Over a weekend in late March, teams of high school students gathered a conference centre in Toronto’s new Canary District for Design Jam, where they were tasked to brainstorm, design, and prototype urban planning ideas for the redevelopment of the vacant Downsview Airport area. The winners would get a top prize of $300.
The event was part of the 1UP conference organized by Urban Minds, a non-profit whose mission is to “create meaningful ways for youth to shape equitable and sustainable cities.”
Among those attending was Manuela D’Cunha, a Grade 12 student whose team won the top prize. She first became interested in city planning after observing the spaces around her.
“I would say what got me interested in city planning was just confronting the issues in my own community – the lack of public transportation, the lack of accessibility, the lack of third spaces – and having to deal with those things got me interested in how we can more equitably plan cities and communities for our future,” she says.
She found the 1UP conference scrolling through Instagram Reels and saw a golden opportunity.
“It was my first time ever attending an urban planning conference. It was amazing, It was great to speak with like-minded individuals as well as just hear so much feedback from planners working in the industry,” D’Cunha says.
The event was conducted in partnership with Northcrest Developments, in charge of the real 370-acre redevelopment of the Downsview Airport area, a project that’s set to be ongoing for the next 30 years and set to be the largest development project in North America.
Having direct interaction with the youths, not only potentially contributing to the project through their work but also living in the surrounding areas, was one of the most exciting aspects of Design Jam for Mitchell Marcus, executive director for site activation and programming at Northcrest Developments.
“You know, this isn’t a project for me. I’ll be an old man by then. The people in high school today – people who are 14, 15, 16 – this is most likely the group who are going to be calling this site home,” Marcus says. “The opportunity to be part of Design Jam and have 100 really smart, passionate young people contribute what they would do if they were holding the pen was just well aligned with what we’re looking to do.”
As far as winning the prize, D’Cunha’s group had two hours to figure out their plan. After a smooth brainstorming session they decided to approach the presentation with a unique angle.
“We kind of took a risk, instead of doing a traditional pitch we decided to approach it from more of a storytelling perspective. So we actually presented two people as romantic interests who meet in the space and how the space would meet their needs while connecting them to community,” she says.
Thinking of the future, her mind is looking beyond the gloom of the modern day, instead being hopeful and ambitious.
“I always wanted to transform community spaces and hopefully one day I will get to work for Northcrest Developments and see where this project goes and how it evolves over the 30 years,” D’Cunha says.
Susan Wiggins, executive director at Ontario Professional Planners Institute (OPPI) is hoping to keep cultivating in others the same ambition, creating a real opportunity to combat the province’s shortage of new planners. OPPI was one of the sponsors of the conference.
“You’ve probably heard through the news that, like most professions, there is an extreme shortage of planners,” Wiggins says. “So we are using a multipronged approach as an institute to find different ways to attract people to the profession.”
Part of that is a commitment to the next generation. A natural link was formed with Urban Minds, which is working to involve youths in shaping the future of their cities with equity and sustainably as their pillars.
Since being founded in 2016, Urban Minds has worked with over 700 students from 70 schools across the GTA. The partnership with OPPI gives the organization valuable access to a pool of Ontario’s most seasoned planning professionals.
“The youth care about the community that surrounds them, and that’s what planners do,” Wiggins says. “Everything from housing to transportation, all the infrastructure around the houses – what’s important is creating living, liveable, sustainable communities that are future-focused – that’s what we want to help educate the youth about.”
Over the next three years, OPPI and Urban Minds are set to collaborate in hosting annual events, providing valuable networking opportunities as well as beneficial educational support for any youth with an interest in pursuing careers in the industry.
“We believe that youths have an important role to play in how our cities are planned and built, yet they’re not as involved and engaged as they should be,” says Ryan Lo, co-executive director at Urban Minds. “There is still a lot of work to do in terms of raising awareness among youths, among high school students particularly, about what planning is and what kind of career paths there are. So being able to meet these professionals through our events is vital.”
The 1UP youth program’s focus on high school students across Ontario provides a vital introduction to how city building works. It’s something Lo sees as beneficial whether they enter the field or not.
“Hopefully it inspires them even if they aren’t interested in planning professions in the future, I mean, I hope they do, but even if they don’t, they can still be involved as active citizens. It’s really about exposing them to all these opportunities to get involved now as youths,” Lo says.
