planning / en U of T's Andre Sorensen on why a proposed LRT is the real city-building opportunity for Scarborough /news/u-t-s-andre-sorensen-why-proposed-lrt-real-city-building-opportunity-scarborough <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">U of T's Andre Sorensen on why a proposed LRT is the real city-building opportunity for Scarborough</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-03-28-scarborough-subway.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=iB6HtFRZ 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2017-03-28-scarborough-subway.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=l8sGKsWb 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2017-03-28-scarborough-subway.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=M1wzYAiP 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-03-28-scarborough-subway.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=iB6HtFRZ" alt> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>ullahnor</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2017-03-28T12:02:22-04:00" title="Tuesday, March 28, 2017 - 12:02" class="datetime">Tue, 03/28/2017 - 12:02</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">Mayor John Tory (centre) speaks to the media at a press conference at Kennedy Station last month about a report on the Scarborough subway (photo by Vince Talotta/Toronto Star via Getty Images)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/city-culture" hreflang="en">City &amp; Culture</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/urban" hreflang="en">urban</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/cities" hreflang="en">Cities</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/transit" hreflang="en">Transit</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/scarborough" hreflang="en">Scarborough</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/geography" hreflang="en">Geography</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/planning" hreflang="en">planning</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/u-t-scarborough" hreflang="en">οScarborough</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Toronto City Council is expected to debate&nbsp;and vote&nbsp;today on the proposed subway extension along the McCowan corridor to the Scarborough Town Centre.</p> <p>Professor <strong>Andre Sorensen</strong>, chair of the department of human geography at οScarborough, talks about what's at stake, and why the proposed LRT lines should be the top rapid transit priority for Scarborough.</p> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__4001 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" src="/sites/default/files/light_rail_transit_bombardier.jpg" style="width: 750px; height: 324px;" typeof="foaf:Image"><br> <em>Rendering of a proposed LRT courtesy&nbsp;of Bombardier</em></p> <hr> <p>There is no question that Toronto needs to expand rapid transit capacity, coverage, speed and convenience as quickly as we possibly can. The population of the region continues to grow rapidly, yet a lack of investment in transit over several decades means that much of the inner and outer suburbs remain woefully auto-dependent. The result has been a growing crisis of congestion that costs more than $6 billion per year according to the Toronto Board of Trade, threatens the economic vitality of the region and limits new investment in inner suburbs like Scarborough. The lack of rapid transit imposes costs particularly on low-income residents of the inner suburbs, who would most benefit from improved transit for access to jobs and services.</p> <p>Over the last decade, Scarborough has been the focus of major debates over transit investment. Under former mayor <strong>David Miller</strong>, a Light Rail (LRT) 'Transit City' plan was approved by council, designed and engineered, and fully funded by the province. The plan focused on a set of LRT lines throughout the inner suburbs. This plan was under construction when Rob Ford was elected mayor in 2010, and Ford's first act as mayor, before even being sworn in, was to call then-head of the TTC&nbsp;Gary Webster&nbsp;to a 7 a.m. meeting where he unceremoniously – and without legal authority, it was later revealed – cancelled the Transit City plan.</p> <p>This act ranks as one of Toronto's greatest transit planning disasters, as by throwing out a fully approved, engineered and funded transit plan, Ford delayed transit expansion in Toronto by a decade, and opened the door on years of conflict over a new approach. Shortly before the 2014 election for mayor, city council agreed to a new plan that included an extension of the Bloor subway from Kennedy to Scarborough Town Centre, and during the election John Tory promised to invest in his SmartTrack&nbsp;plan to create a new transit line based on improvements to, and more stations along, the GO Transit rail corridors. Mayor Tory now promises to build SmartTrack, the subway extension and a revived LRT plan to extend the Eglinton Crosstown LRT east from its currently planned terminus at Kennedy all the way to the University of Toronto Scarborough at Ellesmere Road and Military Trail. Funding is still being negotiated for all these projects, and none have yet completed detailed engineering and planning phases.</p> <p>In one of a very few detailed evidence-based contributions to this debate, <strong>Paul Hess</strong> and I researched and <a href="http://uttri.utoronto.ca/files/2015/03/Choices-for-Scarborough.pdf">published a report in 2015</a> that compared the three main options for transit investment in Scarborough: SmartTrack, subway extension and Transit City LRT network, on the basis of the number of existing residents and jobs each new transit facility would serve, and the potential for property redevelopment to allow intensification of population and jobs within walking distance of new transit stops.