suburbs Archives | Research & Innovation

Four researchers to offer fresh ideas at Saturday's 91��ɫ Circle event

fmaquito — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 08:00:00 +0000

From the ‘burbs to birds and from social justice to Olympic poetry, the next installment of the 91��ɫ Circle’s popular Lecture & Lunch series returns on Saturday, April 30. It promises plenty of new ideas for inquiring minds.

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

In her lecture, “The Bird Detective: Investigating the Private Lives of Birds”, 91��ɫ 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, Stutchbury will examine whether bird behaviour can help species adapt to the drastic changes humans are making to the environment. Since the 1980s, Stutchbury has studied the ecology and conservation of migratory songbirds. In addition to The Bird Detective, she is author of the book (2007) – a finalist for a Governor General’s 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��ɫ history Professor Paul Lovejoy (right), Canada Research Chair in African Diaspora History and director of the . In his lecture, 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) to be the pioneers of the British abolitionist movement, but Lovejoy posits that it was Equiano who was the seminal influence in advocating the abolition of slavery and the emancipation of those in slavery.

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

Acclaimed Canadian poet and 91��ɫ Professor (left) will discuss her experiences as Canadian Athletes Now Fund’s 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 will describe how she 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’s imagination.

How she designed and then “trained” for her position, how the athletes responded to daily poetry readings, and other initiatives she’s 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��ɫ environmental studies Professor Roger Keil (right) will offer 91��ɫ 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 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��ɫ and professor in the Faculty of Environmental Studies. Among his publications are In-Between Infrastructure: Urban Connectivity in an Age of Vulnerability (2010) and The Global Cities Reader (2006). Keil’s current research is on global suburbanism and regional governance. 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 – in the spring and fall each year – and provides opportunities for learning and networking in a relaxed environment.

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

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

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

The post Four researchers to offer fresh ideas at Saturday's 91��ɫ Circle event appeared first on Research & Innovation.

Filmmaker draws inspiration from work of Global Suburbanisms team

fmaquito — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 10:00:00 +0000

A United Way report last week highlighted a problem in Toronto: our city’s poor are increasingly concentrated in crumbling highrise towers, mostly in the inner suburbs, wrote :

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 “Highrise” 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’m not someone who studies the city—I’m not an urban planner, I’m not an architect—and I had certain assumptions about the city. The city I live in—Toronto—but 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’s happening in our city—from David Hulchanski, ERA Architects and 91��ɫ’s —not only to engage in the city I live in but to start rethinking how we understand the city all over the world. What “urban” entails is not what we typically think: it’s 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. “Highrise” is, quite simply, a multi-year, multimedia documentary exploring the human experience in “vertical suburbs” 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– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin

The post Filmmaker draws inspiration from work of Global Suburbanisms team appeared first on Research & Innovation.

91��ɫ-led report shows homeless youths most often victims of crime, particularly young women

fmaquito — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 08:00:00 +0000

Study co-authored by Professor Stephen Gaetz, who leads SSHRC-funded homelessness project

Homeless young people are victims of crime at rates that society would consider unacceptable for any other group, according to a new report by researchers at 91��ɫ and the University of Guelph.

The report, , highlights the degree to which it is street youth themselves − often perceived as delinquent and dangerous − who are vulnerable to crime and violence.

“The very people we are taught to fear are the ones who are most at risk,” said Professor (right), associate dean of research and field development in 91��ɫ’s . ”More than 76 per cent of the homeless youth we surveyed said they had been victims of violent crime in the past year, and almost three-quarters of them reported multiple incidents.”

In comparison, about 40 per cent of young people in the general population reported that they had been victimized in the previous year, when the last asked them about it in 1999 − and they experienced mostly property crime.

Gaetz and University of Guelph Professor interviewed 244 homeless youths across Toronto last year about life on the streets. Their report was commissioned by , a not-for-profit legal aid clinic that operates a Street Youth Legal Services program, providing legal advice and support to homeless youth in Toronto.

The solution to problems youth face on the streets lies in changing the way youth homelessness is addressed, according to the report. It calls for a balanced response that, instead of relying mostly on emergency services, would balance preventive measures, an emergency response, and transitional support to move young people out of homelessness quickly.

