Date of photo: May 20 2013

Photographer: Martin New at Montreal in Pictures

The post Photo du jour: Place d’Armes appeared first on Spacing Montreal.

• Mayor Mandel annouces retirement, kicks-off first open mayoral race in 45 years [Daveberta]
• Mayor Mandel was bold and courageous but Edmonton can go further [Metro Canada]

CITY

• Complete Streets and Designing New Neighbourhoods poicy documents were recently approved by City Council [City of Edmonton]
• A columnist’s lament for the doomed Walterdale Bridge (with video) [Edmonton Journal]
• Culture Minister Heather Klimchuk presented the Oliver Community League with a cheque for $125,000 towards the re-development of Kitchener Park (photo; layout) [Oliver Community League]

PROVINCE

• Staples: Alberta is rich, but not its towns and cities [Edmonton Journal]

PROJECTS/EVENTS

• A few spots are still open for the 12th Annual Street Furniture Competition organized by M.A.D.E in Edmonton
• Call for Volunteers for June 1st: The LIVINGbridge is an urban garden located atop an abandoned rail bridge in downtown Edmonton
• Call for Volunteers for June 13-14: Makescape aims to activate the Centennial Plaza behind the Stanley Milner Library

OTHER

• Some McCauley residents try to force Labour Day barbecue out of neighbourhood park [Edmonton Journal]
• More poor live in suburbs than in urban areas, research shows [LA Times]

The post Edmonton’s urbanism headlines: May 19 to 25 appeared first on Spacing Edmonton.

The post East Van Garden Tour – Sunday, June 16th appeared first on Spacing Vancouver.

Street Scene will appear each week showcasing the illustrations of local artist
Jerry Waese.

The post STREET SCENE: On Saturday appeared first on Spacing Toronto.

This stationary bike, made from old benches, supermarket crates and bed frames is a part of series of bikes created to generate enough electricity to power a movie projector.

Open Sources – creators beyond the bike – managed to create enough pedal-power to screen a 54-minute film at a festival in France. Only three bikes were needed to power the projector.

Via Inhabitat.

Urban Planet is a roundup of blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. For more stories from around the planet, check out Spacing on Facebook and Twitter.

The post Project a movie on this energy-generating bike made from garbage appeared first on Spacing National.

Feedback on Port Moody‘s draft official community plan shows the public is somewhat split on the proposal. At Tuesday’s committee of the whole meeting, PoMo planning staff presented council with a hefty package containing the draft OCP, along with about 700 pages of public engagement results.

Just 101 steps. According to the newly ratified downtown plan, that’s what it will take to revitalize the core of the city. Barb Haynes, co-chair of the Downtown Penticton Revitalization Select Committee, said that the 101 actions may be more of a pet name, but they now have a clear strategy that can be implemented incrementally to give Penticton’s main commercial district a long-awaited makeover.

The New Westminster Chamber of Commerce is backing plans for a coal-transfer facility in Surrey. FSD [Fraser Surrey Docks] chief executive officer Jeff Scott spoke to the New West chamber May 21, after which it passed a resolution to support the proposal if all the mitigation measures it proposes are adhered to.

How do you envision Agassiz in the year 2040? The District of Kent continues to seek public input into the direction of the Official Community Plan — the document that helps plan future development.

Sensing a lack of broad community consultation regarding the proposed Rogers Communications tower replacement at the Gibsons fire hall, Gibsons council has called for a town hall meeting to address community concerns before any decision is made.

The post Neighbourhood Watch appeared first on Spacing Vancouver.

Contribute your photos to Spacing’s Flickr pool

The post Roy Thompson Hall appeared first on Spacing National.

