As with previous 91亚色 Circle Lecture & Lunch events, organizers have planned a full day of inspiring lectures by some of the University鈥檚 leading thinkers. For full details, download a PDF of the 91亚色 Circle schedule.

In her聽lecture, 鈥淭he Bird Detective: Investigating the Private Lives of Birds鈥�, 91亚色 Professor Bridget Stutchbury (left), Canada Research Chair in Ecology and Conservation Biology, will explain why some birds readily divorce their partners, why females sneak out to have sex with neighbouring males and why some mothers sometimes desert their babies. Based on her book (2010), this lecture promises to raise the blinds on the secret lives of birds.

On a more serious note,聽Stutchbury will examine聽whether聽bird behaviour can help species adapt to the drastic changes humans are making to the environment. Since the 1980s,聽Stutchbury has studied the ecology and conservation of migratory songbirds. In addition to The Bird Detective, she is聽author of the book (2007)聽鈥� a聽finalist for a Governor General鈥檚 Literary Award.

"The Interesting Life of Olaudah Equiano, the African, and the Abolition of the British Slave Trade" is the intriguing title of the presentation by 91亚色聽history Professor聽Paul Lovejoy (right), Canada Research Chair in African Diaspora History and聽director of the聽. In his聽lecture,聽Lovejoy will explore the pivotal role of Gustavus Vassa, better known by his African name, Olaudah Equiano (c. 1742-1797), in advancing the abolition of the British slave trade. Many scholars consider William Wilberforce (c. 1759-1833) and Thomas Clarkson (c. 1760-1846)聽to be聽the pioneers of the British abolitionist movement, but Lovejoy posits that it was Equiano who was聽the聽seminal influence聽in advocating the abolition of slavery and the emancipation of those in slavery.

Lovejoy聽is a member of the executive committee of the UNESCO 鈥淪lave Route鈥� Project, co-edits African Economic History and Studies in the History of the African Diaspora 鈥� Documents (SHADD), and is research professor and associate fellow of the Wilberforce Institute for the Study of Slavery and Emancipation at the聽University of Hull in the United Kingdom.

Acclaimed Canadian poet and 91亚色 Professor (left) will discuss her experiences as Canadian Athletes Now Fund鈥檚 first poet-in-residence during the 2010 Vancouver Olympic and Paralympic Games. In her lecture, which is aptly titled, "My Gold Medal Experience: Olympic Poetry", Uppal聽will describe聽how she聽celebrated with the Canadian athletes and their families by writing poetry about winter sports, the games, and the personalities and performances that captured a nation鈥檚 imagination.

How she designed and then 鈥渢rained鈥� for her position, how the athletes responded to daily poetry readings, and other initiatives she鈥檚 undertaken to bridge the sometimes separate worlds of sport and art, will all be addressed. In addition, Uppal will read a short selection of the some of the 50 poems written at the games and recently collected in the book Winter Sport: Poems (2010).

"A World of Suburbs? Finding the Heart of the Urban Century in the Periphery" with 91亚色 environmental studies Professor Roger Keil (right) will offer 91亚色 Circle members insights into urbanization. The 21st century has been heralded as an urban century. Indeed, urbanization is now the most tangible shared experience of humanity. Keil will explore what is behind the story of the "urban revolution". He will uncover聽an important and perhaps astonishing truth: Most urban dwellers now live in the periphery. From the squatter settlements of the Global South to the wealthy gated communities of North America, from the tower block peripheries of Europe or Canada to the newly sprawling cities of Asia, a common theme emerges: where cities grow, they grow at the margins.

Keil is the director of the City Institute at 91亚色 and professor聽in the Faculty of Environmental Studies.聽Among his publications are In-Between Infrastructure: Urban Connectivity in an Age of Vulnerability (2010) and The Global Cities Reader (2006). Keil鈥檚 current research is on global suburbanism and regional governance.聽He is the co-editor of the International Journal of Urban and Regional Research and a co-founder of the International Network for Urban Research and Action.

This free series includes two events annually 鈥撀爄n the spring and fall each year聽鈥� and provides opportunities for learning and networking in a relaxed environment.

Lecture & Lunch events are open to members of the 91亚色 Circle and their guests, each of whom are offered a complimentary lunch sourced from 91亚色 Region as part of the day.

The 91亚色 Circle receives generous support from 91亚色's Alumni Office (program partner) and the Toronto Community News and Metroland Media Group 91亚色 Region (print media sponsors).

