PLX111 Exam Review PDF

PLX111 Exam Review Reading Notes Weeks 1-5: Review ▶︎ For the quiz practices Week 1: Introduction, What is a City? Friday, September 6, 2024 8:14 PM Introduction Notable Population Numbers (throughout the decades) ○ 1950 → 746 million ○ 2018 → 4.2 billion...

PLX111 Exam Review Reading Notes Weeks 1-5: Review ▶︎ For the quiz practices Week 1: Introduction, What is a City? Friday, September 6, 2024 8:14 PM Introduction Notable Population Numbers (throughout the decades) ○ 1950 → 746 million ○ 2018 → 4.2 billion ○ 2050 → estimated 6.7 billion Cities are out future and may also be our solution as: #1: Urban populations are richer and more economically prosperous Edward Glaeser, Triumph of the City ○ "Cities don't make poor people; they attract poor people." Poverty rate amongst recent arrivals to a city is higher than the long term residents within a city ○ "Urban Poverty Paradox" → cities are home to large populations of the poor because dynamic and varied urban economics attract people who seek economic opportunity Examples include cities like Rio de Janeiro who have sizeable favelas (informal settlements or slums) but the poverty rate is lower than in rural areas #2: Urban populations enjoy a higher standard of living Electricity access is higher in urban areas than in rural areas in nearly all countries Access to improved sanitation, drinking water and clean fuels for cooking and heating is higher in urban areas Child malnutrition is lower in urban settings #3: Urban populations are more environmentally sustainable "If you love nature, stay away from it." - Edward Glaeser Larger and denser cities are cleaner and more energy efficient than smaller cities or suburbs Large cities decrease human encroachment into natural habitats Urban households emit less carbon dioxide than suburban and rural households As an urban population grows, the rate in growth of its emissions decreases What is a City? What features define a city? ○ Large population ○ Economic hub ○ Big hub for advanced technologies, attractions, education & transportation Innovation Hub e.g., Hospital services - more hospital technologies and specialized hospitals compared to a rural area with one hospital ○ Diverse Culture Creation of communities Connected idea: fashion reflects the environment Creates the idea of freedom and space within the city, "liberty" ○ Physical Spaces e.g., third-spaces → areas that are not personal or work places that individuals can spend their time at (e.g., libraries, malls, etc.) ○ Variety of class systems ○ Many opportunities provided ○ Presence of government buildings and political organization !!! ALL TOGETHER, CITIES ARE MULTI-FACETED & INTERDISCIPLINARY Meaning: Cities are made up of multiple different aspects (e.g., economy, architecture, politics, etc.); therefore, you will need an understanding of different disciplines to understand what is going on within a city Therefore, a city is something that is both produced and produces ○ People build the environment and this, in-turn, affects the people; this repeats over and over Cities are dynamic and constantly changing ○ We play a part in this change, even if its good or bad What makes a Good City? The ideas of what makes a good city has changed dramatically throughout history ○ These changes can be observed in the way our cities are built In the present, it depends on an individual's personal preferences What is a "Creative City?" "Creative City" is a paradigm of city building that arose in the early 1990s. ○ Placed emphasis on fostering the creativity of its citizens to allow a city to succeed ○ Must be done by (firstly) providing them vibrant and satisfying experiences and spaces What are we trying to achieve with this class? Why are we doing this? ○ Allows us to observe and understand the wider social and economic ecosystem that the creative industries that interests us exists in  How will we go about doing it? ○ By studying the Creative City Paradigm as both something that has happened historically and continues to happen to day as a practice "Historically" the creative city paradigm has had a long lasting impact on the GTA we know today As a "practice", the paradigm offers a compelling example for how we can think about the relationship between art and design and the spaces we inhabit Week 2: Creativity and Culture Wednesday, September 11, 2024 8:38 AM Historical Background The Roots of the Urban Crisis (1950's-Present) ○ Post-War "Golden Age" We can observe an unusual amount of nostalgia for this period Members of both the political left and right often point to this period as a "high-point" but the reality is far more complicated and far less "golden" Left: Single income household Stable "for life" jobs Strong unions Inequality at lowest point Social mobility was high Right: Nuclear Family was celebrated "Traditional" gender roles "Safe" communities Population "united" The "Hole-in-the-Donut" Problem "Urban decay” had traditionally been located on the peripheries of cities, a new crisis saw the centres of North American cities “hollowed out,” increasingly becoming sites of poverty, crime, and violence So, what caused the "donut hole" phenomenon? 