</p> <p>The result was clear – the Transit City LRT plan with lines along Eglinton to Kingston Road, Morningside Road and οScarborough, a renovation of the SRT line and the Sheppard line from Fairview Mall to Morningside Road far outperformed both the subway and SmartTrack on every measure. The LRT network can be built more quickly, would serve trips both within Scarborough and to downtown, and would create more potential for investment in housing, employment and services in Scarborough. Crucially, the major opportunity for the creation of walkable, transit-oriented communities in Scarborough is through mid-rise intensification along the east-west arterial corridors, such as Eglinton and Sheppard Avenues, which can best be served by LRT lines. The superior performance of LRT is not only because it offers greater coverage and more stops, but because it represents a much better fit with existing urban form and patterns of population and jobs in Scarborough.</p> <p>We concluded that it would be a terrible mistake if the investment in a subway extension and SmartTrack means that the LRT network is delayed further or cancelled. That conclusion still holds today: the proposed LRT lines should be the top rapid transit priority for Scarborough.</p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Tue, 28 Mar 2017 16:02:22 +0000 ullahnor 106240 at οplanning collaboration with community group in Thorncliffe Park featured in Maclean's /news/u-t-planning-collaboration-community-group-thorncliffe-park-featured-maclean-s <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">οplanning collaboration with community group in Thorncliffe Park featured in Maclean's</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-03-15-thorncliffe.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=phq8zVVj 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2017-03-15-thorncliffe.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=bVefg3pF 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2017-03-15-thorncliffe.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=uqetMymF 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-03-15-thorncliffe.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=phq8zVVj" alt="Thorncliffe Park"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>ullahnor</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2017-03-15T17:05:35-04:00" title="Wednesday, March 15, 2017 - 17:05" class="datetime">Wed, 03/15/2017 - 17:05</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">Mosque in Thorncliffe Park. οmaster's students in planning worked with the Thorncliffe Park Women's Committee to help them with developing neighbourhood priorities for cultural, recreational and economic renewal (photo by Eric Parker via Flickr)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/city-culture" hreflang="en">City &amp; Culture</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/urban" hreflang="en">urban</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/cities" hreflang="en">Cities</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/planning" hreflang="en">planning</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/community-partnership" hreflang="en">Community Partnership</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><em>Maclean's</em>&nbsp;reports that universities are increasingly partnering with&nbsp;local residents and non-profit organizations in their communities.&nbsp;The magazine highlights a&nbsp;project where οmaster's students in planning&nbsp;worked&nbsp;with the Thorncliffe Park Women's Committee to assist&nbsp;them&nbsp;in publishing a booklet on neighbourhood priorities for cultural, recreational and economic renewal.</p> <h3><a href="http://www.macleans.ca/education/university/how-universities-are-working-to-shatter-the-ivory-tower/">Read the Maclean's story</a></h3> <p>The magazine quotes οPresident&nbsp;<strong>Meric Gertler&nbsp;</strong>talking about how&nbsp;the success of οand the city are entwined.&nbsp;</p> <p>“Everything we do using our intellectual resources and our energy from our students and faculty to make Toronto a better place ends up helping us,” he says. “When we go to recruit faculty from across Canada and around the world or when we go out to recruit students from across Canada and around the world, Toronto is a big part of our offer.”</p> <p>The article mentions that U of T&nbsp;is considering&nbsp;a possible multidisciplinary “school for cities” to address complex urban issues. And that in 2015, U of T's&nbsp;<strong>Shauna Brail</strong>&nbsp;was appointed&nbsp;the&nbsp;presidential adviser on urban engagement&nbsp;to foster partnerships in the city.</p> <p><strong>Stephanie Cirnu</strong>, who will graduate this spring, says she and her classmates learned from listening to the community through workshops and interviews.</p> <p>“I had always conceptualized urban planning and design as more of a technocratic exercise,” she says to the magazine. “I now see any design is the product of community participation in the process.”</p> <h3><a href="/news/thorncliffe-park-more-vibrant-community">Read more about the Thorncliffe Park project</a></h3> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Wed, 15 Mar 2017 21:05:35 +0000 ullahnor 105832 at οPresident Meric Gertler talks about career success and family in Globe and Mail feature /news/u-t-president-meric-gertler-talks-about-career-success-and-family-globe-and-mail-feature <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">οPresident Meric Gertler talks about career success and family in Globe and Mail feature</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-02-28-gertler.