On the podcast, we continue our ongoing series examining urban economic landscapes and the future of economic development. We hear three perspectives on the future of Vancouver?s regional economy, including a small, laneway home developer, an economist, and a politician.
In the first podcast of an ongoing series exploring urban economies, The City talks with urban geographer Winifred Curran about industrial displacement in New York City, the future of economic development in North American cities, and the assumed inevitability of deindustrialization and the post-industrial urban economy. What type of industries prosper in particular places? Why? And what are some of the pressures industries face in a globalized economy and in so-called global cities?
In the 1970s, 34 young women left cities across Canada to find a different lifestyle and build community in rural, coastal Prince Rupert, BC. Many were unsatisfied with the cold, modernist landscape of cities, and some just wanted an adventure. Their stories are documented in a new book, Gumboot Girls. On the podcast, we hear some of their tales and explore the reasons why these women migrated and their experiences in the small, rural - and booming ? resource community of Prince Rupert. We concl...
The City hears from Vision Vancouver Councillor Andrea Reimer as we mark the one-year anniversary of the 2011 municipal election. She talks at length about a number of issues, including neighbourhood engagement, which has come under fire in recent weeks. We also discuss the controversial Rize condo tower in Mount Pleasant, rental housing, affordability, and questions of how the city should continue to develop.
On November 4, 2012, downtown's Granville 7 was added to a long list of recent movie theatre closures. The City reflects on the recent Granville 7 closing and the case of Vancouver's disappearing cinemas. We look at the history of the Granville 7 and discuss why so many cinemas are closing with CiTR Arts Director Maegan Thomas and local film critics Ray Tomlin and Jason Whyte.
We examine a current labour struggle in the city. The City talks with executive members from CUPE 2278, the local representing UBC teaching assistants, markers, tutors, and instructors at the English Language Institute. We?ll discuss why the union is currently engaged in a job action within the global and local contexts of neoliberalism and labour mobilizations.
On October 25th, 2012, the Province of BC and the City of Vancouver announced that the four remaining tenant-households at the Little Mountain social housing development would not be evicted, and that up to 50 social housing units would be fast-tracked and built on the site. Previously, the existing tenants (in the remaining townhouse who refused to be displaced) were served eviction notices, despite the fact that site redevelopment had not even reached the rezoning stage (and construction compl...
What does a billionaire mining magnate have in common with Vancouver's rent bank? The City critically unpacks the recently launched Vancouver rent bank with the editors of The Mainlander. We look into the issue of charity vs. justice, and we turn to renowned political philosopher Slavoj Zizek for some assistance.
Second part in a two-part series. Do we privilege larger cities when we talk about a sustainable, low-carbon future? Are smaller cities excluded from these conversations? Catherine Tumber, author of Small, Gritty, and Green: The Promise of America?s Smaller Industrial Cities in a Low-Carbon World, argues that smaller industrial cities have an increasingly significant role to play in our low-carbon, relocalized urban futures.
Do we privilege larger cities when we talk about a sustainable, low-carbon future? Are smaller cities excluded from these conversations? Catherine Tumber, author of Small, Gritty, and Green: The Promise of America?s Smaller Industrial Cities in a Low-Carbon World, argues that smaller industrial cities have an increasingly significant role to play in our low-carbon, relocalized urban futures. This is first in a two-part series.
This podcast is dedicated to the life and work of urban scholar-activist Neil Smith who passed away on September 29th. Neil vocally advocated for everyone's right to the city. His writing and activism centred around struggles for social justice in the city. We honour and recognize Neil's life and work by hearing a critical talk he gave in September 2010 - "Urban Politics, Urban Security" - at Harvard University. The podcast begins with a reading of Jeff Derksen's article, which describes Neil's ...
British Columbia faces a childcare crisis. How does this impact families in Vancouver and throughout BC cities? The City talks with Sharon Gregson of the Coalition of Child Care Advocates of BC and a former Vancouver School Board trustee about their comprehensive plan for an integrated system of early care and learning in BC - a publicly-funded, universal system. If adopted by the provincial government, the plan would provide $10/day full-time childcare to families and would be free for househol...
Vancouver's Coalition of Progressive Electors (COPE) brought seniors' housing issues and Musqueam's ongoing land struggle to the forefront with guest speakers at their recent general membership meeting. Rhiannon Bennett, a Musqueam band member, reflected on the ongoing 130+ day struggle to protect their burial grounds from condo development in South Vancouver. Gail Harmer, seniors' advocate and housing activist, addresses the challenges moderate and low-income seniors face when trying to find af...
On the program, The City speaks with historian, legal scholar, and Victoria City Councillor Ben Isitt about the rise of BC's labour movement from an urban perspective. We discuss the (radical) history of labour activism in Vancouver and Victoria, the issues facing unions and the working class today, as well as the challenge of bringing a progressive, working-class agenda to city hall.
The City discusses the state of arts and culture with Vancouver's Managing Director of Cultural Services Richard Newirth, covering everything from liquor regulations, funding, affordable arts space, and the eastward movement of artists within the city.
100 Days Later: Musqueam and the Fight to Protect Cultural History Reflections following the Musqueam First Nation's 100th day of struggle to protect their ancestral village site and burial grounds in south Vancouver from condo development.
SECOND IN A SERIES | On the podcast, we hear from Julian Cheyne (Counter Olympics Network) on the relationships between the London Games, property (re)development, gentrification, and remaking of working class East London boroughs into (upper) middle class urban space. Goldman Sachs and CBRE (the world's larger commercial development firm) provide perspectives from the elites who trumpet gentrification, redevelopment, and the displacement of working class housing and jobs. These processes of urb...
London Plays Games: Olympics History, Civil Liberties, and the Militarization of Public Space First in a series. A critical analysis of the London 2012 Games, featuring Chris Shaw (author, Five Ring Circus: Myths and Realities of the Olympic Games), Professor Jules Boykoff on dissent and the Olympics, and Julian Cheyne (London Counter Olympics Network) on the militarization of East London.
From Poor to Yuppie: Artists, Boutiques, and Neighbourhood Change. Critically examining processes of gentrification from the perspectives of urban scholars, an art gallery curator, a senior city official, and a neighbourhood activist.
The Urban Growth Machine
New York City and the Politics of Public Space
Unpacking the Vancouver Housing Affordability Interim Report // Quebec Student Leaders Report from the Frontline
Author and Anti-Poverty Activist Jean Swanson on the Cost of Poverty // The Future of Social Housing in Vancouver thecityfm.org
The Big Download Hits Cities // Redevelopment of Historic Avalon Dairy Farm // Women Transforming Cities
Dispatch from the Montreal Student Movement // Musqueam Continue Fight to Protect Burial Grounds // In the House Festival // Vancouver Night School
Cities and the End of Economic Growth
UBC Geography's Noah Quastel on sustainability, urban development, and class conflict
Musqueam's Struggle to Protect Sacred Burial Grounds Continues in Marpole // Vancouver's Living Wage Campaign
International Workers' Day + Social Polarization in Toronto
Sequel 138 Condo Development and Gentrification in the DTES Urban Soundscapes and Children's Health GUESTS Ivan Drury, Carnegie Community Action Project Iain Marjoribanks, UBC Geography