1. New City Planning Ideals Modernist city planning sought to: ○ Create order in urban centres by isolating and separating various functions ○ Augment urban density by building "upwards" ○ Improve speed and efficiency of transport ○ Increased availability of green space "Towers in the Park" approach to urban design 1. Construction of New Highway Systems Post-war period ○ Needed to make things after building weapons, tanks, etc. Automobiles was a major driver of the economy To support the industry, the US government built the Interstate Highway System ○ Government wide consensus, road and automobile will boost economy and GDP ○ Costed $114 billion ○ Took 35 years to complete In Canada, Trans-Canada Highway Act (1950-1962) costed over $1 billion to complete ○ In addition to provincial highway construction One thing to draw vs. build Architects of transportation schemes (e.g., Robert Moses) sought to connect the Interstate System to local road networks The construction of urban highways had immense human cost and were highly controversial ○ Separated communities ○ Property value drops ○ Areas the highway was built in tended to be where low income, immigrant families lived Jane Jacobs ○ Helped mobilize communities to stop the highway projects being built ○ Rose to fame doing activism ○ Moved to Toronto after 1. Suburbanization and Demographic Shifts This era is characterized by the "opening up of the suburbs" Before the war, only 13% of the US population lived in the suburbs After the war, the mortgage insurance program was subsidized and supported by the Federal Housing Administration to make it easier for millions to afford home ownership ○ Done in order to support construction and real estate expansion ○ Done both in the US and Canada ○ These programs often made it significantly cheaper to purchase a home than to rent This era had also coincided with another important population movement ○ "Great Migration" Over 6 millions African Americans migrated from the south to the northeast, midwest and west A result of economic opportunities, racial segregations and outright violence Most settled in urban areas and by the end, >80% of African Americans lived in urban areas "White Flight" is the phenomenon where white people would move out and African Americans (and other minorities) would move into urban areas. This was due to the combination of government policies supporting growth of suburbs which often were explicitly exclusionary, cities had intensified racial segregation ○ Resulted in racial tensions, economic concerns and desire for homogeneity Canadian experience was similar but not as severe  ○ After the 1960's, immigration policy shifted from favouring European immigrants towards a more multicultural policy ○ Allowed for greater diversity in inner cities "Overt" racism vs. systemic or structural racism ○ Much of non-overtly racist decisions occurred due to structural racism ○ Many black communities were declared by planners to be declining and this made them ineligible for government backed mortgages Overall, in economic terms, this was devastating for cities ○ Wealthy, middle class families were replaced with poorer, rural families where many had arrived with little to no support system ○ As urban tax base shrunk, city services and infrastructure suffered ○ Detroit is a big example of this 1. Manufacturing and Industrial Decline Since the recession of 1971, North American economies have been rapid de-industrializing Mainly seen in industrial towns/cities "Rust Belt" region of the US experienced an average employment decrease of 32.9% between 1969 and 1996 Resulted in high negative growth in many Rush Belt manufacturing cities Conclusion Encapsulates everything we learned: ○ Richer residents moving out (for suburbanization) ○ Poorer residents remain ○ Population shrinks and tax revenue decline ○ Services underfunded ○ Environment and remaining residents suffer the consequences This then leads to richer residents wanting to move out ○ The cycle continues… How do we fill the "donut-hole?" ○ How do we entice people to come back to the city? Paradigm shift → The Creative City Richard Florida ○ Urban theorist ○ Professor at Rotman School of Management at UofT ○ Was senior editor of The Atlantic ○ Author of numerous best selling books "The Rise of the Creative Class" (2002) What is Creativity "Sock Experiment" ○ Fun way to observe how creativity works ○ Creativity is often defined as the "conjunction of novelty, utility, and surprise"  Creativity: ○ Ken Robinson defines creativity as: "the process of having original ideas that have value" ○ Teresa Amabile defines it as: "the production of novel and useful ideas in any domain" ○ All in all, the way creativity has been understood and valued had changed dramatically throughout history Works such as "The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit" & "The Organization Man" capture the spirit of conformity that existed in the mid-twentieth century and the bubbling sense of social angst and anxiety ○ Robert Shultz described the work as depicting "collectivism colliding with individualism” ○ Whyte coined the term “groupthink” A phenomenon that leads a group of individuals who value harmony and conformity to make irrational or dysfunctional decisions "The Feminine Mystique" ○ A good accompaniment to the works above ○ Focuses on the women's point-of-view ○ The phrase "the feminine mystique" was used to describe the assumptions that women could be fulfilled solely from their housework, marriage, sexual lives and children ○ Major inspiration of "second-wave feminism" These social undercurrents can be connected to the youth rebellion in the late 1960's ○ Greatest example of this is the