TORONTO, October 2, 2001 -- Unchecked growth in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and its consequences -- sprawl, congestion, smog, loss of natural habitat and prime farmland, inadequate public transit and what citizens are doing about it – is the focus of Planning Transformations, a speakers series being held at York University, October 2001 through March 2002.
The series will provide a public forum for urban planners, environmentalists and scholars to discuss strategies for a sustainable future, and recent developments such as the provincial government’s pledge of $3 billion for public transit and the provincial advisory panel’s recommendations on the future of the Oak Ridges Moraine.
The series, which is sponsored by York’s Faculty of Environmental Studies, with support from the Urban Studies Program in the Division of Social Science, is held Wednesdays, 12:30 to 2 p.m., in Room 306 Lumbers Building, York University’s Keele Campus, 4700 Keele St. The fall line-up follows:
Citizen Planning and the Oak Ridges Moraine -- October 3
(A discussion of how citizens are demanding a say / raising fundamental planning questions re: environmental preservation, urban sprawl.)
- Debbie Crandall, executive director, Save the Oak Ridges Moraine (STORM)
- John Mackenzie, environmental planner, Hardy Stevenson and Associates, president, Public Space
- Glenn de Baermaeker, president, Save the Rouge Valley System
- David Donnelly, Canadian Environmental Defence Fund
The Politics of Place: Can Cities and Suburbs Unite Around Regional Reforms? -- October 17
(An examination of how sprawl, regional politics exacerbate economic segregation and poverty. Insights into how American cities are responding and lessons for policymakers in the GTA.)
- Todd Swanstrom, professor, Public Policy Studies, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, Missouri, co-author, Place Matters: Metropolitics for the Twenty-First Century (University of Kansas Press, 2001).
- David Hulchanski, professor, director, Centre for Urban and Community Studies, University of Toronto.
Governing Regions -- October 31
(Drawing on European and North American examples, an examination of successes and failures of regional government, and the reasons behind recurrent failures.)
- Roger Keil, associate professor, Faculty of Environmental Studies, York University
- Engin Isin, associate professor, Urban Studies Program, Division of Social Science, York University.
Transit Options for the GTA -- November 14
(A discussion of proposed public transit links across the rapidly expanding communities of the GTA -- in particular York Region -- which will relieve traffic gridlock.)
- Dr. Gordon Chong, chair, Greater Toronto Services Board
- Richard Soberman, transportation planner and professor emeritus, University of Toronto.
- Ted Spence, professor, Faculty of Environmental Studies, York University
What's Planning For? Planning and Development in the GTA -- November 28
(An examination of why planning policies are not implemented)
- Pamela Blais, principal, Metropole Consultants, Toronto
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For further information, please contact:
Prof. Gerda Wekerle
Faculty of Environmental Studies
York University
416-736-2100, ext. 22636
gwekerle@yorku.ca
Dianne Zecchino
Faculty of Environmental Studies
York University
416-736-5285
diannez@yorku.ca
Ken Turriff
Media Relations
York University
416-736-2100, ext. 22086
kturriff@yorku.ca
YU/104/01