ROB FORD ‘CRACK VIDEO’ SCANDAL

• Rob Ford crack scandal: Toronto Mayor’s chief of staff fired [Toronto Star]
• Rob Ford crack scandal: Gawker’s ‘Crackstarter’ campaign hits snag as it nears $200,000 goal, editor says [Toronto Star]
• Rob Ford crack scandal: Could it contaminate the right? [Toronto Star]
• TCDSB could have handled Mayor Rob Ford’s sacking better, vice-chair says [Toronto Sun]
• Mayor Rob Ford video sellers have disappeared: Gawker [Toronto Sun]
• Rob Ford chief of staff fired for telling him to go to rehab: Source [Toronto Sun]
• Ford story rumbles on  [Toronto Sun]
• Mayor Rob Ford dumps chief of staff Mark Towhey  [Toronto Sun]
• Toronto Mayor Rob Ford’s allies prepare to run city  [Globe & Mail]
• Mayor Rob Ford fires his chief of staff, Mark Towhey  [Globe & Mail]
• Calls mount for Toronto Mayor Rob Ford to address drug allegations  [Globe & Mail]
• Mayor Rob Ford sidelined as football coach by school board  [Globe & Mail]
• Given all the publicity, alleged Rob Ford crack video may be too hot to trade without getting caught [National Post]
• ‘Crackstarter’ hits snag: Gawker admits they can’t get ahold of drug dealers with alleged Rob Ford video [National Post]
• Rob Ford fired chief of staff after he told mayor to ‘go away and get help for his problem’: source [National Post]

OTHER NEWS

• Pan Am Games athletes’ village is on track [Toronto Star]
• Toronto road closures on May 25 weekend for Walk With Israel and more [Toronto Star]
• Quiet shaper of Toronto’s skyline was on ground floor of city’s condo boom  [Globe & Mail]
• Toronto politician comes clean over impairment allegations. (But it’s not Rob Ford) [National Post]

The post Toronto’s Urbanism Headlines: Friday appeared first on Spacing Toronto.

Date of photo: May 20 2013

Photographer: Martin New at Montreal in Pictures

The post Photo du jour: Street entertainment at Place d’Armes appeared first on Spacing Montreal.

Cross-posted from No Mean City, Alex’s personal blog on architecture

I recently had the sad assignment of writing an obituary for Edward Lam. Along with his wife, Deborah Moss, he ran the art practice Moss and Lam, who played a singular role in the interior-design world.

Principally M&L were, and are, close collaborators with Yabu Pushelberg, the Toronto- and New York-based designers who are among the most creative people in the field. By all accounts, Lam was an indispensable part of their shared work.

Moss and Lam make decorative work and installations – but their best work is innovative in its use of materials and techniques, surprising in its conceptual rigor, full of the unexpected, absolutely particular. It is, in a word, art.

I visited Moss and Lam in their studio a couple of years ago; it truly was a studio, full of works in progress, experiments in texture and materials.

Some of these played out in a massive mobile in Seoul, or sculptural fish in Chicago with Tony Chi, or in their furniture collection, led by Moss.

Edward Lam died suddenly and unexpectedly, and their work continues. Most of it is handmade by them and their staff of eight artists. Since most of the ornament in contemporary design is manufactured or digitally fabricated, this sets them apart. “There is a difference,” Moss told me. “People come to us because they can sense there is a hand behind these projects.” This makes them a sort of flashback to half a century ago, when craftsmanship was still an integral part of the building process. And until recently the hand – as well as the artist’s sensibility – was often Edward Lam’s.

In a 2011 interview at Moss & Lam’s Toronto studio, surrounded by a riot of models, sketches and paintings, Mr. Lam spoke of his work at [the restaurant] Blue Fin with quiet pride. “That wave wall has become our signature,” he said. “Somebody called to ask us how to do that treatment. And I said, ‘Well, you get some cement and some plaster, and the question is: How good is your hand?’ There are no secrets. That’s the secret.”

The post NO MEAN CITY: The hidden hands – Edward Lam, 1958-2013 appeared first on Spacing Toronto.

