Last season, we talked to a group of people from the Kensington Market Community Land Trust (KMCLT) in Toronto as part of a range of options for non-market housing. Over a year later, we check in with the state of land trusts across the country: where are they, what are their impact, and what do they need to succeed and even scale upward to other communities? Susannah Bunce, associate professor at the University of Toronto's Department of Human Geography, has been researching the KMCLT. She has ...
Sep 29, 2023•31 min
This Spring, Spacing Radio had the opportunity to take the show on the road to the International Transport Forum in Leipzig, Germany. Now that the whole "who will be the mayor of Toronto" thing is settled, we bring you some highlights from the Forum. Heather Thompson, CEO of the Institute for Transportation and and Development Policy, talks about the importance of smaller-order, local transit like buses. Ann Frye of consultant firm Ann Frye Ltd. talks about striking a balance between accessibili...
Aug 14, 2023•40 min
The days of the "mom-and-pop" landlord are largely behind us. Now, housing units are being snapped up or developed by large corporate entities and private equity firms. It can be hard to figure out who actually owns a building. Homes being treated like major sources of capital, instead of places for people to live. This is a major factor in the housing crisis, pushes people who are renting out of their homes and neighbourhoods, and changes the physical and social fabric of communities. Erika Sag...
Jul 26, 2023•50 min
The June 26th mayoral by-election is coming up fast. We've seen plenty of debate, a crowded field of candidates, and increased voter engagement. What's next? Spacing senior editor John Lorinc, Toronto Star city hall reporter Alyshah Hasham, and Ontario reporter for The Narwhal Fatima Syed join us to talk about duelling housing platforms, the environment, the big, Doug Ford-shaped question mark, and more.
Jun 20, 2023•41 min
Evictions can completely upend your life. At best, you have to begin the search for a new home in an increasingly expensive and competitive housing market. At worst, you can't find an affordable replacement. It's a scary situation, even in the best circumstances. In this episode, we get into why evictions happen, how frequently, tenant rights, and "bad faith" evictions. First, we speak to Adam Mongrain, director of housing policy with the Quebec advocacy group Vivre en Ville about an online rent...
Jun 09, 2023•43 min
Now that John Tory has officially stepped down as mayor, the field of candidates hoping to replace him is a big one. With roughly 50 candidates on the ballot so far, there's a lot to make sense of. To help weigh the merits of some of the major candidates, and the ideas proposed so far, we talk to Spacing Senior Editor John Lorinc and Toronto Metropolitan University Associate Professor Cheryl Thompson about what stands out in the race so far. And the new Spacing Magazine is available now, and it'...
Apr 28, 2023•1 hr 7 min
The term "Smart Cities" has been kicking around for about a decade now. When we began The Future Fix series, that term was headline news. Everyone, including multiple levels of governments, was being asked to imagine a new kind of urban space, where data and technology were woven into the very fabric of the neighbourhood. Since then, the Smart Cities conversation has evolved, important questions have been asked, a global pandemic happened, and we have more examples, from communities across Canad...
Mar 29, 2023•40 min
Not all technology has to be disruptive, it may actually be most useful as an extension of our ways of life, instead of as a replacement. In the arctic, the Inuit have extensive traditional knowledge of traversing sea ice for hunting, gathering supplies, and travelling between communities. SmartICE is a social enterprise which uses technology to build on this traditional knowledge and map the ever-changing sea ice, so people can make informed decisions about how and where to travel. Andrew Arrea...
Mar 06, 2023•17 min
We're back for 2023, and there is... a lot to catch up on. To begin, Emma McIntosh, Ontario reporter for The Narwhal, guides us through Doug Ford's Greenbelt plan. What will the long term effects be? Who stands to benefit? Did certain developers catch wind of the changes to land that was formerly protected? Then, Ontario Place for All co-founder Norm Di Pasquale tells us about the growing criticism of plans to turn Ontario Place into a privatized tourist destination.
Feb 28, 2023•39 min
We've had some time to make sense of the Toronto election, and what it might mean for the next four years in this city. Is there a silver lining to be found? Is Toronto due for another urbanist renaissance? We talk to Spacing co-founder and Star columnist Shawn Micallef. And we talk to the co-editor of the new book "The Signs that Define Toronto" Kurt Kraler about how the project came together, and what signs mean to the look, feel, and culture of a city.
