McLuhan Centre for Culture & Technology

‘Partnership is the new leadership’: Urban experts come together for School of Cities symposium on governance

Romi Levine — Thu, 30 May 2019 21:04:27 +0000

‘Partnership is the new leadership’: Urban experts come together for School of Cities symposium on governance

Romi Levine Thu, 05/30/2019 - 17:04

Cutline

University Professor Richard Florida (left) speaks with Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto about the role of cities in global conversations like climate change and the refugee crisis (photo by Romi Levine)

Romi Levine

Topic

City & Culture

School of Cities

Waakebiness-Bryce Institute for Indigenous Health

African Studies

Cities

Dalla Lana School of Public Health

Faculty of Arts & Science

Geography and Planning

Humanities

McLuhan Centre for Culture & Technology

New College

Political Science

Research & Innovation

U of T Mississauga

Women and Gender Studies

The future of cities is built on collaboration.

That is the thread that ran through a symposium on Tuesday hosted by University of Toronto’s School of Cities at the Toronto Reference Library.

The multidisciplinary school is nearing its one-year anniversary with a portfolio of accomplishments including the launch of new research and student-focused initiatives, and over 50 events organized with partners at the university and around the city.

Tuesday’s event, Governing Cities in the 21st Century, brought together experts from the GTA and beyond to discuss the changing role of governments in advancing municipal goals and aspirations.

Watch a video of the School of Cities event

“It's now clear that governance extends well beyond the walls of city hall,” said Matti Siemiatycki, the School of Cities’ interim director and an associate professor in the department of geography and planning in the Faculty of Arts & Science. “No organization today is governing the city on its own. They're working in deep collaboration across disciplines and across organizations in order to impact the type of cities that we're experiencing.”

The symposium featured two panel discussions, a keynote address by Michelynn Laflèche, vice president of strategy, research and policy at the United Way Greater Toronto, and a fireside chat with University Professor Richard Florida, the director of cities at the Martin Prosperity Institute, and Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto.

(photo by Romi Levine)

During her address, Laflèche (pictured above) spoke about rising inequality in Toronto. While the city consistently tops quality of life rankings, she said, it is also the income inequality capital of Canada.

“Now, compared to 35 years ago, you're much more likely to be in a ‘have’ or ‘have not’ neighbourhood,” she said, adding that the shrinking of the middle class means the gap between rich and poor is growing.

According to a new United Way report presented by Laflèche, certain groups of people are bearing the burden of this disparity.

Young people, for example, are more disadvantaged than ever before, she said.

“Our labour market has more precarious jobs in it so not only are young people starting off further behind, but they do not have the same opportunity for quality jobs that the previous generations did in order to catch up,” she said.

Addressing inequality will take place when different groups in the realms of public, private and non-profit work together, said Laflèche.

“Governing cities in the 21st century has to be about multi sector collaboration.”

(From left) Juan Carlos Rodriguez-Camacho, administrative coordinator of research at Waakebiness-Bryce Institute for Indigenous Health, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, Greg Cook, outreach team at Sanctuary, Nasma Ahmed, director of the Digital Justice Lab, and Sarah Sharma, associate professor and Director of the McLuhan Centre for Culture and Technology (photo by Romi Levine)

Good municipal governance extends into every aspect of city life – from the technology we use to the way public housing and health care are accessed.

During the first panel, Nasma Ahmed, director of the Digital Justice Lab, applauded San Francisco’s ban on facial recognition – using it as an example of a city that is taking the time to weigh the benefits and disadvantages of a technology.

“This was not the first of its kind, but one of many cities that are trying to grapple with emerging technologies,” she said.

As cities continue to expand and look for ways to address inefficiencies, these types of issues will continue to mount, said Marieme Lo, associate professor of women and gender studies and associate director of education at the School of Cities.

“The ecosystem of cities and governments is shifting – the ethos, the rationalities, the decision-making structures are all changing,” said Lo during the second panel discussion, which she moderated.

Making those decisions sometimes comes from bureaucrats taking a step back, said Jason Thorne, general manager of planning and economic development for the City of Hamilton.

