This just hit the Spacing Ottawa inblox from the organizers of SAW City Debates:
Wednesday, January 25, 2012 at 7PM
Galerie SAW Gallery
Screening and Panel Discussion: $5 / Students and Seniors: $3 / Members: FreeGalerie SAW Gallery will launch its new multidisciplinary speaker series entitled SAW City Debates with the Ottawa premiere of the feature-length documentary Urbanized by New York City- and London-based filmmaker Gary Hustwit (director of Helvetica and Objectified), which will be followed by a no-holds-barred debate with invited speakers Andrew Cohen from the Ottawa Citizen, Deborah Margo from the University of Ottawa and Barrie McKenna from The Globe and Mail. They will discuss their ideas for the future of Ottawa’s cityscape.
SAW City Debates is an ongoing series meant to spark dialogue around important cultural issues affecting the national capital region. Presented in response to recent articles in the media criticizing Ottawa’s urban design, denouncing everything from the National Capital Commission’s apparent inertia to the reliance on developers in shaping our city, the first debate in this series will take a look at urban design successes and failures in this city, but more importantly will help generate ideas and visions for the future.
Urbanized by Gary Hustwit is a feature-length documentary about the design of cities, which looks at the issues and strategies behind urban design and features some of the world’s foremost architects, planners, policymakers, builders and thinkers. Over half the world’s population now lives in an urban area, and 75% will call a city home by 2050. But while some cities are experiencing explosive growth, others are shrinking. The challenges of balancing housing, mobility, public space, civic engagement, economic development and environmental policy are fast becoming universal concerns. Yet much of the dialogue on these issues is disconnected from the public domain. Who is allowed to shape our cities, and how do they do it? Unlike many other fields of design, cities aren’t created by any one specialist or expert. There are many contributors to urban change, including ordinary citizens who can have a great impact improving the cities in which they live. By exploring a diverse range of urban design projects around the world, Urbanized frames a global discussion on the future of cities.
Funders: Canada Council for the Arts, City of Ottawa, Ontario Arts Council, Ontario Trillium Foundation
Galerie SAW Gallery
67 Nicholas Street, Ottawa ON, Canada K1N 7B9Information: (613) 236-6181 www.galeriesawgallery.com
www.urbanizedfilm.com http://www.facebook.com/events/117917241662629/