I-5 BRIDGE COLLAPSE
• Span wasn’t built to take critical hit [Seattle Times]
• Why Did The Washington I-5 Bridge Collapse And How Did Everyone Survive? [Science World Report]
• How WSDOT can manage the I-5 collapse [Crosscut]

CASCADIA
• Urban Ruins: Does Seattle need a High Line? [Crosscut]
• With Portland’s Latest Rejection of Fluoride, Science Loses Out to History’s Weirdest Alliance of Paranoiacs [The Atlantic Cities]
• Sign declaring new name for Mount Douglas will stay for now [Victoria Times Colonist]
• Redmond’s Rain Garden Challenge [The Sightline Daily]

CANADA
• The rental-housing shortage is now a national disaster. It needs Ottawa’s help [Globe and Mail]

INTERNATIONAL
• U.S. Cities Growing Faster Than Suburbs [Wall Street Journal]
• Selling the Public on Public Housing [The Atlantic Cities]
• Bike-Share May Not Take Many Cars Off the Road, But That’s OK [The Atlantic Cities]
• Play your way to work with interactive games [New Scientist]

The post Vancouver’s Urbanism Headlines: Friday appeared first on Spacing Vancouver.

There were a few elements of the day that stuck out for me. First of all, our reactions and responses to all sorts of information are mired in our emotions, but we don’t necessarily recognize it. Telling and hearing stories allows us to access our emotion and acknowledge it to a greater degree in support of community building and dealing with conflict.

Another aspect that stood out for me was vulnerability. The vulnerable state many of us experience while telling our stories has to be honoured and respected. If we are to use storytelling in engagement it is critical that we ensure the space feel safe for becoming vulnerable. An integral part of creating that safe space is just genuinely listening to the stories people tell, and being open to them – that is, not making assumptions and/or defining people by ‘single stories’.

Our Stories

During the workshop, Pattie shared this TED talk about the ‘single story’.  Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi relates her experiences both as the holder and subject of the ‘single story’. The narrative encouraged me to reflect on how easy it is to reduce others to a single story, and how limiting that is. I think is especially easy to do in the face of disagreement. If someone disagrees with you, it is much more comfortable to dismiss them altogether, rather than pushing for common ground and/or uncovering complexity. To get past the single story, we have to listen to each other, even (especially) when we disagree – with listening comes an appreciation for the perspective of others and opportunties for finding new solutions outside of a win/lose paradigm.

What stories do you tell about where you live? Do you really listen when others tell theirs?

The post Storytelling and Storylistening appeared first on Spacing Edmonton.

The study was conducted in the Downtown East-Side and Granville Street corridor of Vancouver, British Columbia.  The 100 panhandlers who participated in this study revealed their opinions and experiences in view of a token based meal program.  The results, based on a structured interview, indicate that 86% of panhandlers believe the program is a good idea, and 100% of study participants liked the food they received.  “Strangers just walk by and hand them out.  I can tell they are more comfortable giving me tokens instead of cash,” says one anonymous panhandler.  “The money goes back into the community and helps feed the poor.  It’s a win/win.”

Token based meal programs have triggered debate and encountered sharp criticism.  “Providing meals to people should not be so controversial,” says Jayson Shurgold, a representative of Contagion Consulting.  “Much of the criticism appears to be coming from some advocacy groups speaking for others, but the panhandlers we personally engaged widely accepted the token based meal program and painted a very different picture.  Many panhandlers also shared opinions beyond the focus areas of our study and shed light on what concerns and angers them.”

Hunger is a complicated issue and the study should be carefully considered in view of the specific conditions present in the Granville Street corridor and the Downtown East-Side of Vancouver.  “This is the first independent study of its kind and the findings are relevant for researchers and groups interested in gaining elemental insight on how panhandlers access food, experience hunger and feel about token based meal programs,” says Shurgold.

The full report can be read here.

***

Contagion Consulting Group is a network of innovative and diverse researchers that engage and assist with academic and social based initiatives.  With representatives in Ottawa and Vancouver, the collaboration is founded on the principle that information can change the world. For further information, please visit contagionconsulting.com

The post Release: Contagion Consulting conducts first independent study to reveal experiences of panhandlers with controversial token based meal program appeared first on Spacing Vancouver.