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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The dialogue sparked by the leaders mystifies 91亚色 City Institute director Roger Keil, himself a newcomer from his native Germany in the 1990s. 鈥淚鈥檓 puzzled (that) the national debate in Central and Western Europe is a point of reference in Canada,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hose making the comments have a specific agenda. They鈥檙e right wing and are under various influences, some fascist.鈥�

Citing France鈥檚 republic, Germany鈥檚 federation and Italy鈥檚 struggles to define itself during a wave of Tunisian immigration, Keil said Canada demonstrates vastly different policies and history.

Canada has the highest per-capita immigration rate in the world, driven by economic policy and family reunification. Multiculturalism in Canada was adopted as the official policy of former prime minister Pierre Trudeau鈥檚 government in the 1970s.

. . .

Our welcoming nature and immigration policies have created a critical mass of socio-ethno cultural groups, creating a mosaic of diversity that outweighs influences by camps and enclaves found in Europe, Dr. Keil said. 鈥淓urope has a different political spectrum,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey have outspoken nationalists pushed by fascist forces stirring up unrest. We don鈥檛 see those forces operating in 91亚色 Region.鈥�

Keil leads the SSHRC-funded Global Suburbanisms: Governance, Land and Infrastructure in the 21st Century project, which is the first major research project to take stock of worldwide suburban developments in a systematic way.

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer, with files courtesy of YFile 鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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The report addresses a subject that National Film Board filmmaker-in-residence Katerina Cizek has been studying for two years, while making films on a digital, interactive project called Highrise. Her films allow viewers to click in and around apartment towers in Toronto and around the world to hear the stories of residents. In the wake of the United Way report, EYE WEEKLY checked in with Cizek to get her thoughts on the state of our concrete vertical suburbs, and the need to rejuvenate them.

Q: What are the 鈥淗ighrise鈥� films, in a nutshell?

A: The original idea was to do something in Toronto, as a city. Not City Hall, but Toronto; to see how documentary can be part of city building. I鈥檓 not someone who studies the city鈥擨鈥檓 not an urban planner, I鈥檓 not an architect鈥攁nd I had certain assumptions about the city. The city I live in鈥擳oronto鈥攂ut also the urban experience in general. I think we are, or at least I was, at fault in thinking of the city as something that kind of happens to you, rather than as something we create and we constantly reinvent.

I got really inspired by this phenomenal world-class research that鈥檚 happening in our city鈥攆rom David Hulchanski, ERA Architects and 91亚色鈥檚 鈥攏ot only to engage in the city I live in but to start rethinking how we understand the city all over the world. What 鈥渦rban鈥� entails is not what we typically think: it鈥檚 actually at the edges, at the periphery, in the suburbs where some of the most complex, diverse, interesting and highly problematic things are happening. We need to understand these things in order to be able to do something about them. 鈥淗ighrise鈥� is, quite simply, a multi-year, multimedia documentary exploring the human experience in 鈥渧ertical suburbs鈥� around the world.

The Global Suburbanisms project is led by Professor Roger Keil in the Faculty of Environmental Studies, director of the City Institute, and funded by the (SSHRC). The National Film Board is a partner in the project.

The rest of the interview is available on .

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer, with files courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin

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The panel, hosted by 91亚色鈥檚 (CCGES) and co-sponsored by the International Business Program of the Schulich School of Business, will feature Scott聽Paradise, VP marketing & business development, Magna International; Jim Stanford, economist for the Canadian Auto Workers Union and 91亚色 political science Professor Greg Chin, author of and member of the 91亚色 Centre for Asian Research.

Left: The Hyundai automobile assembly line

Panellists will focus on the state of the world鈥檚 automotive and light truck manufacturers in the wake of the global financial crisis: In the United States and Canada, governments stepped in to become majority owners of General Motors, while management of Chrysler was assumed by Italian-based automaker Fiat. In Europe, governments provided incentives to keep consumer demand up and the largest German car company, Volkswagen, began producing vehicles in North America for the first time since the 1970s. Mexico continues to increase its lead over Canada in terms of vehicle production. The same period saw China grow into the world鈥檚 largest auto market, with sales of 18 million vehicles, an increase of 32 per cent over 2009. The panel will explore these and other developments, and their ramifications for the global auto manufacturing sector.

