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Canadian Urbanism Uncovered

Spacing Saturday: Urban Laneways, Rethinking Density and News Café

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Spacing Saturday highlights posts from across Spacing’s blog network in Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and the Atlantic region.

Spacing Vancouver launched a new feature this week. Price Point will feature a weekly photo selection from SFU City Program Director Gordon Price his reasons why it represents something worth talking about in the city.  

Liam Lahey profiles a laneway makeover and neighbourhood party put on by Livable Laneways and The Vancouver Design Nerds. The event aims to challenge Vancouverites to make better use of the city’s laneways.

Guillaume St-Jean used the Montage du Jour feature this week to present a series of incredible comparisons, showing the evolution of Montreal streets over the last 50 years.

Jonathan Lapalme contributed some great photography from around Montreal to the Photo du Jour series.

Sean Gillis engages readers on an important question of how we think about density. Noting that we often confuse height with density, Gillis demonstrates that high density can be achieved without tall buildings.

The Globe and Mail announced plans this week to add to the skyline with a new office tower at the site of its headquarters at Front and Spadina. Alex Bozikovic uses the No Mean City architectural feature to talk about the history the site and its future potential.

Luca De Franco’s Headspace feature this week talks with Eric Kamphof, general manager of Curbside Cycle, to share some great insights into the long running evolution of cycling in Toronto and how to achieve “barrier-free cycling.”

In a little piece of car share geekery Spacing compares the design details of two leading car share organizations in Toronto and Ottawa.

Media organizations often set up shop is busy urban areas only to fail to engage with the street beyond using its activity as a backdrop. Evan Thornton uses the Winnipeg Free Press News Cafe as an example of the kind of media hub that should be tried in a city like Ottawa.

Photograph by: Phillip Pessar

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