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=7RVFtJoY 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2017-02-28-gertler.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=5dAOkEud 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2017-02-28-gertler.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=45mhXyi0 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-02-28-gertler.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=7RVFtJoY" alt="Meric gertler"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>ullahnor</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2017-02-28T16:06:41-05:00" title="Tuesday, February 28, 2017 - 16:06" class="datetime">Tue, 02/28/2017 - 16:06</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">President Meric Gertler is featured in Globe and Mail series called, Halftime (photo by Christopher Wahl)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/city-culture" hreflang="en">City &amp; Culture</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/urban" hreflang="en">urban</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/cities" hreflang="en">Cities</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/president-meric-gertler" hreflang="en">President Meric Gertler</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/university-toronto" hreflang="en">University of Toronto</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/planning" hreflang="en">planning</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>University of Toronto President <strong>Meric Gertler&nbsp;</strong>is featured in a <em>Globe and Mail </em>series called&nbsp;Halftime,&nbsp;which features people from across Canada talking about their fifth decade.</p> <p>The series&nbsp;highlighted President Gertler's work as an internationally renowned urban planning and policy expert. He&nbsp;reflects&nbsp;on career success, family life and the importance of taking risks.&nbsp;</p> <p>President Gertler&nbsp;says&nbsp;he could never have predicted heading οand taking on such a big leadership role in the academic world. He says he's glad he focused on becoming a scholar first.</p> <p>“It was really important for me to achieve what I wanted to achieve as a scholar in my field and have that kind of global recognition at a certain point,” he says in the feature.&nbsp;</p> <p>President Gertler,&nbsp;<a href="/news/order-canada-awarded-university-toronto-president-faculty-members">named a member</a> of the Order of Canada in 2015, said success in his&nbsp;40s was “feeling like my work was having some kind of impact, both in terms of the direction of my discipline, so shaping some major debates and the evolution of the field. But also having an impact in terms of public policy. To me, that has always been important.”</p> <p>As a child, he developed his interest in cities because of his dad who was a planner for the City of Toronto.&nbsp;</p> <p>“I remember looking at these very cool models of parts of the city,” he says. “One of the hot issues then, as it continues to be now, was what would the waterfront of Toronto look like in the future? There were all these futuristic, spacey models, none of which came to pass, of course. But just imagining future living environments was really exciting.”</p> <h3><a href="/news/u-t-president-meric-gertler-joins-waterfront-toronto-board">Read about President Gertler joing the Waterfront Toronto board</a></h3> <p>What made him&nbsp;happy in his&nbsp;40s?</p> <p>“My kids, who were eight and five when I started my 40s,” he says. “They were pretty small and developing into real people, so that was a huge amount of fun. Professionally, I would say becoming recognized in the wider world. It was really in my 40s that I felt like my impact in my discipline was really registering.”</p> <p>If he could go back and give himself advice two decades ago?</p> <p>“I would tell myself maybe take a few more risks. I was always very cautious and careful and studied and considered. It has worked out pretty well but you always reflect on what opportunities you might have passed up by not taking a few more risks in terms of the work that you do or the activities you get involved in.”</p> <h3><a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/relationships/40-40-hindsight-meric-gertler-reflects-on-his-fifth-decade/article34158829/">Read more of the interview</a></h3> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Tue, 28 Feb 2017 21:06:41 +0000 ullahnor 105272 at Food Systems Lab at οtackles Canada’s food waste problem /news/u-t-backed-food-systems-lab-tackles-food-waste-problem <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Food Systems Lab at οtackles Canada’s food waste problem</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/Tammara.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=bKSaUnoM 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/Tammara.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=FExoQneM 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/Tammara.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=jBjQ2yGL 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/Tammara.