• Who benefits from the answer to Toronto’s $2.5 billion transit question? [Toronto Star]
• Pape Station will close for 12 days in June to speed up renovations [National Post]
• Closed staircase makes it a long hike to Sherbourne TTC entrance: The Fixer [Toronto Star]

ROB FORD ‘CRACK VIDEO’ SCANDAL

• Mayor Rob Ford says crack video accusations not true ‘and I believe him:’ Doug Ford [Toronto Sun]
• Sit-in to greet Ford on Sunday [Toronto Sun]
• Kagawong lessons for Mayor Ford [Toronto Sun]
• Mayor Rob Ford sacked as Don Bosco football coach [Toronto Sun]
• Public opinion of Mayor Rob Ford all that counts? [Toronto Sun]
• Mayor Rob Ford sidelined as football coach by school board  [Globe & Mail]
• Calls mount for Toronto Mayor Rob Ford to address drug allegations [Globe & Mail]
• Councillor Ford, Toronto mayor Rob Ford’s brother, addresses drug-use allegations [Globe & Mail]
• Is the alleged Rob Ford crack video evidence of a set up? [National Post]
• Rob Ford continues silence amid crack video allegations, is let go from beloved football coaching job [National Post]
• With Rob Ford crack scandal dragging on, it’s over for the mayor: DiManno [Toronto Star]
• Rob Ford crack scandal: Doug Ford says he believes his brother [Toronto Star]
• Ford Brothers’ damage control effort blows up in their faces: James [Toronto Star]

OTHER NEWS

•  3 teenagers charged with arson over destruction of Scarborough playground [Globe & Mail]
• Casino pitch: Suburban cities warm to the project Toronto rejected [Toronto Star]

The post Toronto’s Urbanism Headlines: Thursday appeared first on Spacing Toronto.

A video that captures our over 3 decades of the PWL Partnership‘s work contributing to the development of some of Vancouver’s great public spaces. The project was lead by Jon Long with music composed by Ben MacDougall.

***

The post Video Vancouver: PWL Partnership – Our Story in Film appeared first on Spacing Vancouver.

Date of photo: May 20 2013

Photographer: Martin New at Montreal in Pictures

The post Photo du jour: Aldred building viewed from the Old Port appeared first on Spacing Montreal.

CASCADIA
• Newspaper kiosks on city land face removal in Victoria [Victoria Times Colonist]
• Public art project helps mark Victoria’s historic places [Victoria Times Colonist]

CANADA
• How Rob Ford’s Meltdown Could Save Toronto [The Tyee]

INTERNATIONAL
• Driver fees could help combat gridlock [San Francisco Examiner]
• Project in Paris Reflects City’s Ambitions for the Suburbs [New York Times]
• Don’t Forget the Burbs [Architect Magazine]
• The Evolution of Moscow’s Subway Maps [The Atlantic Cities]
• Why You Can’t Be Blasé About the Next World’s Tallest Building [The Atlantic Cities]
• Urban renewal? Big US cities showing strong growth [The Seattle Times]

The post Vancouver’s Urbanism Headlines: Thursday appeared first on Spacing Vancouver.

CASCADIA
• Vancouver Island First Nation seeks traditional name for island landmark [Vancouver Sun]
• Adams Lake Band loses challenge of expansion of Sun Peaks ski resort [Vancouver Sun]

INTERNATIONAL
• In Greenland, an Urban Heat Island Is Growing Fast [The Atlantic Cities]
• A Team of Academics Redesigns an Icon [Chronicle of Higher Education]
• Why You Should Leave Your Kids at the Park [Slate]

The post Vancouver’s Urbanism Headlines: Wednesday appeared first on Spacing Vancouver.

Imagine a bicycle carved from walnut, ash or cherry wood. Or one totally customized and shipped in fewer than two days. This list of 15 of the coolest bikes to hit the streets has something for everyone.

Although the cyclo-phone might not be useful for bringing home vegetables from the market, it definitely deserves to be on the list. This bike actually makes music as you pedal. Pedal faster, and the beats pick up. Created by Marcelo Ertorteguy and Sara Valente, the cyclo-phone is sure to make waves.

Or check out the beautiful La Malle Bicyclette developed as a collaboration between a French luxury line and the Italian bicycle company. The bike includes a mini-suitcase, perfect for carting glamorous picnics to the park.

Via Good.

Urban Planet is a roundup of blogs from around the world dealing specifically with urban environments. For more stories from around the planet, check out Spacing on Facebook and Twitter.

The post Riding in style: 15 of the coolest bikes in the world appeared first on Spacing National.