“There's an aversion to that kind of risk-taking in the way we approach governance but I think that if we're going to be successful cities in the 21st century, we're going to have to accept the fact that a lot of the great innovations and ideas are going to come from all over the place and if we don't create space for that to happen, we are going to miss those opportunities.”

(From left) Marieme Lo, TD Bank's Andrea Barrack, Jason Thorne and Sara Hughes, assistant professor of political science at U of T Mississauga (photo by Romi Levine)

Sometimes small partnerships can make a big impact, said Andrea Barrack, global head, sustainability and corporate citizenship at TD Bank Group.

She uses the example of New York City’s High Line. When the project was in its early stages, TD took some convincing to sign on as the first corporate sponsor of the ambitious plan to transform an abandoned rail path into a public park.

Now one of the city’s most popular attractions, Barrack says the company was fortunate to have supported the project “before it was cool.” Now cities all over the world are looking to create “High Lines” of their own.

“The lesson in that is to really push through those small things because once you get it done and have a good case example, there's then lots of replication that can happen,” said Barrack.

The work required to make change in cities is important but challenging, she said.

“It's actually really easy to do the wrong thing and really hard to do the right thing, but that doesn't mean it's not important and worth the time and effort.”

"We don't necessarily know what we're doing," said Nasra Ahmed, director of the Digital Justice Lab, of navigating emerging technologies, adding that it's an opportunity for groups to work together on solutions (photo by Romi Levine)

During a fireside chat, the symposium audience received valuable takeaways from Peduto on how collaboration and social responsibility play an important role in city building.

As mayor of Pittsburgh, Peduto has helped to transition the city from one plagued with post-industrial economic and environmental struggles to a thriving metropolis that is often hailed as an urban success story.

That success is driven by a new kind of economic model, said Peduto.

“In Pittsburgh we call it P4: people, planet, place and performance and that's how we measure what we are going to fund with government money,” he said. “Those should be the same standards we look at as an economic standard instead of seeing things like air pollution as externalities – they actually need to be put into the equation of what is true economic growth, not limited economic growth.”

Peduto reiterated the message heard throughout the symposium: collaborating with corporations, philanthropic organizations, community groups and institutions like universities is at the heart of effective city building.

“'Partnership is the new leadership' is the model for cities all throughout the world,” he said. “You can't do it alone, you can't rely on your federal government or provincial government to do it for you. You have to find a way to do it yourselves and the only way to do it yourselves is by partnering.”

When it comes to big issues, cities shouldn't shy away from playing an important role locally, nationally and internationally, said Peduto.

After U.S. President Donald Trump pulled out of the Paris Agreement on climate change, for example, Pittsburgh and cities across the country signed onto the agreement individually.

“We had 64 cities in the U.S. who had sworn to the Paris Agreement that day and there's over 440 today because we realized we can all reduce our carbon footprint a certain amount and live to see the Paris Agreement happen,” said Peduto.

“It is at the local level where the world's problems will be solved.”

Choir! Choir! Choir! and an all-night art party: Check out these January events at U of T

Romi Levine — Tue, 16 Jan 2018 20:07:35 +0000

Choir! Choir! Choir! and an all-night art party: Check out these January events at U of T

Romi Levine Tue, 01/16/2018 - 15:07

Cutline

Choir! Choir! Choir! comes to U of T on Jan. 17 (photo by Rick Harris via Flickr)

Topic

City & Culture

Faculty of Arts & Science

Graduate Students

Hart House

McLuhan Centre for Culture & Technology

Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy

OISE

Rotman School of Management

U of T Mississauga

U of T Scarborough

Undergraduate Students

Chilly January days make it tempting to go into hibernation mode – only leaving the house when it’s absolutely necessary. But with so many fascinating and fun (and indoor!) events taking place at and around the University of Toronto campuses this month, there’s plenty worth bundling up for – ranging from a fine dining etiquette lesson in Mississauga to this weekend's Women's March in downtown Toronto. There's even an event for which you don't have to change out of your pyjamas.

Jan. 17
If you were lucky enough to get tickets to this sold-out Choir! Choir! Choir! event, start practising your vocal exercises now. The hugely popular choir group is coming to the Isabel Bader Theatre at U of T’s downtown Toronto campus as part of UTSU’s Frost Week.