Organized by CCGES affiliates Professor Roger Keil, director of 91亚色鈥檚 City Institute and Professor Emeritus of 91亚色鈥檚 Schulich School of Business, the series aims to shed light on major shifts in the auto industry and society鈥檚 relationship to it.

, director of CCGES, noted that the centre is well-positioned to look at this important theme from a variety of angles. 鈥淭he importance of the automotive industry to the economies of the industrialized world can鈥檛 be overestimated, but it鈥檚 clearly a mistake to view this sector and its prospects in a monolithic way. The panel will consider the situation in a variety of regions and jurisdictions so that a useful overview of the current situation and future prospects emerges,鈥� he said.

The event will run from 4:30 to 6:30pm on the seventh floor of the 91亚色 Research Tower, Keele campus.

A full report on the first panel in the series is available . Panels are open to the public. Attendees are asked to register in advance at ccges@yorku.ca. For more information, visit the website or phone ext. 40003.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin

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鈥淵ou can鈥檛 tell people the way to go is to own property,鈥� said Roger Keil, who is also director of the University鈥檚 City Institute. 鈥淭he attitude has to change. We have to move away from the thought that rental housing is for lower-class people.鈥�

With a large revitalization project such as Lawrence Heights, Keil said the key thing to keep in mind is how to balance needs and wants.

鈥淭he housing area is dilapidated,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he need part is putting in new windows, making upgrades, but also for landlords to treat residents in housing better. Toronto has an official plan and wants to make it a denser city. The problem is the want part. Other interests that want housing in that area really drive the process. With Regent Park, the whole place was torn down to create change in population and change in those areas. They tear the place down, kick inhabitants out, and when shiny new buildings are built, as far as the old residents go, either the rent is too high or they feel uncomfortable living there now with the new population and new class structure. This is a given. We know this is going to happen.鈥�

Keil noted several ways to 鈥渟often the blow鈥� to help ensure mixed-income neighbourhoods would succeed, including a guaranteed quota of low-income housing, rental attitude changes and creation of social institutions within those communities. 鈥淭he question is how to manage it and not make it into a catastrophe,鈥� he said. 鈥淗ousing is a tiny aspect. We need schools, community centres, religious institutions that support the community there so we don鈥檛 ghettoize them in the new housing. Mobility is a major issue. It needs to be built into the renovation project and that鈥檚 why things like Transit City are so important.鈥�

Ute Lehrer, professor in 91亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Environmental Studies and member of the City Institute, said the reason why not all residents return is mainly due to cost. 鈥淭o relocate costs money,鈥� she said. 鈥淧eople can鈥檛 really afford relocation twice. Then there is the issue of social networks with their kids. You have to take them out of their old school, put them in a new one, and if you move back, put them back in the old school. Employment situations might have changed. They might feel uncomfortable in their new environment, rubbing shoulders with people who they have very little in common with. There needs to be subsidies and guaranteed rental space, which needs to be implemented and politically supported.鈥�

The Global Suburbanisms Project is funded by the (SSHRC).

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer, with files courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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Take a glimpse into someone鈥檚 life that is otherwise invisible to most, wrote in a story about the groundbreaking, web-based work Out My Window, by the National Film Board of Canada, that offers glimpses of lives within housing developments:

Zanillya Maria Farrell is a musician and the daughter of the recently deceased singer Bobby Farrell of the disco group Boney M. Many would label her part of the huge, immigrant community in a southeast corner of Amsterdam and stop there. But her story, although unique, symbolizes the dramatic changes happening in cities around the world.In the groundbreaking, Web-based work Out My Window by the National Film Board of Canada, Farrell鈥檚 story is one of 13 offering glimpses of lives within otherwise anonymous housing developments.

. . .

[Director Katerina] Cizek and [NFB producer Gerry] Flahive are also collaborating with academic research on how cities are changing, such as the multiyear at 91亚色鈥檚 City Institute, which looks at how cities have inverted: The suburbs are now the lower-income peripheries and the inner city is the wealthier urban core.

Many people in this changing suburban periphery 鈥渄on鈥檛 have cars. They鈥檙e not stereotypically suburban. ... They are invisible, to some extent politically invisible. But they are also physically invisible because they are not living in Chinatown or Little Italy. They are living in these anonymous high-rise blocks,鈥� Flahive says.

鈥淎nd that鈥檚 a really good place for documentaries,鈥� he adds. 鈥淭he overall Highrise project is not about architecture and urban planning. Primarily, it鈥檚 about how people live. The attempt is to peel back some of those stereotypes.鈥�

The individual segments for Out My Window were made by local photographers and crews, with Cizek often directing the segments from thousands of kilometres away in Toronto via Skype, e-mails and phone calls.