Above: A homeless youth keeps dry under a bridge in downtown Toronto. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

In the interviews, conducted at agencies serving youth in downtown Toronto and the suburbs:

female street youth were more likely than males to report being victims of crime (85.9 per cent compared to 71.8 per cent).
38.2 per cent of the female street youth reported being victims of sexual assault. Reports of sexual assault were higher among black females (47 per cent) than white females (33 per cent).
60 per cent of lesbian and bisexual females reported that they had been sexually assaulted in the past year, making them perhaps the most victimized group among street youth.
young homeless women reported extremely high levels of violence and abuse from their intimate partners.
youths who had become homeless at a young age (16 or 17) were much more likely to have been violently victimized than young people who became homeless later.
only 20 per cent of all respondents said they had alerted police about their victimization.

Much has changed since Gaetz first wrote a report on homeless youth in Toronto, also for Justice for Children and Youth, seven years ago. The and non-profit agencies have improved services, and the City has expanded its Streets to Homes program to move youth into housing. Street Youth Legal Services, a program of Justice for Children and Youth, has expanded its capacity to support young people with their legal and justice issues.

However, the report concludes federal, provincial and municipal governments should be addressing youth homelessness with an integrated strategy that includes: an adequate supply of supported, affordable housing for young people; efforts by health and mental health sectors, corrections and child welfare services to ensure their practices do not contribute to homelessness; crisis intervention and family mediation to help young people remain housed; and transitional approaches with income, social and health care supports for young people.

“Many people, including policy makers, believe that youth homelessness and crime are linked, and they use laws such as the Safe Streets Act to ‘move along’ young people,” said Gaetz. “In fact, our findings show that young homeless people are among the most victimized people in our society, and they need our protection.”

Gaetz leads the (CHRN), which enhances the impact of homelessness research on homelessness and the housing crisis by increasing collaboration and discussion among researchers, policy-makers and community workers. One of Canada’s leading experts on homelessness, Gaetz also created the – the world’s first digital hub to mobilize homelessness research – to support collaboration, knowledge exchange, and public engagement among regional and clustered research networks. CHRN, , received $2.1 million through the strategic knowledge clusters program.

By Janice Walls, media relations coordinator. Republished courtesy of YFile – 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

The post 91��ɫ-led report shows homeless youths most often victims of crime, particularly young women appeared first on Research & Innovation.

91��ɫ Centre for Education & Community's 2010 Summer Institute to explore engaged education

fmaquito — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 08:00:00 +0000

How can schools and communities work together to create innovative avenues to engage students in their education? That is the central theme of this year’s Summer Institute offered by the 91��ɫ Centre for Education & Community (YCEC) in the .

Presented Aug. 17, 18 and 19 at 91��ɫ’s Keele campus, this year’s program builds on the success of summer institutes held in 2008 and 2009 and draws on contemporary research and innovative approaches to education.

"We have more than 100 people signed up to attend this year’s symposium," says 91��ɫ education Professor Carl James, director of the YCEC. "They are coming to 91��ɫ from Toronto as well as the 905 area public and separate school boards and community organizations to engage with us about student engagement and how to make community a vital part of education."

Left: Carl James

As families move to suburban communities in the 905-area from urban centres, says James, they bring with them a rich diversity of experience and unique expectations. James says it is important for schools and communities to understand and engage with these collective experiences that students and families bring to their new communities and classrooms.

Education faces constant challenges due to the rapidly changing world, says James. The migration and residential patterns, technological advances, as well as economic, political and social conditions, create an environment for education that demands ongoing assessment. This year's Summer Institute continues on a history pioneered by the YCEC that focuses on building on the relationships between learning institutions and communities to ensure that education is current, relevant and a cornerstone of academic success.

"Many schools in communities in the Greater Toronto Area are interested in the research that 91��ɫ has been doing with urban schools in the areas of engagement and inclusion," says James. "Participants will hear about our findings and they will explore the idea of diversity inside the classroom, how to be inclusive of students’ backgrounds and experiences and how to work with families and build commitment and support."