period of civil unrest in France known as "May '68" Characterized by: Widespread student protests and occupations Worker strikes This led to the collapse of the French Government Highlights the wider rejection of the conformist world and instead in favour of a new world of freedom, creative expression and the power of imagination "The real driving force (of economic change) is the rise of human creativity as the key factor in our economy and society. Both at work and in other spheres of our lives, we value creativity more highly and cultivate it more intensely than we ever have before.” - Richard Florida, p.5 Florida's ideas about how today's society "values creativity more highly" and "cultivates creativity more intensely" are worth looking more closely ○ Think about the idea of "valuing" creativity Week 3: The Rise of the Creative Class Wednesday, September 11, 2024 9:55 AM What is the Creative Class "Class,” refers to a system of ordering society into categories that can help us better understand the complexities of social life. In this case, we are specifically referring to classifications based on occupations. ○ Sometimes “classes” imply a value judgment (e.g., high class vs. Low class). That is not what we are trying to do here. The first two categories Florida uses are "working class" and "service class" occupations So, the Creative Class refers to jobs which involve creating new ideas, new technology, and new creative content ○ As Florida puts it, the function of the "creative class" is to "create meaningful new forms" ○ Florida also distinguishes between: Super-Creative Core: Includes scientists, engineers, university professors, poets, artists, entertainers, etc. Creative Professionals: Who work in a wide-range of knowledge-intensive fields such as high-tech, financials, legal, healthcare, and business management. What is Significant About Its Rise? Types of jobs in Toronto: ○ 45% of Service Class ○ 33% of Creative Class ○ 19% of Working Class "The real driving force of economic change is the rise of human creativity as the key factor in our economy and society. Both at work and in other spheres of our lives, we value creativity more highly and cultivate it more intensely than we ever have before.  According to Florida, the most important values of the "Creative Class" workers cluster around 3 basic lines: Individuality: Resisting conformity and endeavor to creative individualists identities that reflect their creativity Meritocracy: Members get to go ahead because they are good at what they do Diversity and Openness: Environment that is open to difference of gender, sexual preferences, race or even personal idiosyncrasies "The Creative Class represents not an alternative group but a new and increasingly norm-setting mainstream of society. This has become even more pronounced over the past decade as the Creative Class and its value have permeated society, in the United States and around the world." (p.63) ○ e.g., "Hollywood is too woke" IN SUMMARY, we might say that the "creative class" jobs make up an increasingly large part of our economy, command increasingly lucrative salaries and have a central role in shaping the prevailing values and attitudes of our culture. How does the "Rise of the Creative Class" Impact The Way We Build Cities? How do we fill the donut hole? ○ Well, ask first: What attracts people to a city? Conventional Wisdom People follow jobs: assumes that people are "rational economic actors" and seek to maximize wages and living conditions; by that logic, cities are best served by policies that attract new firms to their city Attract using tax incentives and capital projects (convention centers, office buildings, stadiums, malls, etc.) and once established, people will return to city centers in pursuit of the new opportunities Case Study: Hamilton's Troubled Rejuvenation ○ Background Industrial City in southern Ontario Prescence of steel industry established the city as a center for manufacturing and business Experience high levels of immigration following the war (predominantly European immigrants) Mid 20th Century, the downtown core experienced a pronounced "donut hole" effect, fueled primarily by suburbanization, transport planning and de-industrialization. Snapshot ○ Large and iconic companies like Stelco and Dofasco dramatically reduced workforces (From 25,000 employees in the 1960s to only 600 after restructuring in the 2000s) ○ Workforce shifted away from industrial labour (in 1960, nearly half of all jobs were industrial labour. This fell to 15% by the 2000s) ○ Population growth of surrounding municipalities much higher than downtown core  Attempts to Rejuvenate Downtown dating back to the 1960's ○ Jackson Square (1972) ○ Hamilton Convention Center (1973) ○ Art Gallery of Hamilton (1977) ○ Copps Coliseum (1985) ○ Eaton's Centre (1990) Troubles with Rejuvenation ○ Jackson Square and Eaton Centre struggled with high vacancy rates ○ Eaton Centre bankrupt only 10 years after opening ○ Despite efforts, crime and vagrancy increased in the 1990's amidst mall construction projects Why didn't these project succeed? ○ Jobs might attract people, but it doesn’t guarantee that they will stay downtown after working hours. (e.g., workday “tidal” effect) ○ Downtown shopping struggled to compete with suburban malls that benefitted from cheaper land (more retail space, better parking, etc. ○ Evidence that facilities like cultural centers, stadiums, and event