Not in the mood for singing? Tranzac is hosting a Story Collider speaker series, where Toronto scientists are sharing stories about how they became interested in their fields. The event includes a number of U of T experts including a planetary geologist and an astronomer.

Jan. 18
Still trying to process 2017? Head to the the Vivian and David Campbell Conference Facility at the Munk School of Global Affairs for the 14th annual Seymour Lipset Memorial Lecture: The Populist Challenge to Liberal Democracy. You’ll hear from William A. Galston, an American political commentator who worked for Clinton administration and was involved in six presidential campaigns.

Jan. 19-20
If you’re a recent grad or are graduating this year from the Faculty of Arts & Science, head to this weekend’s Next Steps Conference at Chestnut Residence. It’s free to attend the two-day event where you’ll hear from Ojibwe broadcaster Jesse Wente and other industry leaders about the amazing things you can do after you graduate.

Monday Night Seminars (photo by Romi Levine)

Jan. 20
Explore the the ways in which religion and human rights intersect in Canada at an engaging event taking place at the Centre for International Experience. The discussion will explore the role of religious communities in addressing social policy issues, touching on Indigenous rights and Islamaphobia.

Jan. 22
On Monday evening, head to U of T’s tiny coach house – the home of the McLuhan Centre – for a Monday Night Seminar. This week’s event is called Media Labours of Love and brings together leading media experts from U of T, Cornell and Ryerson for a discussion about how technology and media shape our lives.

Jan. 23
Chizoba Imoka, a PhD candidate in the educational leadership and policy program at OISE, will deliver the 17th Annual Hancock Lecture: Black and Educated? Unveiling The Contradictions and Redesigning The Future at Hart House. She’ll be talking about how we can transform the education system to empower black students to bring about change in their communities.

Jan. 24
Today’s your chance to hear U of T Scarborough’s new writer-in-residence Aisha Sasha John. The poet, dancer and choreographer who performed at the Whitney Museum of American Art this past summer will be participating in a lunch time author reading.

If you’re on the Fire and Fury waiting list, you’ll want to attend this event: Author, columnist and former White House speechwriter David Frum will be speaking to Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, and Heather Reisman, CEO of Indigo Books & Music, about his new book Trumpocracy: The Corruption of the American Republic at the Rotman School of Management.

Jan. 25
Put on your comfiest pair of PJs and go to Hart House for the Night of Ideas – an all-night event happening in 50 cities around the world, bringing together artists, philosophers, neuroscientists and other fascinating folks for an evening of interactive events centred around the concept of sleep.

Jan. 29
The U of T community will come together on the one-year anniversary of the mosque shooting in Quebec to remember the six Muslim men who were killed. More details will be released soon.

U of T's Marshall McLuhan featured in CBC documentary

ullahnor — Thu, 27 Jul 2017 17:18:54 +0000

U of T's Marshall McLuhan featured in CBC documentary

ullahnor Thu, 07/27/2017 - 13:18

Cutline

The documentary is an adaptation of writer Douglas Coupland's 2010 biography of media theorist Marshall McLuhan (photo by Barry Philp/Toronto Star via Getty Images)

Topic

City & Culture

Marshall McLuhan

McLuhan Centre for Culture & Technology

Faculty of Information

The Globe and Mail interviews writer Douglas Coupland who wrote a 2010 biography on U of T's Marshall McLuhan.

Coupland’s book on the communications theorist has been adapted into a short documentary, which airs on Friday. Part of CBC’s Extraordinary Canadians series, the documentary will explore the enduring interest in McLuhan, who explored pop culture, mass media and predicted the ways in which technology would affect communication, long before cellphones or the Internet.

Many of McLuhan’s predictions of the way media would evolve have proved accurate, Coupland told the Globe, “I think in the time since I wrote the book – and I started writing the book almost nine years ago – the world has changed in as much as it continues to fulfill a lot of, I wouldn’t say prophecies, but a lot of his thinking on what it was that was going to replace television.”

Read the article

Last week, a Google Doodle celebrated McLuhan's 106th birthday. He was a fixture at U of T's Coach House Institute, which was renamed the McLuhan Centre for Culture and Technology in the Faculty of Information.