Presenters and workshops in this year’s institute will articulate effective curriculum and pedagogical practices around inclusion and models of student engagement. Student achievement is directly affected by engagement, explains James. Participants in this year’s institute will participate in workshops, theory to practice seminars and panel discussions that directly address student engagement and building inclusive classrooms. Key thinkers in these areas will present keynotes each day of the institute in order to guide thinking.

On Tuesday, Aug. 17, the Summer Institute begins with a keynote presentation by Harvard University education Professor Mark Warren. Warren is a sociologist concerned with the revitalization of American democratic and community life. He studies efforts to strengthen institutions that anchor inner-city communities – churches, schools and other community-based organizations – and to build broad-based alliances among these institutions and across race and social class. Warren is interested in fostering community development, social justice, and school transformation; and uses the results of scholarly research to advance democratic practice.

Right: Mark Warren

Wednesday's sessions will kick off with a keynote from Dr. Llewellyn Joseph, a medical doctor and director of the outpatient Disruptive Behaviours Program at in Newmarket, Ont.

Dr. Joseph provides clinical services to children and teens with disruptive behaviours and was previously the physician leader in the Child & Adolescent Program in the Department of Psychiatry at Humber River Regional Hospital. He is an associate professor at the University of Toronto in child and adolescent psychiatry and co-editor of The Mental Hospital in the 21st Century (1992). Dr. Joseph is a frequent contributor to journals and conferences on the subject of mental health and disruptive behaviours among young people. He is also a member of the YCEC Advisory Council.

Following the keynote, the first series of workshops of the Summer Institute will offer interactive sessions in technology and its role in engaging parents and the community; the complexities and possibilities inherent in an inclusive approach to education; the search for cultural and economic biases in the mathematics curriculum in Ontario; and how to construct an inclusive curriculum by using autobiographical narratives by African Canadians. Information on each of these sessions can be found on the workshop descriptions that are available .

Wednesday afternoon will feature a panel discussion with 91��ɫ education faculty, school and community representatives who will discuss the implementation of equity and inclusive programs in schools.

After the panel, there will be a second series of workshops. The first will focus on fostering intergenerational learning within community responsive schools by involving linguistic and cultural minority students and their families. There will be sessions on what teachers think about student engagement; equity in the classroom through arts and literacy; and an exploration of girls, gender equity and social justice. Details on each workshop are available .

On day three of the Summer Institute, Ryerson University education Professor Althea Prince will deliver the day's keynote address. Prince is a sociologist and teaches at the G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education at Ryerson.

Right: Althea Prince

Prince's teaching area includes explorations of race, racism, and African Caribbean peoples in metropolitan communities. She is also an essayist, novelist, storyteller and author of children’s books. As a community educator, Prince teaches writing workshops that concentrate on accessing voice and building confidence.

Information about the Summer Institute can be found on the Web site. A PDF of the program is available .

More about the 91��ɫ Centre for Education & Community

YCEC is a faculty-based Organized Research Unit located within 91��ɫ’s Faculty of Education. YCEC seeks to strengthen links among the University, colleges, schools and communities.

The centre works with faculty members both within and outside the Faculty of Education, education researchers and administrators, teachers, parents, government agencies and representatives of community organizations to both initiate and facilitate research.

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

The post 91��ɫ Centre for Education & Community's 2010 Summer Institute to explore engaged education appeared first on Research & Innovation.

Researcher and City Institute director shifts the lens to suburbs around the globe

fmaquito — Tue, 18 May 2010 08:00:00 +0000

The suburbs have often been dismissed as cultureless wastelands of cookie-cutter housing and strip malls. But 91��ɫ environmental studies Professor Roger Keil, principal investigator of a major international research initiative, says there’s a lot more happening in suburbia than people think and researchers have ignored it for far too long. Most urban growth these days is suburban development and yet, until now, there has not been an encompassing study of suburbs around the world which examines their challenges and commonalities.

“The suburbs have not received a lot of attention, so we’re trying to shift the lens, so to speak,” says Keil, director of the City Institute at 91��ɫ (CITY). “Urbanization 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.”

