School of Cities

Today, 12 pm ET: Join this special edition of Knowledge Café on how great ideas move from concept to execution; how leaders overcome organizational inertia; what it means to take visible risks in public service; how community feedback shapes implementation https://ow.ly/ukVn50YfETj

Prof. Nouman Ashraf (Rotman School of Management, U of T) kicks off the Leading Urban Change program by inviting you to rethink leadership as an act of care. For a glimpse of what’s ahead, watch a short video of him “in class” with some real LUC learners: www.youtube.com/watch?v=43HO...

Feb. 25: Dr. Bertram explores how we can jumpstart the tactics used to counter Nazi propaganda during WWII to solve the disinformation crisis in the AI age – using algorithmic platforms & tools to accelerate media literacy + access to higher-quality content https://ow.ly/Xg3W50YfEUt

Apply by March 23 for our Urban Mixed Methods workshop. Expenses paid for PhD students from anywhere to travel to Toronto (Aug 4-6) to explore innovative research methodologies in urbanism & cities, refine research designs, and build networks https://ow.ly/nNbK50YfEY1

In this special edition of Knowledge Café, leaders from 3 local solutions profiled in our recent report Learning From What Works join us to talk about challenges and solutions in homelessness prevention, economic development, and transportation operations https://ow.ly/ahTo50YfET4

University of Toronto postdocs or faculty: develop a new grad course on an urban issue in your discipline and teach it in a small seminar setting. We provide funding for a TA or faculty course buy-out, you reserve 50% of spaces for grad students from outside depts https://ow.ly/89FO50YfEYA

U of T’s Maps and Data Library recently published a blog by Jeff Allen our Data Viz Lead, on a tool he built for viewing historial aerial imagery of Toronto collected from various sources. https://ow.ly/rqu150YfERX

Apply by Feb. 16 for a SofC India & UofT India Foundation catalyst grant. Start or grow a research project on themes of urban sustainability &/or climate resilience in urban India & collaborate w/ an India-based academic, research, NFP, or government entity https://ow.ly/qm9c50YfEXo

Ottawa peeps! Come out tonight for an evening of short films about community safety built through love, care and imagination, co-organized by SofC faculty lead Aditi Mehta. 7 p.m. at the Ottawa Art Gallery – no registration required: sites.google.com/cornell.edu/...

Feb 25: Dr. Bertram discusses how we can use algorithmic platforms & tools to accelerate public media literacy & access to engaging, higher-quality online content – modelled after North American responses to disinformation campaigns waged by Germans in WWII https://ow.ly/QyNl50Y8Yr5

Thinking of applying for Leading Urban Change? Watch a recorded info session for more on program fit, instructors, benefits, certification & more!

🔗 schoolofcities.utoronto.ca/learning-sof...

Feb 18: We welcome our own research team to Knowledge Café, joined by leaders from the municipal govts of Edmonton, Mississauga & Toronto to discuss innovative local solutions in homelessness prevention, economic development, and transportation operations https://ow.ly/Upf450Y8XWk

PhD students: Apply to our 3-day summer workshop on innovative research methodologies engaged with urbanism & cities. Faculty present qualitative & quantitative research design, data analysis & visualization; students collaborate on research design & fdbk https://ow.ly/sxtH50Y8ZbG

Join us at Hart House for our annual showcase and celebrate the multidisciplinary & community-engaged urban research taken on by students in SofC-supported courses and programs. Connect w/ students, faculty & community partners & see urban work in action https://ow.ly/TIuz50Y8Yzx

Tomorrow, 9 a.m. ET/7.30 p.m. IT: Join us for 2 talks on metro systems in India – one on how they privilege some while furthering accessibility for others, and another on how the BUST approach to building them is about control, hubris, disconnection & power https://ow.ly/rGpe50Y8XJU

Accurate, except for the secret location (not far off there either, though)! Thanks for the kind words - our nerd-wizards will be chuffed.

In a special edition of Knowledge Café we’ll explore how great ideas move from concept to execution; how leaders can overcome organizational inertia; what it means to take highly visible risks in public service; how community feedback shapes implementation https://ow.ly/WYJs50Y8XU4

The Eglinton LRT opens on Sunday. We asked how development has evolved along the corridor during construction - has transit-oriented development occurred, and where? - and mapped differences in building massing data from 2013 & 2025 to visualize changes https://ow.ly/b2kU50Yauxh

On Sunday, Line 5 Eglinton opens! To better understand this corridor, we layered the route alignment relative to surrounding building footprints; space for cars, bikes & pedestrians; zoning; green space; pop. density; household income & senior populations https://ow.ly/ojyb50YaunQ

Disinformation is considered a new problem, but WWII Nazis blanketed N.A. w/ propaganda & officials fought back by embraced new media, collaborating w/ community leadership & building large anti-racism campaigns. How can we jumpstart this solution today? https://ow.ly/6qb450Y8YbB

Calling all PhD students, globally! Apply now for our 4th Summer Workshop on Urban Mixed Methods across the Disciplines. Come to TO from Aug. 4-6 (expenses paid) to explore innovative research methodologies that engage with the theme of urbanism & cities https://ow.ly/Enli50Y8Z59

Feb 11: Join a lightening talk on the contrast in India b/w metro stations & the streets above and then for an examination of the BUST approach to building metros in India, where the deployment of bigness is the goal, rather than de-automobilization https://ow.ly/5AcG50Y8XGj

Curious who Leading Urban Change is for? Check out our participant profiles—featuring urban leaders and initiatives from across sectors and Canada. Bring your project, build momentum, and share your work. Apply by Feb 20.

🔗 schoolofcities.utoronto.ca/learning-sof...

University of Toronto faculty interested in the sustainability of Indian cities: apply for a catalyst grant & partner w/ an Indian org to research air quality, water & sanitation, infrastructure & construction, energy, mobility, planning, housing, waste etc in India https://ow.ly/aR9350Y8YJt

During a recent T.O. snow storm, Jeff Allen used City data to map out where the plows were in real time. During a 48-hour span almost every street & neighbourhood had activity, but sidewalk & cycle plows accounted for only 25% & 5% of the data https://ow.ly/qbUK50Y8XpY

In this special edition of Knowledge Café, leaders from 3 local solutions profiled in our recent report Learning From What Works join us to talk about challenges and solutions in homelessness prevention, economic development, and transportation operations https://ow.ly/9aG550Y8XRu

The New York Times reports that homelessness in U.S. is down, complicating plans for tough new policies. Recent visiting prof Charley E. Willison (Cornell University) asked how reductions in programming, staffing, funding risk communities’ ability to mitigate homelessness https://ow.ly/lijC50Y8XeC

This Nuit Blanche multimedia installation by @utoronto.ca Dept. of History prof. @tonglam.bsky.social brought to life research and photographs undertaken over more than a decade in the urban villages of southern China's Pearl River Delta.

Feb 11: Join us for two online talks about metro systems in India – one on gender concerns about safety and one on how bigness, and not de-automobilization, becomes the goal of metro system construction. Register now: https://ow.ly/IShM50Y0PSE

Apply by Feb. 16 for UofT India Foundation & School of Cities India catalyst grants of up to $25k for research on themes of urban sustainability and/or climate resilience in urban India. Must include co-PIs from U of T and an Indian partner organization https://ow.ly/2aLS50Y0Qrc