Read about upcoming programs at the McLuhan Centre

Experts take on the latest hacks and leaks at U of T's upcoming McLuhan Salon

Romi Levine — Thu, 19 Jan 2017 20:30:26 +0000

Experts take on the latest hacks and leaks at U of T's upcoming McLuhan Salon

Romi Levine Thu, 01/19/2017 - 15:30

Cutline

U of T alumnus and Mozilla Foundation Executive Director Mark Surman will be participating in Thursday's McLuhan Salon (photo by Joi Ito via Flickr)

Romi Levine

Author legacy

Romi Levine

Topic

City & Culture

Cyber Security

U.S. politics

McLuhan Centre for Culture & Technology

Cities

Information Technology

Alumni

The leak of an alleged intelligence memo about U.S. president-elect Donald Trump divided the media on whether or not to publish its details or acknowledge its legitimacy.

On Tuesday, President Barack Obama commuted the prison sentence of Chelsea Manning, the former U.S. army intelligence analyst who leaked classified documents to WikiLeaks – a move that was praised by many but received harsh criticism from Republicans.

Tonight, the McLuhan Salon is taking on its most timely and contested topic yet. Ripped straight from the headlines, “Hacks, Leaks, and Breaches: Chronicles from the Cybervillage” will dissect the latest news and address hotly debated issues around cyber security.

Participants include Mark Surman, a U of T alumnus and executive director of the Mozilla Foundation, McGill University's Gabriella Coleman, an expert on Anonymous, and Mathew Ingram, a senior writer at Fortune Magazine.

The salons, inspired by the late U of T professor and influential media theorist Marshall McLuhan, are hosted by U of T’s McLuhan Centre for Culture and Technology and are held at different Toronto venues every month. Tonight's salon takes place at the Toronto Reference Library.

“The role played by WikiLeaks, Anonymous or trolling in recent years is no longer a niche cultural phenomena,” says Paolo Granata, visiting professor, McLuhan Centenary fellow and salon organizer.

These organizations, often called “hacktivists,” have been a game changer in their ability to influence global politics, says Granata.

“For this reason, we need to understand what is at stake in a networked society in terms of security and privacy, rights and freedom,” he says.

High profile government operatives-turned-leakers such as Manning and Edward Snowden have been central to shedding light on these issues, making them a hero to some and an enemy to others.

“We certainly benefited from people having the courage to leak information,” says Surman. “It helps us understand what's really going on, on the Internet. I personally think of Snowden as a hero as many do.”

Ingram is interested in discussing the thorny ethics surrounding hacks and leaks.

“When is it okay to report on and when is it not? It's a difficult question – and the goalposts keep moving,” he says.

Coleman will explore the ways digital leaks came into being.

“What's really interesting is that its history is remarkably recent even though the technical possibilities to engage in this form of hacking to leak has existed for 25 years,” she says.

The spate of hacks and leaks has forced companies and governments to learn hard lessons, but they still aren’t going far enough to protect themselves, says Coleman.

“This is a perennial issue, and you'd think with each new hack and leak and breach, that organizations would get their security act together. So far, there have been small steps in that direction, but it's very slow going.”

The salon provides a unique opportunity to have a public discussion outside of the Internet echo chambers – something Ingram and Coleman are looking forward to.

“I've never seen so many shows about hacking and so much news media, but it's hard to understand what the public thinks,” says Coleman. “[The salon] will provide an interesting barometer for how people are receiving this news, what they think about security, and whether they find value in some of these leaks – some of them are very, very controversial.”

Ingram wants salon participants to weigh in.

“I would like to hear their thoughts about whether they feel less secure, and whether they think the media should be publishing things like people's personal emails just because they can,” he says.

Toronto in 2017: U of T cities experts on the year ahead

Romi Levine — Mon, 19 Dec 2016 22:02:21 +0000

Toronto in 2017: U of T cities experts on the year ahead

Romi Levine Mon, 12/19/2016 - 17:02

Romi Levine

Author legacy

Romi Levine

Topic

McLuhan Centre for Culture & Technology

Toronto

Subheadline

Making Toronto "a stronger, more resilient and more inclusive city”

While global events might bring the doom and gloom, it’s Toronto’s chance to shine in 2017, urban experts say.