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

With $2.5 million in research funding through the Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council of Canada’s 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 “the 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,” 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’s 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. “It’s a percentage increase but also a real increase because the world population has risen dramatically,” says Keil. “More and more people don’t live in dense urban centres anymore, they live in suburbs. So now we call it suburbanization instead of urbanization.” 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, “When we see a suburb, how do we understand it? We want to create a different way of looking at things,” says Keil. “We also hope in the process…this information becomes useful to users of suburban spaces, where they consume and produce, as well as to developers.”

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 – housing, shelter systems, real estate, greenbelts and megaprojects – and infrastructure, including transportation, water and social services.

Keil’s 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? “We need to develop alternatives and this is particularly true in environmental metabolism of waste disposal, water, smog. The energy use has increased…the environmental bads growing out of suburbs have outpaced suburbanization,” he says. “We all live in one environmental global space.” 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. “We need to break down and expand the way people look at the suburbs,” 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’s gated communities. With the different types of development come different social and cultural norms, land-use patterns and forms of transportation. “Through one lens we say these are all suburbanizations.” Until now, there has been “no serious attempt to bring all these phenomena together.”

This project will look at the differences between central cities and suburbs, as well as the diversity of suburban development. “Suburbs 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.” 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. Keil expects that suburbs around the world have different trajectories of where they’re 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. “We’re turning that upside down,” says Keil. “Conceptually, 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.”

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��ɫ’s 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– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

The post Researcher and City Institute director shifts the lens to suburbs around the globe appeared first on Research & Innovation.

91��ɫ leads all Canadian universities in SSHRC’s largest awards

fmaquito — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 08:00:00 +0000

91��ɫ researchers awarded two of SSHRC’s largest grants to study long-term residential healthcare and global suburbanism

Two teams led by 91��ɫ University researchers have received $5 million in research funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).

Their multinational research teams, involving multiple universities and community partners in a large-scale collaboration, have each received $2.5 million to examine long-term residential healthcare and global suburbanization.

The funding is part of ’s $10-million investment in critical issues of intellectual, social, economic and cultural significance through the (MCRI) program, the largest award competition SSHRC currently runs.

The program contributes to the deeper understanding of people and society while providing graduate students with research training opportunities. Royal Galipeau, MP for Ottawa–Orléans, made the announcement in Ottawa this morning on behalf of Gary Goodyear, Minister of State for Science and Technology.

Pat Armstrong, professor of sociology in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies and an executive member of both the 91��ɫ Institute for Health Research and the Graduate Program in Health Policy & Equity, will lead a study to identify promising practices for understanding and organizing long-term residential healthcare.

Right: Pat Armstrong

Although many of Canada’s most vulnerable citizens live in long-term residential care, it is often characterized as a last resort rather than as a positive option where both providers and residents can thrive. Armstrong’s project seeks to learn from and with other countries to understand the approaches, structures, accountability practices, and ownership arrangements that create conditions prompting respectful and dignified treatment for both residents and caregivers.

Twenty-five researchers, eight partnering institutions, and 17 universities in six countries will work across disciplines to capture and share data and best practices. Armstrong is Chair in Health Services and Nursing Research, co-funded by the (CHSRF) and the (CIHR).

Roger Keil, professor in the Faculty of Environmental Studies, director of the City Institute at 91��ɫ, and director of the , is working with 44 researchers at 29 universities, and 16 partners in 12 countries to better understand the challenges suburbanization poses in a globalizing world.

Right: Roger Keil

Based on the experience of Canadian suburbanization, but ranging from North America’s wealthy gated communities to Europe’s high-rise-dominated suburbs, the exploding outskirts of Indian and Chinese cities to the slums and squatter settlements of Africa and Latin America, this project is the first to systematically take stock of worldwide suburban developments while analyzing their governance models, land use, infrastructure and suburban everyday life. The project also includes collaboration with the on documentaries about life in suburban high rises.