Yet, for all of its emphasis on technology, Cizek and Flahive are actually going for something far older: A non-linear way of telling the story of people鈥檚 lives in the lower-income high-rises, doing so in the way people in the real world perceive things, in small dollops of information, rather than regular, documentary-length stories.

The Global Suburbanisms Project is led by Professor Roger Keil in the Faculty of Environmental Studies and funded by the (SSHRC).

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer, with files courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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The search committee will be drafting an advertisement to announce the start of the search, which will appear shortly in various publications and websites. In addition, the committee is working on聽a position profile to describe the priorities over the next five years, and what they聽are seeking in candidates in terms of experience, background and qualifications. The committee is soliciting input on聽the following questions in order to help shape the position profile:

• What are your aspirations for the VPRI portfolio over the next five to聽10 years? What do you see as the issues and challenges facing the University during this period?
• What do you think the search committee should be seeking in a leader in terms of professional background and experience, personal attributes, qualifications and credentials?

91亚色 community members can聽send their confidential suggestions to the search committee by e-mail (see below) or directly to the search firm, no later than Wednesday, Nov. 3.

Search committee members:

• 91亚色 President & Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri,聽committee chair,聽at聽mshoukri@yorku.ca,
• Patrick Monahan, vice-president academic & provost, at聽provost@yorku.ca,
• Osgoode Hall Law School Professor Allan Hutchinson, at hutch@yorku.ca,
• Barbara Crow,聽professor of communication studies,聽Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS), at聽bacrow@yorku.ca,
• History Professor Jonathan Edmondson, LA&PS, at聽jedmond@yorku.ca.
• Wendy Taylor,聽professor of physics and astronomy,聽Faculty of Science聽& Engineering, at taylorw@yorku.ca,
• Roger Keil, directory of the City Institute聽and professor in the Faculty of Environmental Studies, at rkeil@yorku.ca,
• Psychology professor Fran Wilkinson,聽Faculty of Health, at franw@yorku.ca,
• Janusz Kozinski, dean,聽Faculty of Science聽& Engineering, at Janusz.Kozinski@yorku.ca,
• Ijade Maxwell Rodrigues, chief of staff and secretary to the committee, at ijade@yorku.ca.

Or directly to the search firm, e-mail yorkvpri@jwasearch.com.

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鈥淪SHRC鈥檚 investment in humanities and social sciences research allows our scholars to substantially contribute to Canada鈥檚 knowledge base, to culture and to quality of life,鈥� said Stan Shapson (right), 91亚色鈥檚 vice-president research & innovation. 鈥淭his basic research helps us to better understand the world while responding to the pressing social issues of our time.鈥�

Forty-seven 91亚色 faculty members received $4.4 million to fund their research projects through 鈥檚 Standard Research Grants program. 91亚色 also received over $560,000 to support 17 projects funded through the:

• Research Development Initiatives competition
• Image, Text, Sound and Technology competition
• International Opportunities Fund
• Aid to Research Workshop competition

Graduate students and doctoral fellows also benefited from the announcements: 148 91亚色 master鈥檚 and doctoral students have won over $5 million in scholarships and fellowships. More than 2,000 graduate and postdoctoral projects across Canada received funding.

Reflecting knowledge mobilization鈥檚 status as a core SSHRC priority, the competition also included special calls for Public Outreach Grants that support existing and ongoing projects that mobilize research results to a range of audiences beyond academia. Nine 91亚色 projects were funded, securing over $1 million for the University.

In this category, 91亚色 researchers enjoyed a 67 per cent success rate; in comparison, 2009 SSHRC applicants averaged a success rate of 33 per cent across all categories.