Nov 30, 2022•41 min
Spacing and Evergreen proudly present The Future Fix: Solutions for Communities Across Canada, a special podcast series. THIS EPISODE: Digital Placemaking Data and technology allow placemakers to experiment with new ways of measuring, designing, and most importantly engaging with the people they are designing public space for. Ideally, digital placemaking empowers everyone to shape the spaces they use, love, and rely on. Farhaan Ladhani is co-founder and CEO of Digital Public Square, an organiza...
Nov 04, 2022•28 min
As Toronto gets ready to vote, we are bringing you regular panel discussions with journalists and experts who will break down the candidates, platforms, and issues that will shape our city for the next four years. Lorraine Lam is community organizer who works with unhoused people, John Lorinc is a Spacing senior editor, together, we try to make sense of the encampment evictions of last year, and how the next mayor and council must better serve people who are at risk in our communities.
Oct 21, 2022•37 min
Spacing and Evergreen proudly present The Future Fix: Solutions for Communities Across Canada, a special podcast series. This is a special, French-language edition. Spacing et Evergreen présentent ensemble une nouvelle série de podcast, Face au futur : des solutions pour les communautés du Canada, d’une côte à l’autre. CET ÉPISODE: Trois-Rivières : un virage intelligent Face au futur est presenté en collaboration avec le magasin Spacing et Evergreen dans le cadre du programme Réseau de solutions...
Oct 19, 2022•22 min
As Toronto gets ready to vote, we are bringing you regular panel discussions with journalists and experts who will break down the candidates, platforms, and issues that will shape our city for the next four years. But the Big Smoke isn't the only municipality going to the polls October 24th. All across Ontario, people are choosing their mayor, their local councillor, even their regional chair in some cases. To get the story outside the Toronto bubble, and to speak to the future of the Greater To...
Oct 14, 2022•53 min
As Toronto gets ready to vote, we are bringing you regular panel discussions with journalists and experts who will break down the candidates, platforms, and issues that will shape our city for the next four years. In this episode, it's a classic transit panel with Matt Elliott (Toronto Star columnist and City Hall Watcher proprietor) and Tricia Wood (York University urban geography professor and Spacing urban affairs columnist). We talk about lessons we did (and didn't) learn from the pandemic, ...
Oct 10, 2022•1 hr 2 min
Spacing and Evergreen proudly present The Future Fix: Solutions for Communities Across Canada, a special podcast series. THIS EPISODE: Experiments in Mobility It can be hard to convince governments at any level to invest in a new idea. This is especially true with transportation, where breaking away from the status quo can sometimes seem an impossible dream. But when opportunity to explore potential new ways of moving people is granted, on a small scale, and for a brief period of time, that allo...
Oct 07, 2022•28 min
As Toronto gets ready to vote, we’ll be bringing you regular panel discussions with journalists and experts who will break down the candidates, platforms, and issues that will shape our city for the next four years. In this episode, we talk to Spacing senior editor Shawn Micallef and Spacing contributor and West End Phoenix associate editor Kunal Chaudhary about how it's too quiet out there, public space, and the divided city.
Sep 30, 2022•45 min
Spacing and Evergreen proudly present The Future Fix: Solutions for Communities Across Canada, a special podcast series. This is a special, French-language edition. Spacing et Evergreen présentent ensemble une nouvelle série de podcast, Face au futur : des solutions pour les communautés du Canada, d’une côte à l’autre. CET ÉPISODE: La culture de la bicyclette est-elle inclusive? Si vous vivez à Montréal ou que vous y êtes déjà allé, vous avez certainement remarqué qu’il y a beaucoup de cyclistes...
Sep 29, 2022•26 min
Another election, another surprise announcement from Premier Doug Ford that throws it all into disarray. Ford's proposal for "Strong Mayor" powers for Toronto and Ottawa's next mayors have left many wondering why the Premier is intervening in local-level governance. One of these people is former Toronto Mayor David Miller. We speak to Miller — currently managing director of C40 Cities, advising municipalities on fighting climate change — about why a Strong Mayor system would be harmful to local ...
Aug 31, 2022•30 min
We're all used to headlines about impossibly soaring housing prices in Canadian cities: prices that leave many out of the market, and out in the cold. But this model of perpetually increasing home values is the dream for many owners. You buy a home, let it accumulate in value, and do whatever you can to insure that growing value isn't threatened. But this model is unsustainable and leaves many people without proper housing options. Dr. Paul Kershaw is a University of British Columbia professor, ...