facilities spur economic development is dubious ○ Projects were underfunded. Initial plan was scaled back. We will never know how things would have turned out if the initial plan was followed. Maybe better? Same? Worse? ○ Renewal projects changed the nature of the street life. Busy streets filled with varied shops replaced with environments hostile to pedestrians Week 4: Building Creative Cities: in Toronto and around the Globe Wednesday, September 25, 2024 8:10 AM Building Creative Cities Communication grows; geography is dead Cities are trying to attract digital nomads to their cities so that they could spend money which helps boost the economy Where do we live? Why do we choose to live there? Where you love and where you're plugged in really matters in helping you finding better opportunities What Explains Urban Agglomeration 1. Social Capital 1. Based on Robert Putnam's class work, Bowling Alone 2. Putnam's work traced a general decline in community ties across a variety of measures (e.g., public trust, voting, membership in organizations)  1. "Places with dense ties and high levels of traditional social capital provide advantages to insiders and thus promote stability, while places with looser networks and weaker ties are more open to newcomers and thus promote novel combinations of resources and ideas." 1. Human Capital and Urban Regional Growth 1. Theory that "people are the motor force behind regional growth" 1. Arguments state that regional growth lies not in reducing costs of doing business but in endowments of highly-educated and productive people 2. Other words: cities with a greater number of talented and educated people tend to grow faster and are thus better able to attract more talent 1. Conventional Wisdom to The Human Capital Theory Creative Capital Theory NOTE: Based on a focus group Observed that creative people are a somewhat unique groups who aren't interested in traditional "corporate communities" Inverted logic Case Study: Toronto's Plan to Build the Creative City Question: How to respond to these economic changes? ○ Choices: Focus energies on rejuvenating the shrinking manufacturing sector or develop and foster the "creative economy"? ○ Chose the latter Described as a "Perfect Storm" ○ Private sector Investments ○ Federal and Provincial Investments ○ Cultural/Non-Profit Leaders (e.g., AGO, ROM, National Ballet, etc.) ○ Culture-Friendly Leadership (David Miller and other municipal leaders) ○ Creative City Framework (Richard Florida, etc.) AT A GLANCE ○ Commissioned in 2003 ○ A 10 Year Strategy for updating Toronto's approach to Arts and Culture ○ "Twin Goals" include public good and economic development ○ 50 page report that has 60 recommendations Categorized into Build an "avenue of the arts" Increase Arts Funding Improve Arts Accessibility and Diversity Preserve and Promote Local Heritage Signaled a shift from treating arts and culture as a luxury to a significant component of the urban economy The Power of City Branding "In a globalized world, only cities with a strong and particular sense of place will stand out and succeed." (Culture Plan, p.10) Snapshot: Turin, Italy ○ Industrial city in Piedmont Region ○ Known for automobile production, headquarters of FIAT ○ Image of Turin has been tied closely with the industry and automobiles Week 5: Building Creative Cities: Critical Approaches Wednesday, October 2, 2024 3:29 AM Critique and the Creative City Thematic breakdown points to a range of ways we can assess the strengths and weaknesses of the Creative City Paradigm Theory: scrutinize the core ideas of the paradigm itself Application: observing what happens when these ideas guide policy; helping determine what has worked and what hasn't Legacy: analyze our current predicament and make connections to past decisions, whether intentional or not Potential: revisiting our central assumptions about arts, culture, creativity and city building and hypothesize alternative lessons and programs The Central Problem ○ "Donut Hole" effect is hitting cities across North America due to suburbanization and industrial decline ○ Conventional approach to attracting jobs back to cities was yielding poor results The Secondary Problem ○ Cities are recovering from the "Donut Hole" effect was widely different rates ○ Enrico Moretti refers to this as the "Great Divergence" Meaning, as manufacturing hubs decline and suffer, new technological innovation hubs are thriving and thus the gap between them is only widening Assessing the Creative City Thesis "Creativity" is becoming a central feature of our economy and society As generating new knowledge and new content become increasingly important for economic development, professions associated with this (the creative class) are becoming an increasingly important resource Data suggests that the members of the creative class display a preference for particular socio-cultural factors (individuality, diversity, etc.)  