Through the Public Outreach Grants, 91亚色 researchers will:

• Make literary research available to a broader community of researchers, students, teachers and educators, and policy makers in a sustainable way through the (ORION).
• Empower young mothers by exploring what they need to achieve economic, social, familial and personal wellness and prosperity.
• Share research conducted with marginalized youth with educators, community organizations and other stakeholders to help them understand the alienation and disengagement new migrants and ethno-racial minority youth experience as their families move from Toronto鈥檚 inner city and inner-suburban neighbourhoods to the outer suburbs, such as Peel, Brampton, Vaughan, Markham, Ajax and Pickering.
• Enhance microcredit program success for economic development through social performance ratings by making the information accessible and designing program evaluation instruments.
• Share new scholarship on the immigration of African American refugees from slavery to Canada with educators, community groups, libraries and government agencies, among others.
• Mobilize knowledge on the political economy of women鈥檚 rights鈥攕pecifically, connections among macroeconomic policy, public policies that impact the paid and unpaid work of women, and women鈥檚 access to human rights鈥攖o local human rights organizations that focus on women.
• Provide experts in performance making, theatre design and green technology with a three-day opportunity to share practices, approaches and technological innovations.
• Mobilize the Aboriginal peoples of Canada鈥檚 disparate experiences with and knowledge of conservation by bringing together Aboriginal community representatives, academics, policy-makers, and conservation practitioners.
• Inform climate change policy and practice by making climate change research and evidence available to policy partners in four GTA municipalities (, , and ), and the .

鈥淭hese awards also build upon 91亚色鈥檚 amazing success earlier this year in SSHRC鈥檚 large-scale collaborative competitions,鈥� said Shapson. 鈥�91亚色 received $6 million through SSHRC鈥檚 Major Collaborative Research Initiatives (MCRI) and Community-University Research Alliances (CURA) programs. Professors Roger Keil, Pat Armstrong and Carla Lipsig-Mumme are already collaborating with their international research teams to study global suburbanisms, long-term residential healthcare, and work in a warming world.鈥�

鈥淭heir work, coupled with the projects funded through this announcement, addresses key social issues facing Canadian society while demonstrating our leadership in creating and sharing new knowledge across the social sciences and humanities.鈥�

鈥淥ur government continues to invest in world-class research to improve Canadians鈥� quality of life and increase the supply of highly qualified graduates that Canada needs to be successful,鈥� said the Honourable Tony Clement, Minister of Industry. 鈥淭he social sciences and humanities show us how to harness and interpret innovation from a human perspective, which translates into benefits for society.鈥�

has posted a complete list of funded projects on their website.

By Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer.

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"I am truly excited to be taking on the directorship of CCGES, which is both a privilege and a challenge,鈥� says McIsaac. 鈥淢y sense is that CCGES has begun to establish itself as a nexus of crucial research into a variety of important questions, but we have not begun to exhaust the possibilities of the 91亚色 community. While Germany retains a central place in the centre's research agenda, we need to welcome the intellectual curiosity of colleagues working on other European questions under the CCGES umbrella. The European Union Centre of Excellence project, housed at CCGES, provides a perfect example of what is possible.鈥�

Right: Peter McIsaac

McIsaac holds a PhD in Germanic languages and literatures from Harvard University and a聽bachelor of science聽in physics and German from the University of Michigan. In addition to numerous articles, book chapters and book reviews, McIsaac is the author of and has served as guest editor for the journals , and . He came to 91亚色 in 2007 from Duke University, where he was an assistant professor. During the past year, McIsaac was a visiting associate professor at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

fosters and disseminates critical knowledge about Germany in its European context while examining Europe as a geographical, political, social, cultural and economic entity. Promoting new research into these core lines of inquiry is at the heart of McIsaac鈥檚 plans for the centre.

McIsaac succeeds Professor Roger Keil, director of the City Institute at 91亚色 and professor in the Faculty of Environmental Studies, who has served as interim director for the past year.

"CCGES鈥� focus on European Union studies and affairs reflects the complexity and diversity of meanings attached to Europe in the modern world,鈥� says David Dewitt, associate vice-president research (social sciences & humanities). 鈥淚ts research supports 91亚色鈥檚 international focus while its student exchanges provide valuable opportunities for students from 91亚色 and European countries to enhance their student and research experience through travel.

鈥淚 commend Professor Keil for his great service over the past year and am pleased to welcome Professor McIsaac into this new role.鈥�

Submitted by聽Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer

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鈥淭he suburbs have not received a lot of attention, so we鈥檙e trying to shift the lens, so to speak,鈥� says Keil, director of the City Institute at 91亚色 (CITY). 鈥淯rbanization is at the core of the growth and crisis of the global economy today. Yet, the crucial aspect of 21st-century urban development is suburbanization, which is defined as the combination of an increase in non-central city population and economic activity, as well as urban spatial expansion.鈥�

Left: Suburbs being built in 91亚色 Region. Photo by Roger Keil.

