Livable Streets 2.0 in Toronto

Livable Streets 2.0 offers a thorough examination of the struggle between automobiles, residents, pedestrians and other users of streets, along with evidence-based, practical strategies for redesigning city street networks that support urban livability.

Join us for a presentation from the author of Livable Streets 2.0, Dr. Bruce Appleyard, Associate Professor of City Planning and Urban Design at San Diego State University.

Following the presentation, we will hear from Dr. André Sorensen (Professor of Human Geography, UTSC) and Nancy Smith Lea (Senior Advisor and Former Director of The Centre for Active Transport) on building more livable streets within the Toronto context. Presentations will be followed by a panel discussion and audience Q & A moderated by Dr. Paul Hess (Professor, Geography & Planning, U of T).

This in-person event is free and all are welcome to attend, though space is limited. Refreshments will be available. Register now to reserve your seat.

Speakers

Bruce Appleyard is an Associate Professor of City Planning and Urban Design at San Diego State University (SDSU) where he helps people and agencies and agencies from the “loading dock of the Ivory Tower” to make more informed decisions about how we live, work, and thrive. Working from the human to regional/ecosystem scale, he is an author of numerous peer-reviewed and professional publications and is an expert on housing, homelessness, the future of transport, and redesigning our streets for livability, placemaking, pedestrians, and bicyclists. His expertise also extends to coordinating urban design, housing, and transport to help places become more sustainable, livable, healthy, and equitable. He recently published Livable Streets 2.0 about the conflict, power, and promise of our streets. Dr. Appleyard holds a Doctorate (as well as a Masters and Bachelors) from the University of California in the town of Berkeley where he grew up.

Eric Miller is Director, University of Toronto Mobility Network; Professor, Department of Civil and Mineral Engineering; Research Director, Data Management Group; and Research Director, Travel Modelling Group. His research focuses on the areas of transportation modelling and sustainable urban design, and he is a pioneer in the development and application of agent-based microsimulation model systems in large urban contexts.

Nancy Smith Lea has 30+ years of professional experience as a non-profit leader and project manager with specialized knowledge in applied research and policy specific to Complete Streets and active transportation. She has authored or co-authored more than thirty publications, and successfully managed many multi-stakeholder projects. Nancy holds a Master of Arts in Sociology and Equity Studies from OISE. Formerly the Director of The Centre for Active Transportation (TCAT), she is currently a Senior Advisor with TCAT, a Senior Consultant with Stuckless Consulting, and a multi-modal theme co-lead on Mobilizing Justice, a national research partnership addressing transportation inequities in Canadian cities.

André Sorensen is Professor in the Department of Geography & Planning, University of Toronto. His current research examines urban institutions, institutional change processes and urban governance from a comparative and historical institutionalist perspective, with a focus on urban land and property development, infrastructure provision, and urban form, particularly in suburbs and peri-urban areas. Recent work focuses on retrofitting automobile-dependent suburbs for active transportation and complete streets. He has published over 60 papers and chapters, and co-edited five books, most recently the International Handbook of Megacities and Megacity-Regions (Edward Elgar 2020).

Moderator

Paul Hess is Professor in the Department of Geography & Planning, University of Toronto. Broadly, his research examines urban and suburban built environments, how they are shaped by planning and urban design ideas and practices in both historical and contemporary terms, and how people use and experience them. Recent projects include understanding Toronto's emerging planning system in the early post-war period, the impact of new infrastructure on cycling use, and changing street and public space design, foregrounding questions of access, equity, and publicness. He draws on qualitative and quantitative methodologies from several sub-fields in planning including planning history, urban design, urban morphology, and transportation behaviour, particularly active modes of travel.

This event is co-presented with the UTSC Suburban Mobilities Cluster

The Suburban Mobilities Cluster is a multi-disciplinary research program that draws on expertise across nine disciplines to tackle four suburban mobility challenges:

1. Rising suburban inequalities
2. Improving transportation design and technology
3. Increasing transportation impacts on climate change
4. Emerging stakes on resilience to shocks

Towards addressing each challenge, the Suburban Mobilities Cluster will advance new research approaches, develop partnerships and engagement, and create student support and embedded training opportunities.

For more details, see the Suburban Mobilities Cluster website.