In an effort to attract "creative industries," policy makes should thus prioritize fostering a quality of life that reflects these factors as well as other amenities related to entertainment, leisure and culture ! As a piece of work gains notoriety, it also becomes a target of criticism from all directions ! Richard Florida was criticized from both the right (Steven Malanga) and the left (Jamie Peck) Points of Critique… 1. The Theoretical Framework Does the idea of the "creative class" truly make sense? While they certainly all involve "creativity," are occupations like poet or painter really comparable to bank managers and politicians? “What do prominent German pop star Dieter Bohlen, director of the German Bank Josef Ackermann, 2007 Nobel Prize in Physics winner Peter Grünberg, and political functionary Guido Westerwelle have in common? According to Richard Florida’s theory, they are members of the ‘creative class.’” - Stefan Kratke, “Creative Cities and the Rise of the Dealer Class” (2010) Really what do these people have in common? Kratke suggests that too many occupations are conflated together in Florida's theory He instead offers 5 groups: ○ Scientifically and technology creative workers ○ Artistically creative workers ○ Dealer class (Finance and real estate) ○ Economic management class (Firm managers, entrepreneurs, and consultants) ○ Political class For Kratke, regional growth is predicted more so by the prevalence of "scientifically and technologically creative workers, than by a general "creative class" 1. Explanatory Power Does the data back up Florida's ideas about the creative class? Are there other models for explaining the success of certain cities? There are many other ways to think about urban agglomeration Glaeser's "Human Capital Theory" is one Similarly, economist Enrico Moretti offered a competing explanation that centres on three factors: ○ Size of labor markets ○ Economic systems ○ Knowledge spillovers 1. Policy Recommendations Will an arts and culture-based development strategy work for all cities? What will happen to citizens who are struggling with increasingly high costs of living? Criticisms for this point from all sides  ○ Malanga criticized it as a plot of "leftish" planners and policy makers to pursue progressive policies and big-government spending while couching it in "economic development talk" ○ On the other hand, Peck suggests Florida's ideas represent a new kind of Urban Neoliberalism "Rather than 'civilizing' urban economic development by 'bringing in culture'. Creative strategies do the opposite: they commodify the arts and cultural resources, even social tolerance itself, suturing them as putative economic assets to evolving regimes of urban competition." All in all, the nature of this regime of urban competition is worth reflecting on: ○ Are all communities truly capable of competing with established creative centres like Austin or Brooklyn if they just employ the "correct" creative strategies ○ At the same time, what are the downsides of this approach to development Medellin, Colombia is a great example ○ Before it used to be considered to be one of the dangerous cities in the world Ruled by the cartel ○ After the murder, the city has transformed into this new interesting tourist destination; cosmopolitan destination Had embraced the idea of digital nomad Following this example, many critics of Florida highlight the way the creative city development has negatively affected local communities Peck emphasizes how the creative city planning often deepens urban inequality, causing heightened gentrification and displacement of low income communities Likewise, scholars like Loretta Lees highlight how creative city planning often prioritizes "flashy" but superficial projects instead of addressing social justice issues (affordability, labour rights, homelessness) Week 8: Life between Buildings Public Life Studies Going out into the world, observing, writing down data and utilizing that to design solutions ▶︎ Jan Gehl: How to Study Public Life? Urban design theorist and architect Popularized the approach of systematically documenting urban spaces ○ Mainly advocates for pedestrian-friendly cities Known for The Human Scale (2012) Induced Demand ○ General term covering the various interconnected effects that cause roads to fill up to capacity quickly. ○ Problem of Congestion As cities become more congested, building roads exacerbates the issue. ○ Copenhagen – where it all started  Introduction of pedestrian areas = introduction of public life Methods to Study Public Life 1. Counting → Principle: “Everything can be counted.” → Commonly used → Comparisons between areas over time can be drawn from numbers (before vs. after) 2. Mapping → Principle: “Everything can be drawn as symbols: activities, people, places, etc.” → Used to mark the number and types of activities and where they take place → Also known as behaviourial mapping 3. Tracing → Principle: “People’s movements in a space can be drawn” → Basically drawing out people’s movements inside a certain area being studied using lines 4. Tracking → Principle: “Discreetly follow someone (knowing or not) and observe their movements.” → To examine people’s movements over a large area for a longer period of time → Also known as shadowing 5. Traces → Principle: “Human traces can be registered through counting, photographing or mapping” → Human activity = leaves traces = gives information about city life → Desire Path ○ Convenient shortcuts that emerge when a deliberate constructed path is longer, inconvenient, or troublesome. 6. Photographing → Principle: “Essential to document where urban life and form interact or not” → Important part of public life studies → Used to see (again) how urban life and form interact or don’t interact after an initiative has been taken 7. Diary Keeping → Principle: “Keeping a diary can help detail important information and nuances” → Information and nuances on the interaction between public life and space → This information can be later categorized or quantified. 