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Urban issues, from the role of the university in the city to infrastructure, resilience and sustainability, were the focus of the recent Global Cities 2014 joint conference in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

The event brought together a team of 13 U of T professors, President Meric Gertler, Interim Vice-President Research and Innovation, Peter Lewis and Vice-President, University Relations Judith Wolfson with colleagues at the University of Sao Paulo (USP) October 22-24. It was part of the two institutions’ ongoing research collaboration, which has included joint conferences and symposia on oncology, neuroscience and international relations.

“This collaboration demonstrates the value of our partnerships with peer institutions around the world,” said Gertler. “Colleagues in both institutions developed the program, bringing together complementary, multidisciplinary teams of very impressive researchers who work in the area of Global Cities.

“Our focus on this area of mutual strength and interest will help foster great scholarship on some of the most important issues we face in an increasingly urbanized world.”

U of T professors participating in the conference included Shiri Breznitz, Munk Centre for Global Affairs; Paul Hess, geography; Robert Levit, John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape & Design; Matti Siemiatycki, geography; Greg Evans, chemical engineering and applied chemistry; David Henry, Dalla Lana School of Public Health; Eric Fong, sociology; Alan Walks, geography; and Scot Wortley, criminology.

The four themes of the conference were:

The University and the City (co-led by Professor David Wolfe, political science, U of T Mississauga and Professor Roberta Kronka, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, USP)

“The conference provided us with the opportunity to explore a wide range of topics with colleagues in Brazil’s largest and most dynamic city.

"While we don’t all approach our research questions in the same manner, it afforded us a deeper insight into some of the key issues and challenges they are dealing with and particularly with respect to the theme of the University and the City, insight into how they see the university contributing to the solution of social, environmental and economic problems in a city that has grown at a dizzying pace.” – David Wolfe

Infrastructure, Resilience & Sustainability (co-led by Professor Eric Miller, civil engineering, U of T and Professor Orlando Strambi, USP’s Polytechnical School)

“The idea behind the U of T-USP research partnership is a very simple one: take two great universities located in two big cities that share a wide range of similar urban challenges, bring leading scholars from both universities together in the same room and see what comes out.

“What came out of the Global Cities Conference at USP exceeded expectations in terms of exciting synergies between the two research teams. While contextual details often differ between Toronto and Sao Paulo (we don’t face the same sort of crime and security problems that they do, for example), we found a great deal of common ground upon which to build joint research projects going forward.” – Eric Miller

Healthy Cities (co-led by Professor Patricia O’Campo, Dalla Lana School of Public Health and St. Michael’s Hospital and Professor Helena Ribeiro, School of Public Health, USP)

“It was exciting to be part of a team of experts who were expected to break out of their silos to spend an intensive two days thinking and talking about how the University can more intentionally contribute to improving urban living. While the city contexts differed, it was clear that the two universities have untapped resources that can be mobilized to inform solutions to the cities’ most pressing problems.” – Patricia O’Campo

Socio-Economic Issues (co-led by Professor Deborah Cowen, geography and Professor Rossana Reis, Faculty of Philosophy, Letters and Human Sciences, USP).

“The conference was a fascinating experiment: Prepare a stellar mixture of urbanists from one institution – many whom have never met before. Get them to talk intensely about their work with a focused goal of finding resonance across disciplines, methods, and areas of expertise. Then throw them in a room together for two days with a group from another institution that has been doing the same thing, now with the goal of finding research resonance across institutions.

“What we got was an extraordinary and intense set of discussions, all oriented towards potential collective creativity. We returned home having explored vast conceptual and empirical terrain, having learned tons, and having made new connections with colleagues here and there that feel lasting.” – Deborah Cowen