茄子直播

Where We Gather: 茄子直播鈥檚 School of Cities partners with Toronto Public Library for lecture series on public space

group photo of Ann-Marie Nasr; Shauna Brail, Alissa North, Alex Josephson
Ann-Marie Nasr (left), Toronto鈥檚 director of parks development and capital projects, with 茄子直播鈥檚 Shauna Brail, Alissa North and Alex Josephson at the first talk hosted by 茄子直播鈥檚 School of Cities and the Toronto Public Library (photo by Chiao Sun)

How do public spaces shape city life? What do we want for society and for our city?

The to answer some of the key questions and challenges surrounding public space. 

鈥淭oronto is a growing city and we鈥檙e growing vertically,鈥 said Shauna Brail, an associate professor of urban studies and the school鈥檚 associate director of partnerships and outreach. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a real challenge in ensuring that as dwelling units get smaller, we create spaces outside of private spaces.

鈥淲e need to think about public space differently as a 21st century city.鈥

At the first talk, Tuesday evening, Alissa North, an associate professor at the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design and author of Operative Landscapes: Building Communities Through Public Space, said the image of parks while growing up in Toronto were flat, open spaces, but that view no longer holds true.

鈥淲hat鈥檚 amazing about Sorauren [Avenue] Park is that it鈥檚 been imprinted by community use. It started with the pumpkin festival, there鈥檚 a really amazing market, Raptors games, movie nights, and then the plaza came along,鈥 she told the crowd gathered at the Toronto Reference Library.

鈥淏ut you know your community park has arrived when you get the bake oven. It shows that community park is working. When Toronto invests in neighbourhoods 鈥 that鈥檚 how you have a win.鈥

In fact, Toronto has 1,500 parks, about 12.6 per cent of city land, equal to 8,000 hectares of parkland. It鈥檚 a lot for the city to work with, while also looking at ways to improve, said 茄子直播 master鈥檚 in planning alumna Ann-Marie Nasr, director of parks development and capital projects for the City of Toronto鈥檚 Parks, Forestry and Recreation.

鈥淥ur culture has grown. There鈥檚 an expectation what public spaces need to be for daily living,鈥 she said. 鈥淧eople used to think about going to a park on the weekend, and now it鈥檚 just a seamless extension of people鈥檚 living space.鈥

Alex Josephson, a lecturer at Daniels and co-founder of architecture and design firm PARTISANS, said architecture requires many interdisciplinary inputs, from visionaries to engineers, as well as the public.

Attendees listen to a panel discussion at Where We Gather: Public Life in Toronto at the Toronto Reference Library (photo by Chiao Sun)

PARTISANS is currently revitalizing Toronto鈥檚 Union Station, one of Canada鈥檚 most significant heritage buildings. Josephson said they looked at the project through the perspective of the individual, rather than the crowd.

鈥淲e feel like we brought a layer to Union Station that鈥檚 all about programming 鈥 continuous, temporary programming. We flipped the idea of a train station into a cultural hub, a platform for Toronto鈥檚 most diverse, culinary, retail and cultural offerings,鈥 he said. 

鈥淎s much as it feels the city is fully built-out, it鈥檚 not even close. I think it鈥檚 about [Toronto] recognizing what we have, and leveraging it fearlessly and boldly, where any [visitor] would come here, just to experience our public realm.鈥

Further discussions this fall will examine city streets, digital space and privacy.

鈥淚n Toronto we鈥檙e grappling with these questions around digital technology and the impact on our public and private spaces,鈥 said Brail, citing Sidewalk Labs鈥 partnership with Waterfront Toronto and their redevelopment proposal for Quayside, a parcel of land on Toronto鈥檚 eastern waterfront.

鈥淲hat happens in the public realm when you have a private partner 鈥 particularly a private partner with strong ties to one of the largest tech companies in the world [Google] 鈥 and what does that mean for people who use that space?鈥

The next installment of  takes place Oct. 7 at the Toronto Public Library鈥檚 Bloor/Gladstone branch.

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