8. Test Walks → Principle: “Your own perspective in a less systematic way” → Aim is to make sure that the observer has first-hand experience and a chance to notice the problems and potentials for city life on a given route ▶︎ William H. Whyte: Lessons for Design American urbanist and journalist Street Life Project (1971) ○ Small team who conducted research and documented how people used public space in NYC ○ All collected in The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces (1980)  ○ Live observers, time-lapse cameras on streets, plazas, and markets Revolutionized the study and design of public spaces Focus: Sitting Spaces ○ Observations: New Yorkers were consistent in their use of plazas — day in and day out. There was a huge variance → many would sit at one, few at others Shouldn’t be a result as all observed plazas had similar characteristics: major avenues, block front, bus stops, subway stations, strong pedestrian flows. Due to… The amount of open space? Weather or sun exposure? Aesthetics or architecture? Layout or shapes (rectangular vs. square)? Amount of sittable space? ○ ish! ○ According to Whyte: Moveable Chair = wonderful invention Why? It has a backrest, armrest and allows choice to move around. ○ Findings: Amount of sittable space < Quality of sittable space Elemental point: supply creates demand With better design, >50% more seating was possible to add without changing the basic layout of city plazas ○ Implications: Better designed spaces = more public life It is a lot of effort to identify examples of poor design Week 9: Place and Placemaking ▶︎ Florida: Quality of Place Decisive factor that determined where people choose to live Locations with high quality of place benefitted from: ○ Thick labour markets ○ Attractive lifestyle ○ Opportunities for social interaction ○ Large “mating market” ○ Diversity ○ Social scene ○ Strong sense of identity ▶︎ Space vs. Place 2 most important concepts when studying the relationship between humans and their environment Complex, multi-faceted concepts which are understood intuitively  Yi-Fu Tuan ○ Undifferentiated space becomes place as we get to know it better and endow it with value ○ Space and place requires both each other for definition Is place a quality of space? ○ Yes and no. ○ Space can transform into a place but space and place doesn’t need to always have this relationship. If places are “meaningful locations” are those meanings shared or stable? ○ Yes and no. ○ Places can have shared meanings, but they can also be personal. ○ An empty space to someone else might be a meaningful place to another. ○ Meaning is context and time specific ▶︎ Gaston Bachelard & Kevin Lynch Phenomenologist and Architect Phenomenology: a philosophical tradition that studies the nature of subjective conscious experience ○ Aimed at exploring the meaning and significance of the lived experience Imageability: the quality in a physical object ○ Gives object a high probability of evoking a strong image in any given observer The 5 Elements of Physical Form: 1. Paths → Channels where the observer can move → Streets, walkways, transit lines, canals, railroads, etc.  2. Edges → Linear elements not used or considered as paths by the observer → Boundaries between 2 phases, breaks in continuity 3. Districts → Medium -to-large sections of the city → Seen as having a two-dimensional extent ○ Observer mentally enters “inside of” ○ Recognizable from inside and outside 4. Nodes → Points → Strategic spots in a city where an observer can enter → Also the intensive foci to and from where they are travelling 5. Landmarks → Another type of point-reference → Observer does not enter within them as they are external “We are continuously engaged in the attempt to organize, structure and identify our surroundings…it should be possible when reshaping cities to give them form, further helping push the organizing efforts.” ▶︎ Place, Placemaking and Social Justice Natchee Blu Barnd & “Native Space” ○ Phenomenon of “Indian Villages” Clusters of streets are named after Native and Indigenous peoples Appears across the US Streets named about black figures (e.g., MLK) appear in areas with “accepted black geographies” but Indigenous-themed street names do not correspond with the national territories “...all share a demographic shaped by the relatively extreme whiteness of the residents and the lack of Native peoples.” “...operates at the intersection of colonialism, identity, race and space…aside from helping us navigate roads and cities, it also helps us define, locate and negotiate a neocolonial nation → locating whiteness.” ▶︎ Placemaking and Creative Cities Placemaking ○ The process of making places → meaningful locations ○ An idea and approach to improve a neighborhood, city or region Inspires to reimagine and reinvent public spaces ○ Aimed to strengthen the connection between people and the places they share ○ Additionally, to rejuvenate structures and streetscapes → improve local business, public safety, and promote diversity by bringing people together ○ Healthy Public Spaces help jumpstart in revitalizing communities through economic development ○ Overall: Build a sense of community, civic identity, culture, etc  Facilitate social capital, economic growth and community revitalization ○ Heart of the Community Project 2014-2019 Offered grants and technical assistance to cities who wanted to