Of the four $2.5-million grants awarded, 91��ɫ was the only institution with two successful projects, building on its strong track record in leading large, interdisciplinary collaborative research projects. Prior to today’s announcement, 91��ɫ researchers held nine major SSHRC collaborative grants worth a total of $13.6 million in research funding.

“As the only institution to win multiple awards in this category, 91��ɫ’s researchers have clearly demonstrated their national and international excellence and leadership in large-scale, SSHRC research projects,” says Stan Shapson, vice-president research and innovation. “Leading major research initiatives allows us to address key social issues facing our society. As global populations expand and age, suburban research and new approaches to long-term residential healthcare are increasingly important to the well-being of Canadians and nations around the world. These projects provide unique opportunities for Pat, Roger, and their research collaborators to conduct groundbreaking research with significant impact on real-world issues.”

“These grants highlight the excellence of our country’s talented researchers and recognize the importance of fostering international collaboration to keep Canada at the forefront of research, development and innovation in the 21st century,” said Chad Gaffield, president of SSHRC.

91��ɫ's other major SSHRC-funded interdisciplinary collaborative research projects

“Assets Coming Together for Youth: Linking Research, Policy and Action for Positive Youth Development”, led by social work Professor Uzo Anucha in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS) is developing a comprehensive youth strategy that will outline how marginalized urban communities like Toronto’s Jane-Finch neighbourhood can use their community assets to support positive youth development.
The , led by Professor Emeritus Wesley Cragg in the Schulich School of Business, is mobilizing the University’s business expertise by bringing University researchers together in dialogue with leaders and researchers in business, government and the volunteer sector.
The , led by Professor Stephen Gaetz in the Faculty of Education enhances the impact of research on homelessness and the housing crisis by increasing collaboration and discussion among researchers, policy-makers and community workers.
The , led by LA&PS social work Professor Susan McGrath, studies refugee and forced migration issues to find solutions to the plight of refugees worldwide.
“Monitoring the Human Rights of People with Disabilities in Canada”, led by health policy & management Professor Marcia Rioux in the Faculty of Health, monitors and records human rights violations to put together an accurate picture of the daily lives of Canadians with disabilities.
The Toronto Immigrant Employment Data Initiative, led by geography Professor Philip Kelly in LA&PS, assists community organizations whose mandate includes the better integration of immigrants into Toronto's labour force by providing these organizations with free access to statistical data and analysis on various aspects of immigrant labour market integration.
“Slavery, Memory, Citizenship”, led by Distinguished Research Professor Paul Lovejoy, includes a team of more than 50 Canadian and international scholars who are researching the global migrations of African peoples under conditions of slavery and how the resulting racism arising from the exploitation of African peoples has shaped modern societies.
“The University as a Civic Change Agent: Community-Based Knowledge Mobilization”, led by David Phipps, director of the Office of Research Services, is developing a community-focused input model for that seeks first to identify community knowledge needs and then focus university research expertise to help fill that need by creating a self-sustaining cycle of knowledge production and its uptake for policy, practice and community capacity building.
“Work in a Warming World”, led by social science Professor Carla Lipsig-Mummé in LA&PS, studies the challenge presents to Canadian employment and workplaces by examining seven Canadian employment sectors to seek policy, training, employment and workplace solutions to effectively assist Canada’s transition to a low-emission economy.

For complete competition results, visit .

By Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer, with photos courtesy of YFile – 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

The post 91��ɫ leads all Canadian universities in SSHRC’s largest awards appeared first on Research & Innovation.

Panel to highlight two suburbia research projects based in 91��ɫ Region

fmaquito — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 08:00:00 +0000

A lunchtime panel featuring presentations by 91��ɫ researchers and urban planning professionals will wrap up two recent research projects tomorrow – "In-Between Infrastructure: Urban Connectivity in an Age of Vulnerability", based out of the City Institute at 91��ɫ (City), and geography Professor Lucia Lo's "Infrastructure in 91��ɫ Region: A GIS Analysis of Human Services".

The panel discussion, "Suburbia in Transition: Infrastructure and Planning in Toronto's In-Between City", will take place Thursday, March 25, from 12:30 to 2pm in the 7th Floor Lounge of the 91��ɫ Research Tower, Keele campus.

