two opposing characteristics make the shape of the Parisian urban area extremely unique: low building heights and extreme density.
A strict city ordinance that began in 1667 leaves building no higher than 121 feet, roughly one-fifth the average height of New York skyscrapers. Yet amazingly, Paris is twice as dense as New York City.
Density is something you can feel walking down Parisian streets — apartment blocks are lined up so there are no alleyways, and sidewalks connect immediately with buildings and roads. There are few lawns, commercial plazas, or parking lots. Land is extremely valuable in the city centre, so it is used very precisely.
The Urban Policy Lab’s “Dispatches from Abroad” blog series provides an opportunity for students at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy to share their experiences working or studying in cities outside Toronto, whether during their internships, while on exchange, or via extracurricular activities. In this dispatch, Katerina Stamadianos, a second-year Master of Public Policy student, reflects on her academic exchange at the Hertie School of Governance, in Berlin, and what the experience taught her about parks policy and public space.
You know the drill. Young twenty-something girl goes on exchange to Berlin and is here to tell you about how much better things are in Europe. Swears she has found herself and will never be the same – ad infinitum.
I’ll spare you from the exchange student trope – all to say, this blog post is about a park not because I’ve got the girl-abroad glasses on. This blog post is about a park because my flat in Berlin is situated next to a really, really great park – Park am Gleisdreieck. Living next to am Gleisdreieck has gotten me thinking about why going to the park seems to be a more popular activity in Berlin than Toronto, and what Toronto may be able to do to get more people into public spaces.
Munk in the City is an initiative organized by the Urban Policy Lab that asks students to step out of the classroom and into the community to grapple with urban policy issues first-hand. In the weeks leading up to the 2018 Toronto municipal election, 25 teams of students from both the Master of Public Policy and Master of Global Affairs programs ventured out to all corners of the city to explore and report on key issues and concerns in each of the 25 new municipal wards. To see all student submissions, visit the project’s Tumblr page, or search the hashtag #MunkintheCity on your favourite social media platform. In this blog post, Graduate Fellow Matthew Plouffe picks out a few of his favourite submissions.
Now that the election has come and gone, and the controversy around shrinking Toronto city council has subsided, it’s time to reflect on the Munk in the City initiative.
Guest blog by: Meredith Nelson (MGA) and Jolene Funk (MGA)
Munk in the City is an initiative organized by the Urban Policy Lab that asks students to step out of the classroom and into the community to grapple with urban policy issues first-hand. To see all student submissions, visit the project’s Tumblr page.
Hi all! This is Jolene and Meredith, two students from the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. We began our morning of exploring Ward 21 Scarborough Centre with the Munk in the City initiative commuting from densely populated wards by bus, multiple subway lines, and the Scarborough RT, and met up at the Scarborough Town Centre.