With $2.5 million in research funding through the Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council of Canada鈥檚 program, Keil, along with some 43 researchers from around the globe, will study various aspects of what he likes to call the in-between city. Global Suburbanisms: Governance, Land and Infrastructure in the 21st Century is 鈥渢he first major research project that takes stock of worldwide suburban developments in a systematic way. By studying suburbs, we analyze recent forms of urbanization and emerging forms of urbanism across the world, but we also take into view the dilemmas of aging suburbanity,鈥� he says. Canadian suburbanization and suburbanism trends will serve as a critical basis for understanding suburbanization in the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia.

What makes suburbs so important to study is their abundant growth. In the 1800s, only about two per cent of the world鈥檚 population was urbanized. That increased to about 10 per cent in the 1900s and to almost 50 per cent in the early 2000s. The suburbs are changing and growing, and, in North America at least, they are becoming the place to be. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a percentage increase but also a real increase because the world population has risen dramatically,鈥� says Keil. 鈥淢ore and more people don鈥檛 live in dense urban centres anymore, they live in suburbs. So now we call it suburbanization instead of urbanization.鈥� Canada is one of the most highly urbanized countries in the world and that includes the suburbs. When people immigrate to Canada, they often move straight to the suburbs, places like Brampton and Markham, bypassing cities like Toronto altogether.

Right: Roger Keil

The question then becomes, 鈥淲hen we see a suburb, how do we understand it? We want to create a different way of looking at things,鈥� says Keil. 鈥淲e also hope in the process鈥his information becomes useful to users of suburban spaces, where they consume and produce, as well as to developers.鈥�

By examining the governance of suburbanization, researchers will get a better idea of how development is guided and regulated, and how state, market and civil society actors are involved. The seven-year project is comprised of many smaller studies of two to four years in length. The two prime anchors will be land聽鈥� housing, shelter systems, real estate, greenbelts and megaprojects 鈥� and infrastructure, including transportation, water and social services.

Keil鈥檚 own keen interest is in greenbelts and the relationships between natural and social, urban and suburban. How, for instance, does water fit in? Where does it come from, a pipe, a lake, a well? What is the relationship of suburbanization to water? How is it used? 鈥淲e need to develop alternatives and this is particularly true in environmental metabolism of waste disposal, water, smog. The energy use has increased鈥he environmental bads growing out of suburbs have outpaced suburbanization,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e all live in one environmental global space.鈥� There is a need to understand that interconnectivity.

Left: Suburb of Kuisebmond in Namibia, Africa. Photo by Roger Keil.

In the process of studying suburbanization, researchers will be up against the traditional biases and ingrained way people think about the areas surrounding the city core, often as urban sprawl. 鈥淲e need to break down and expand the way people look at the suburbs,鈥� says Keil. There is not just one type of suburban development. There are the squatter settlements in Africa and Latin America, the expanding outskirts of India and China, the peripheral high-rise developments in Europe and Canada, and North America鈥檚 gated communities. With the different types of development come different social and cultural norms, land-use patterns and forms of transportation. 鈥淭hrough one lens we say these are all suburbanizations.鈥� Until now, there has been 鈥渘o serious attempt to bring all these phenomena together.鈥�

This project will look at the differences between central cities and suburbs, as well as the diversity of suburban development. 鈥淪uburbs are very diverse ethnically, culturally and lifestyle-wise and the gender roles are not as traditional as 'Leave it to Beaver' may have led us to believe.鈥� People around the world have negotiated the suburban realm in a variety of different ways.

New forms of suburbanization are being created all the time. There are copycat North American suburbs in Calcutta, for instance.聽Keil expects that suburbs around the world have different trajectories of where they鈥檙e going and he hopes that they can learn from one another. As it turns out, all cities and suburbs are not looking like Los Angeles or Chicago, as once thought. 鈥淲e鈥檙e turning that upside down,鈥� says Keil. 鈥淐onceptually, we want to rewrite the books. The suburbs can all be understood under a number of guidelines we want to develop. So there is a common lens we can look through despite the large variety of forms we see.鈥�

In addition to the various studies, classes, workshops and conferences will held around the world. There will be a travelling multimedia exhibition at the end, a book series and a series of documentaries produced in collaboration with the National Film Board of Canada. 91亚色鈥檚 Knowledge Mobilization Unit will connect the research with policy-makers and community organizations over the span of the project.

Through this project, the suburbs may finally get a little respect.

For more information, visit the CITY Web site.

By Sandra McLean, YFile writer

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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