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=bKSaUnoM" alt="Tammara Soma "> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>Romi Levine</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2016-11-03T07:20:48-04:00" title="Thursday, November 3, 2016 - 07:20" class="datetime">Thu, 11/03/2016 - 07:20</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">οPhD candidate Tammara Soma stands by one of the university's vegetable gardens (photo by Romi Levine) </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/romi-levine" hreflang="en">Romi Levine</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Romi Levine</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/city-culture" hreflang="en">City &amp; Culture</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/faculty-arts-science" hreflang="en">Faculty of Arts &amp; Science</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/geography" hreflang="en">Geography</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/planning" hreflang="en">planning</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/food" hreflang="en">Food</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/sustainability" hreflang="en">Sustainability</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/trudeau-scholarships-cities" hreflang="en">Trudeau Scholarships. Cities</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-subheadline field--type-string-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Subheadline</div> <div class="field__item">PhD student Tammara Soma wants to break the wasted food cycle</div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>We’re all guilty of wasting food.&nbsp;</p> <p>Sometimes we dump the leftovers in the trash after a big meal, or we find forgotten food in the fridge that has long since expired.&nbsp;</p> <p>Restaurants, grocery stores and food distributors are also wasteful – throwing out ugly-looking but perfectly good produce and getting rid of products as soon as they hit the&nbsp;"best before" date.</p> <p>In fact, according to Value Chain Management International, a sustainability-focused consultancy firm, it’s estimated that $31-billion worth of food is wasted every year in Canada.&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Tammara Soma</strong> hopes to break the cycle of wasted food and wasted money. The University of Toronto PhD student in the Faculty of Arts &amp; Science and Trudeau Foundation Scholar founded the <a href="https://foodsystemslab.ca/">Food Systems Lab</a>, which aims to work with private, public and community organizations to find solutions to Canada’s waste problem.&nbsp;</p> <h2><a href="/news/table-dump-analyzing-household-food-consumption-and-waste">Read more about Soma's research</a></h2> <p>“The role of the Food Systems Lab is to bring all these diverse, multidisciplinary stakeholders and collaborate together,” she says.</p> <p>The lab, funded by the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation, will be conducting a <a href="https://foodsystemslab.ca/workshops/">series of workshops</a>&nbsp;beginning Nov.&nbsp;24&nbsp;to find the root of the waste problem&nbsp;</p> <p>“The idea is that at the end of the Food Systems Lab, we would come up with interventions – a prototype that can be tested in a microfood system to see how it works,” says Soma.&nbsp;</p> <p>According to <a href="http://proof.utoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Household-Food-Insecurity-in-Canada-2014.pdf">οresearch</a>, almost 12 per cent of Ontarians are food insecure – meaning they have trouble accessing the food they need to have a healthy, balanced diet.&nbsp;</p> <p>“We can’t keep going on this path where we waste food and waste resources,” says Soma.</p> <p>Planning graduate student<strong> Kelsey Carriere</strong>&nbsp;is doing research with the Food Systems Lab. She has been conducting interviews with different organizations along the food supply chain from restaurants to community groups.&nbsp;</p> <p>“One of my most enlightening interviews so far has been with an elder from a traditional knowledge centre who was giving an Indigenous perspective on how food is valued, on gratitude and how nothing should go to waste,” she says.</p> <p>Carriere says there is some reluctance on the part of food producers and suppliers to adopt a waste-reduction strategy.</p> <p>“Nobody’s against it in principle. It’s really just a question of logistics. At&nbsp;a large-scale corporate-level, when you’ve got a system that works, and you’re being asked to redesign that, it’s a daunting task,” she says.</p> <p>Changes also need to be made by consumers and retailers, says <strong>Virginia Maclaren</strong>, associate professor and chair of the department of geography and planning and an expert in waste management.&nbsp;</p> <p>“Households are constrained in many ways in terms of how they reduce food and produce food waste&nbsp;by time constrains, by family constrains, by marketing constraints – they’re sold certain types of foods that they maybe don’t need,” says Maclaren, who is the special advisor to the Food Systems Lab.&nbsp;</p> <p>Those who are willing adopt the "waste not" philosophy of a new generation of city planners.</p> <p>“With growing urbanization and a growing population, we need to feed all the people. I think that’s part of the reason why I call myself a food systems planner,” says Soma.&nbsp;</p> <p>This new type of planning is growing in popularity, says Maclaren.&nbsp;</p> <p>“Demand for it is starting to explode because municipalities are developing food plans,&nbsp;food policy councils or trying to integrate food considerations into their official plan,” she says.</p> <h2><a href="/news/waste-not-want-not-cost-throwing-out-perfectly-good-food">Read about the food waste symposium Soma helped organize</a></h2> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Thu, 03 Nov 2016 11:20:48 +0000 Romi Levine 102024 at