As our skyline continues to evolve, planners and architects are making sure our public and private spaces are livable and sustainable. Researchers are finding better ways to move people around the city – and we’re continuing to prove that our cultural scene can compete on the global stage.

So what will move the city forward in the coming year? We asked some of U of T’s most notable city building experts.

For President Meric Gertler, it’s the dramatic change to the university’s downtown campus – the future home of the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design – One Spadina Crescent.

“I just think the transformation that's underway on that piece of land is absolutely breathtaking and profound,” he says. “As Torontonians become familiar with what's happening in that little circle, they're going to get the sense of an amazing transformation and hopefully they'll see it as a very powerful symbol of how the university wants to approach its relationship with the city around us.”

Gertler also hopes the City of Toronto will move forward with projects that will help to make the city more livable.

“That means we have to get to work on building more spaces for recreation,” he says. “We have to continue to move the needle on cycling and alternative forms of transportation rather than car use while ensuring that transit is adequate to the task.”

Public transit has to reach all parts of the city and the surrounding areas to ensure that all residents in the GTA have equal opportunity and access, Gertler says.

Matti Siemiatycki, an associate professor of geography and planning at the Faculty of Arts & Science hopes the massive student transportation survey he helped to create – StudentMoveTO – will help to improve the GTA’s transportation systems.

The survey continues to inspire researchers from across disciplines, he says.

“Different groups at the universities [in Toronto] have run in different and interesting ways with the data, ways that I'm not sure we would have predicted,” he says. “U of T's engineering and geography and planning faculties have been doing really ambitious data modelling to understand the relationship between travel and the city. Ryerson faculty and students have done that too. OCAD has pushed the boundaries on the visualizations.”

Data from the survey is free to access, providing opportunities for students to get involved, says Siemiatycki.

“Students are driving a lot of this because for them, getting access to data is often the key barrier. They have tons of ideas but actually having raw, good-quality, professional grade data is hard for them. And in this case they have it, and they've run in all sorts of amazing directions,” he says.

Read the StudentMoveTO survey results

Shauna Brail, associate professor, teaching stream, and the director of the urban studies program at Innis College, is looking to bring U of T’s city-building experts together in one place, with the launch of a communications hub for all things urban at the university.

“The hub will be a central place to highlight and connect to the incredibly diverse range of work we do in terms of urban research, teaching and outreach across all three campuses and numerous divisions,” she says. “It will feature guest blogs, a faculty directory and links to programs, policy-relevant research and student-centred engagement initiatives.”

Brail, who is the urban affairs adviser to President Gertler, is also involved in a city-led strategy, working together with groups from education, industry and non-profit to find better ways of addressing urban issues like transportation and affordable housing.

“The university has teaching and research strengths in essentially all of the areas under study – from data monitoring to social equity – and we have an opportunity to contribute to the development and implementation of a plan that can help make Toronto a stronger, more resilient and more inclusive city,” she says.

Following the success of the first two McLuhan salons, Paolo Granata, visiting professor and McLuhan Centenary fellow, says he is looking forward to the first salon of the new year, taking place on Jan. 19 at the Toronto Reference Library.

“The salons release the energy of new and outrageous ideas, innovative thought, and transformative understanding and action,” he says.

Granata would love to see Toronto rise to global cultural significance with a UNESCO Creative City designation. He’s hoping the city will take on the initiative.

“The rich diversity of Toronto’s population and its vibrant and ever-growing arts and culture community make it a prime candidate,” he says.

Find out more about McLuhan Salons

Urban studies undergrad and Jackman Humanities Institute fellow Katerina Mizrokhi can’t wait for the big cultural events coming to Toronto in 2017. After spending the summer researching New York City’s cultural institutions, she’s bringing her critical eye to Toronto’s art scene.

“I hope to see the city thoughtfully frame and contextualize these works against our dynamic but contested cityscape,” she says.

A big player in Toronto’s cultural scene, U of T grad Sara Udow – one half of the Crazy Dames – encouraged residents to think creatively about introducing laneway housing to the city at an event that took place at Evergreen Brickworks.

“In 2017, we will be releasing a summary report from the events that outlines participants concerns, ideas and opportunities that came out of the consultations,” she says.