Suburbia, long a feature of Canadian urbanization, has begun to change face. One of the pervasive features of the new suburbia has been its growing diversity in ethnocultural and socio-economic terms. Part of the challenge of coming to terms with this growing diversity has been the provision of hard and soft, technical and social infrastructures in a rapidly expanding region.

Between 2006 and 2010, 91��ɫ held two grants under their Peer Reviewed Research Studies program to study these challenges with specific reference to the suburbs of Toronto. At the same time, suburban communities such as Vaughan have begun to reassess their future development and have developed ambitious new official plan documents. This panel of researchers and planners will examine the pressing problems and emerging solutions in the new suburban infrastructural landscape and report back on recent research findings.

"In-Between Infrastructure: "Infrastructure in 91��ɫ Region: A GIS Analysis of Human Services" was funded by Infrastructure Canada and Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

"In-Between Infrastructure: Urban Connectivity in an Age of Vulnerability" was a three-year research project funded in large part by Infrastructure Canada with a contribution from Toronto Community Housing. It explored the infrastructure in what is called the "in-between city", the part of the urban region that is perceived as not quite traditional city and not quite traditional suburb. As a concept, the in-between city explodes the myth of the city and country divide, and opens new ways of understanding infrastructure needs in a globalizing Canadian urban region. A key goal of this research project was to explore the connectivity between different scales through the lens of urban infrastructure.

The project addressed whether it is possible to design a system of social and cultural infrastructure that has everything a community needs and meets global needs as well, and what the impact of economically driven decisions of hard infrastructure is on communities. The geographical area that was the subject of this project lies partly in the City of Toronto and partly in the City of Vaughan.

Another team of 91��ɫ-led experts investigating the availability of infrastructure and services to recent immigrants, low income residents and seniors in 91��ɫ Region is finding that funding for services is not keeping pace with growth in the area. "Infrastructure in 91��ɫ Region: A GIS Analysis of Human Services" was funded by Infrastructure Canada & Citizenship and Immigration Canada. The findings of the project have implications for suburbs across Canada, according to principal investigator Lo. The 91��ɫ infrastructure project has catalogued services and surveyed residents of 91��ɫ Region over a two-year period to determine where the most vulnerable populations lie and to identify gaps in services.

Preliminary findings suggest a divide between the northern and southern areas of 91��ɫ Region, whereby rural areas are paradoxically better served on a per capita basis than the more urban south, but find services less accessible due to existing transit infrastructure. Similarly, better educated residents are more able to find and avail themselves of existing services, creating an environment where the most in need are the least served.

“There is a traditional belief among politicians and others that people who move to the outer suburbs, to those big houses, that they are fine,” said Lo. “That is a kind of myth. Given the want [by politicians] for urban intensification, a lot of the resources are being poured in to the traditional city.”

Situated north of Toronto, 91��ɫ Region is an archetypal suburban area where the population increased from 169,000 in 1971 to 886,575 in 2006 and is estimated to grow to 1,280,000 by 2026. Immigration propels this growth and seniors and low-income households are growing proportions of the population. The project addresses the infrastructure needs that have arisen during the region’s rapid transition from a low-density, ethnically and socially homogeneous suburban region to a diverse, rapidly intensifying suburb.

, CITY director and principal investigator of the "In-Between Infrastructure" project, will chair a panel with fellow project researchers 91��ɫ geography Professor Patricia Wood, 91��ɫ social science Professor Douglas Young and John Saunders, a resident faculty member of the CITY and the project's research coordinator. Other panellists include, Leigh McGrath of Urban Strategies Inc., who will present on the firm's recent work on the Vaughan Official Plan, and Lo, chair of 91��ɫ's Department of Geography, who will address some of the results of the "Infrastructure in 91��ɫ Region" project.

Saunders, who teaches in 91��ɫ's Department of Geography and the Urban Studies Program, will talk about "The Landscape of Citizenship in the In-between City: Downsview Park, Toronto".