transform their public spaces and communities Detroit, Atlanta, Philadelphia Ways to Improve Your City ○ Improve Streets as Public Spaces Planned for the people → not auto-centric Ensures human interaction and provides safe public spaces that promote cultural expression → cohesion of communities ○ Squares and Parks as Multi-use Destinations An Urban Park… is good if it acts as a safety valve for the city, where people living in high density can find breathing room. Is bad if its a place of fear and danger A Square… is good if it acts as a focal point of civic pride and help make citizens feel connected to the cultural and political institutions is bad if it repels ○ Build Local Economies Through Markets Markets bring people of different ethnic groups and income levels together in a safe, inviting public space. Provides opportunities for people at the lower end of the economic spectrum, entrepreneurs (including women) to sustain themselves and their families with a minimum of ○ Lighter Quicker, Cheaper: Start Small Experiment Lower risk, lower cost and capitalizes off the creative energy of the community Generates new uses and revenue Allows citizens to try new things and if there’s success, they can build on it All together, placemaking… ○ Provides a method for infusing a community with arts, culture and creativity, avoiding the criticisms of expensive top-down cultural policies ○ Has an iterative nature that provides room for experimentation ○ Has a lower cost which doesn’t rely on the perfect mix of policy leadership and funding ○ Allows greater inclusion of artists and local communities Week 10: Inequality and Gentrification ▶ Florida’s Observation “Back to the City” movement ○ Since 2000s ○ Attributed to the Creative City movement  ○ Filling of the donut hole problem ○ Largely driven by upscale, affluent, young, educated and white populations, creating effects such as: 1. Housing Costs Rising Compared to the Rise in Wages Rising rent and house prices Inflation of house prices Population vs Number of Rental Units Housing costs & Rent vs Income Vacancies 2. Housing Availability is Targeted to a Specific Demographic Urban areas are now mainly composed of singles, childless couples or couples with very young children Developments that are being built needs to reflect these changes ○ Living spaces getting smaller 3. Toronto’s Prosperity is not being equally distributed Income inequality across different demographics Net worth differences Investment Properties ○ Issues of affordability, segregation and gentrification are introduced when filling the donut hole ▶ Gentrification Ruth Glass (1964) Used to describe the displacement of London’s working class residents by wealthier newcomers Presently describes the process where the character of a poorer urban area is changed by wealthier people moving in, resulting in the displacement of the original inhabitants. Social Consequences: 1. Displacement of Lower Income Populations Richard Florida challenges the scale of this notion Rising rent = force out residents ○ Especially those without rent control protections 2. Enforcement of “Anchor” Businesses To Close or Move A neighbourhood is defined by the businesses that exist and sustain it (e.g., Oxford Fruit) ○ Called an anchor business Serves social functions Rising rent forces businesses to move or close 3. Changing the Identity of a Neighbourhood Gentrified neighbourhoods can share the same look or feel Loses the local character 4. Erode Community Bonds Gentrifying residents have looser ties to the community Communities flourish when there is a dense connection of familiarity and trust between residents  Risk of becoming a collection of anonymous residents 5. Commodification of Neighborhoods Loss of anchor businesses, residents and character = the area may only live as a means to sell itself Prominent Examples: NYC’s Little Italy ○ Used to be home to a prominent Italian community, now a tourist spot 6. Complex Relationships with Artists and Creative Workers Artists move to an underdeveloped area → Area becomes popular, hip → Development follows Art Washing ○ Developers using public art to appear more ethical, considerate and community focused when being accused of gentrification. Idea: Artists are “shock troops” ○ Cheap rent and studio space → attractive ○ Place become popular and hip ○ Attracts investment ○ Rent is raised ○ Forces artists to move out as they can’t live and work in the area Why does Gentrification happen? ○ Real world property value is influenced by spatial factors Being near parks, stations, etc may result in the value increasing Being near airports, factories, etc may result in the value decreasing ○ Time influences Properties begin to lose value due to the passage of time buildings need to be regularly maintained and repaired to stop the decline in value ○ Economic cycle connection Properties slowly decline and then abandoned or sold at a lower rate Investing in undervalued space for greater → in new properties → dives and abandonment of old buildings ○ Rent Gap Neil Smith (Geographer) The gap between falling actual rents and the stable or rising potential rents Predicted the real estate + renovation costs < potential sale price gentrification ★ Gentrification is a part of the capital flow in and out of urban spaces and reflects a prosperous economy How to mitigate the effects of Gentrification? ○ Rent Control Government measures taken Enforces a limit on the rent