She’ll be spending the coming year travelling to other Canadian cities – from Yellowknife to Vancouver – to spread the world about out-of-the-box city building while also participating in "Growing Conversations" – a City of Toronto project that looks to make Toronto the most engaged city in North America.

U of T McLuhan salons take the classroom to the city

Romi Levine — Tue, 08 Nov 2016 19:35:05 +0000

U of T McLuhan salons take the classroom to the city

Romi Levine Tue, 11/08/2016 - 14:35

Cutline

The first McLuhan salon took place in the City Hall council chamber (photo by Romi Levine)

Romi Levine

Author legacy

Romi Levine

Topic

Faculty of Information

McLuhan Centre for Culture & Technology

Toronto's place in an increasingly interconnected world was the subject of the inaugural McLuhan Salon, hosted by U of T's McLuhan Centre for Culture & Technology.

The salons are a nod to famed University of Toronto professor Marshall McLuhan, whose ideas about mass media, technology and culture still have a huge impact on today’s thinkers. They kicked off last week with Torontonians packing into the City Hall council chamber for the first event.

“We thought it would be good to get out of the university, get out of the centre, to bring the McLuhan Centre into the city in order to better explore the city under the broad theme of ‘City as Classroom’,” said the McLuhan Centre’s David Nostbakken, who was once McLuhan’s teaching assistant.

Nostbakken moderated the event. Speakers included author Anne Michaels, Toronto’s poet laureate and a U of T alumna; Vickery Bowles, city librarian at Toronto Public Library; and Kevin D’Innocenzo‎, a consultant with Lord Cultural Resources.

Altogether, there will be six events held by the Faculty of Information's McLuhan Centre, each at different cultural institutions monthly. The salons will bring together experts from different academic disciplines and city institutions. Attendees are encouraged to participate in the discussion.

Find out more about the McLuhan salons

Keeping in line with McLuhan's idea of the “global village,” the first salon explored the role Toronto and its cultural institutions play in the world. For example, the Toronto Public Library has found that technology has “transformational power” in public libraries.

“We’ve been able to reach people in ways we never dreamed of before,” said Bowles.

For example, when the library published a blog post welcoming refugees from Syria to Toronto, a refugee living in Beirut sent a message in response: “Thank you for welcoming us to the big Canadian family.”

“It was a real-time connection that social media allowed us to achieve,” Bowles said. “It’s important for us to be able make that kind of connection available to everyone. That’s an important part of what the public library does and what we’re so dedicated to.”

Author Anne Michaels (left) and Lord Cultural Resources consultant Kevin D'Innocenzo (right) spoke at the event (photo by Leona Seely)

Michaels said bringing together different groups of people who speak different languages is the perfect opportunity to showcase the richness of Toronto’s cultural communities.

“In this really extraordinary city, we speak over 140 languages,” she said.

“As we have more and more [newcomers] come to the city – more and more immigration and languages – this kind of history is extremely important. It’s giving this place its own stories.”

The city is starting to share those diverse histories through projects like Myseum, which explores the stories of newcomers to Canada, D'Innocenzo said.

“We are very cognisant and keen on giving people a platform to tell their story, and we’re only getting better at it.”

After all, it’s the core of what the city stands for, Bowles said.

“The city’s motto is ‘Diversity Our Strength’, and I think that’s something that’s so important for everyone to remember all the time because it’s so true about our ability to understand other people and understand their cultures. It builds connections that are so important for us as individuals, as communities, as cities.”

McLuhan Centre for Culture & Technology

‘Partnership is the new leadership’: Urban experts come together for School of Cities symposium on governance

Watch a video of the School of Cities event

Choir! Choir! Choir! and an all-night art party: Check out these January events at U of T

U of T's Marshall McLuhan featured in CBC documentary

Read the article

Read about upcoming programs at the McLuhan Centre

Experts take on the latest hacks and leaks at U of T's upcoming McLuhan Salon

Toronto in 2017: U of T cities experts on the year ahead

Read the StudentMoveTO survey results

Find out more about McLuhan Salons

U of T McLuhan salons take the classroom to the city

Find out more about the McLuhan salons

Read more about the McLuhan Centre