Wood will discuss "Residents' Vulnerability and Resilience in an Anti-Residential Landscape". Her research focuses on diversity, identity politics and citizenship, particularly in cities. She does both contemporary and historical work in Canada, the United States and Ireland, and conducts research primarily with immigrant groups and indigenous peoples, with an emphasis on participatory, collaborative research practices. She is the author of Nationalism from the Margins: Italians in Alberta and British Columbia (McGill-Queen's University Press, 2002) and co-author of Citizenship & Identity (Sage Publications, 1999).

Young will talk about "Planning Challenges in the In-Between City". He has worked as an architect, municipal planner and developer of non-profit housing cooperatives and is co-author of a book on urban politics, Changing Toronto: Governing Urban Neoliberalism, (University of Toronto Press, 2009) and co-editor of the forthcoming book, In-between Infrastructure: Urban Connectivity in an Age of Vulnerability.

McGrath will look at "Social Services, Land Use Planning and Vaughan's New Official Plan". Her professional work has included a breadth of projects from implementing elements of Ontario's Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe to research and development of an Environmental Master Plan for the City of Red Deer, Alta. McGrath is a member of the Urban Strategies Vaughan Official Plan team, a project underway since 2007 that is expected to be completed later this year.

Lo will discuss "Vulnerability and Human Service Provisions in 91��ɫ Region". She is the former economics domain leader of the Centre of Excellence for Research on Immigration & Settlement (CERIS), now known as CERIS - The Ontario Metropolis Centre, and the transportation and commerce research thrust leader, as well as a member of the Research Management Committee of Geomatics for Informed Decision Making, a Canada network centre of excellence. Her current research interests include vulnerability in the suburbs and human service provision; immigration and banking; recession and return migration; and entrepreneurship in mid-size cities.

Refreshments will be served. Everyone is welcome.

For more information, visit the CITY Web site.

Republished courtesy of YFile – 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

The post Panel to highlight two suburbia research projects based in 91��ɫ Region appeared first on Research & Innovation.

Roger Keil, director of the CITY Institute, weighs in on the transformation of suburbs

fmaquito — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 10:00:00 +0000

ran an urban renewal feature today on the transformation of Surrey, viewed in the past as Vancouver's ‘ugly sister', into Canada's fastest-growing suburb. Part of its success, Lisa Rochon writes, is Surrey's emphasis on innovative design.

Rochon's article quotes Roger Keil, professor in the Faculty of Environmental Studies, director of the , and director of the City Institute at 91��ɫ. Here's a snippet:

Itakes only 20 stops on the SkyTrain for the look of Vancouver to morph into that of Surrey. Heading east into the Fraser Valley, Vancouver’s preened and primped metrosexual face – think Pierce Brosnan crossed with Nelly Furtado – loses the chiselled jaw and phosphorescent pink it gets from all that excess skiing and spa luxuriating. By the time the train crosses over the Fraser River, the face of the commuter, exhausted from a day’s work and anxious to arrive home in one of the nation’s largest suburbs, has grown slack and winter grey.Yet even as the world’s attention is locked on Vancouver and the unfolding of the Winter , there’s a new glow spreading across the raw face of its eastern neighbour. The Olympics may deepen the divide between the rich, resort-like feel of Vancouver and the blossoming edge city, but Surrey is now officially Metro Vancouver’s second downtown core. And what was once pegged as a sleeping monster of sprawl is being transformed, slowly but surely, into an urban shire.

...

Roger Keil, director of 91��ɫ's City Institute, has just completed a major research project on suburbs and new forms of density. He says the enormous land mass of edge cities such as Surrey or Mississauga demands separate nodes of development, transportation links and sports and entertainment complexes.

He has witnessed some of the pressures first-hand: “You can see the tension building around 91��ɫ. What was once an empty, barren field in the 1990s turns out now to be one of the most networked places in the [Toronto area]. That means a GO [transit] station, subway, buses and Canada’s first urban national park. ... So rather than looking at it as a marginal area to which you move because you haven’t enough money to live downtown, on the contrary it is becoming a very attractive option.”

Visit the Globe & Mail to .

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer

The post Roger Keil, director of the CITY Institute, weighs in on the transformation of suburbs appeared first on Research & Innovation.