a property owner can charge Debates regarding rent control Economists decry its effects Edward Glaeser argued that it leads to an inefficient distribution of housing and overall reduces housing supply due to the disincentivizing aspect of rent control Impacted displacement levels  Long and medium term residents of rent control policies were 10-20% more likely to stay in their rental unit + 4% to stay in the city Positive effects on community continuity, aging in place and workforce retention Week 11: The Bentway ▶ Alex Rand: Project Manager The Bentway ○ Public space located under the Gardiner Expressway ○ Connects a bunch of 17 emerging downtown neighbourhoods ○ ~85% of residents live in vertical housing ○ Neighbourhood growth has out-paced the development of public amenities ○ Public and private investors ○ Highline Network Compared to highline network, the bentway works with an active highway Week 12: Public Art & Controversy ▶ Public Art Art that is in the public realm Expresses community values, enhances the environment, transforms a landscape, heightens awareness, or questions our assumptions. A form of collective community expression ▶ What is Art? Enlightenment philosophers stated that art is part of humanity’s quest to understand the world as truth Arthur Danto, “its whatever the Artworld says it is” ○ e.g., readymade art Debates regarding whether art must serve a social function or if it has the responsibility to take a position on important social issues? ○ Some say… Fine art only exists for its own sake (autonomous) Art is propaganda (e.g., George Orwell) ▶ What is Public? Public means that something is open, accessible, free, shared, etc. Privately Owned Public Space (POPS) ○ A specific type of open space which welcomes the public to enjoy ○ Remains privately owned though! Public space and public spheres matter for democracies for  ○ Practical Reasons Sites where citizens can congregate, form and debate their political opinions ○ Symbolic Reasons Democracies have an image of an empty space – no person, family, party, group, etc., can be permanently associated with being under rule Democracies are also a contested idea → democracy itself is a public space as it can be used and occurs in different contexts Therefore, democracies are indeterminate and open regimes that change to the public’s wishes All together, this makes judging public art very complex and difficult ▶ Case Studies Richard Serra’s Tilted Arc ○ Commissioned and constructed in 1981 ○ Installed in Foley Plaza, Manhattan ○ A sheet of unfinished steel that’s 120x12 feet that bisected the area Public’s Reaction ○ Negative feedback with complaints of it being disruptive ○ 13,000 people signed a petition for its removal ○ Artists and art historians argued against the removal ○ Verdict Taken down and placed into storage in 1989 “Plaza rightfully returns to the people” Maya Lin’s Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial ○ Won a design competition against top architectures as an undergraduate in 1981 ○ Installed in D.C Washington and points towards Lincoln and Washington memorials ○ A V-shaped granite wall cut into the ground ○ Has the name of fallen soldiers listed chronologically Public Reaction ○ Controversial ○ Called “Black Scar” and was seen as shameful ○ Seen as too nihilistic ○ Racial backlash against the selection of Lin ○ Verdict: Government added a large American flag Commissioned Fredrick Hart’s The Three Soldiers to add alongside the memorial ▶ Toronto’s Public Art Issues of public sculptures: ○ One-off deals between politicians, citizens, financial backers, etc. ○ Alienated local populations and artists ○ Process was also informal and irregular Toronto Public Art Commission (TPAC) ○ 1985 ○ Volunteers from art and the design world  ○ Advises the city council on matter related to public art Percent for Public Art Policy ○ 1986 ○ Demanded that ~1% of funding for capital projects go to public art Public Art in the Official City Plan ○ 1991 ○ City of Toronto includes strategies for public art funding ○ 1st city to do so Section 37 ○ 2002 Provincial Planning Act Section 37 Community Benefit Agreements Public art is now a public benefit ○ This allows… Minor variances with height or density increases Plans of subdivision/severance ▶ Controversy Section 37: ○ Community benefit agreements ○ Specifics are negotiated by planning staff and local councillors Drawbacks of Section 37: ○ Distribution of Public Art “Rich get richer” Public art is mostly concentrated in the downtown core Unequal outcomes Local councillors who are more willing and capable of negotiating for public benefits can achieve more compared to someone who doesn’t have that same ability ○ Type of Art and Artist that’s Funded The C.B.A as a principle source of funding public art has created a bias towards public art that is safe and inoffensive Week 13: Conclusions ▶ Creative City Paradigm Here to stay! Tactical Urbanism ○ Low cost and temporary change to the built environment ○ Intended to improve local neighbourhoods and city gathering places ▶ COVID has greatly affected the demographic patterns in urban areas  Canada has healthy growth but more people are moving back into the suburbs or into different cities (not Toronto) ▶ Tightening Budgets are Threatening Arts and Cultural Sectors ▶ Conflicts Popularity of Creative City vs. Affordability New budget pressures on cultural sector Cultural Investment and equity/accessibility