Aug 24, 2022•54 min
The Toronto municipal election is underway, and we'll be spending the summer bringing you coverage, all the way up to E-Day on October 24th. But how do we get people engaged, and avoid the abysmally low voter turnout we saw in the Ontario provincial election? What does "Ford More Years" of Premier Doug mean for the municipal race, and the next council? What key items should be made election issues? And what does new police data which admits to systemic, racist overpolicing of minorities and use ...
Jun 30, 2022•42 min
The housing market is one everyone's minds these days. It determines who can live where, who can afford to buy a home, or even afford rent. It keeps some people in poverty, while making a small few incredibly rich. Is there a way governments, at various levels, can help bring some stability to an unstable market? To begin our discussion, we speak to University of British Columbia associate professor Thomas Davidoff, director of the Centre for Economics and Real Estate, who co-authored a revealin...
Jun 16, 2022•31 min
Spacing and the Balanced Supply of Housing research node proudly present The Overhead: Understanding Canada’s Affordable Housing Crisis, a special podcast series. THIS EPISODE: Non-market housing solutions For many housing advocates, part of the solution to providing affordable housing is removing housing from the volatile market. This means finding ways to secure housing ensuring it won't be sold, flipped, or inflated in price. It's something the Better Supply of Housing research node has been ...
May 02, 2022•39 min
Urban designers and placemakers often struggle to create cities that work for everyone, including youth. But the youth themselves are often left out of planning and engagement, or aren't being invited to participate in a way they feel comfortable with or excited about. How do we engage youth in building their cities? Federico Palacios is a graduate student at X University's (formally Ryerson) School of Urban and Regional Planning. He has developed the Cities for Youth Toolkit: a resource for peo...
Apr 06, 2022•56 min
Housing affordability and homelessness in Canada is a national disaster. And while there are many solutions proposed, the crisis likely requires a complete, holistic approach goes beyond just supply. That's the mission of the Balanced Supply of Housing research node, led by Principal Investigator Penny Gurstein. In this episode, we will meet some of the people working with the BSH, and ask them what they're doing to further the cause of a decent housing for all. Marika Albert and Andrés Peñaloza...
Feb 18, 2022•32 min
Those working with unhoused people in Toronto, like Sanctuary Toronto outreach worker Lorraine Lam, are warning about the total collapse of the City's shelter system: as COVID continues to sweep through those communities, and we experience extreme low temperatures. Spacing contributing editor Perry King (author of the book Rebound: Sports, Community, and the Inclusive City) talks about what to do with the City's five publicly-owned golf courses. And Neil Brochu talks about his contribution to Sp...
Feb 01, 2022•39 min
We end the year with a classic case of man vs. machine, as journalist and culture writer Graham Isador talks about tiny delivery robots taking over city sidewalks, and Toronto Council's decision to pause so-called micro-utility devices until sometime in 2022. Next, we talk to journalist and author Stephen Dale about his new book, Shift Change: scenes from a post-industrial revolution, all about Hamilton, Ontario's struggle with a rapid gentrification and housing cost crisis. Finally, with Spacin...
Dec 30, 2021•47 min
With many people still working from home, the future of Toronto's PATH system — the underground mall serving the financial towers above — is in question. Globe & Mail urban affairs reporter Oliver Moore, who wrote about this crisis, explains the situation. And Spacing senior editor John Lorinc talks about the possible implications the City's new Inclusionary Zoning policy may have on Toronto's housing and affordability crisis. Finally, as a preview of Spacing's upcoming book, Souvenirs of To...
Nov 30, 2021•45 min
In this episode, we follow up on the municipal elections in Edmonton and Calgary, with a bit of a rant about rooming houses. Then, we talk to journalist and Spacing contributing editor Perry King about his new book Rebound: sports, community, and the inclusive city. Finally, as a preview of our upcoming "Growing" issue of the magazine, we talk to Sundance Harvest farm director Cheyenne Sundance about urban farming, empowering marginalized and BIPOC communities, and food justice.
Nov 01, 2021•38 min
With the mayors of both Edmonton and Calgary stepping down, and Alberta municipal elections taking place October 18, we decided to bring you all out west. But first, the City of Toronto released a detailed account of how much this summer's park encampment evictions cost. Matt Elliott wrote a Toronto Star column breaking down the cost, and we talk about how that money could have been better spent actually supporting people who live in encampments. Then, Alberta-based journalist Tim Querenguesser ...
Oct 04, 2021•47 min
