Urban Design
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LORINC: It’s time to talk about the Committee of Adjustment
The building pictured above — a three storey walk-up with five units — is located at the end of the block where I live. I’ve always thought of it as...
By John Lorinc -
Youth Design Jam for Downsview
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...
By Nathan Abraha -
PODCAST: Spacing Radio 076, Time’s running out for accessible Ontario
In 2005, Ontario passed the Accessibility of Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), which made accessibility for all public establishments a legal...
By Spacing Radio -
OP-ED: Rethinking the role of Toronto’s Chief Planner
When Toronto last searched for a new Chief Planner, in 2017, we encouraged the City to look at planning, and planners, through the lens of human rights...
By Alan Broadbent and Elizabeth McIsaac -
How We Can Make Toronto More Pleasant, 1971-Style
Publications periodically like asking local leaders and celebrities for their advice on how they would improve their city. One good example was a feature...
By Jamie Bradburn -
Anatomy of a bus shelter removal
During the week of December 2, 2023, the City of Toronto removed a TTC transit shelter at Dundas Street East and Sherbourne Street, in Moss Park. The...
By Daysha Loppie -
Re-naming Yonge-Dundas Square
It’s not often that I strenuously disagree with Spacing editor Dylan Reid, but when I read “To Rename Yonge-Dundas Square, Let’s Follow the Process,” I...
By Cheryl Thompson -
A year-end interview with Mayor Olivia Chow
With the final council session of the year now in the rear-view mirror, Mayor Olivia Chow is spending part of this week powering through year-end...
By John Lorinc -
Public Washrooms: The gift that keeps on giving
The holiday season is well underway, and many retailers are racing to keep their storefronts open for longer hours. Despite this, there is one pivotal...
By Jessie Ye -
REVIEW: Cities: Skylines II – A new dawn for city-building gaming
For Claire Basinski, like many other millennials, the original SimCity served as her closest exposure to city planning in her youth. Today she’s president...
By Nathan Abraha -
I visited public toilet paradise and it was heaven – why can’t Canada do this?
I found public pee paradises and their names are Hong Kong and Japan. Public washrooms, or lack of by policy choice, in Canada has been my pet thing for a...
By Shawn Micallef -
CNE’s grand plans of the past: Visionary days for people places in Toronto and Ontario
EDITOR: Landscape architect and urban designer Walter Kehm worked on the CNE master plans in the late 1960s and recently found these images that included...
By Walter Kehm