1

Charlotte’s Castle

Charlotte Mickie has lived in apartment 7 of Toronto’s Spadina Gardens since 1993. Located in the Annex neighbourhood, the 16-unit mid-rise, completed in 1904 by esteemed architect Arthur R. Dennison, boasts a rich history. Set in the wake of the building’s sale to Amsterdam-based development company ProWinko in April 2018, this documentary by director Jamie Kastner follows the tenants of Spadina Gardens as they band together to conserve its heritage under the looming threat of renoviction. The film raises important questions: What constitutes heritage? And what is at stake if we fail to preserve it? For the tenants association, it was about more than protecting the units’ spacious Edwardian layouts, pocket doors and decorative windows: It was about retaining the community they had cultivated over decades.

2

Mission Neighbourhood — (Re)forming Communities

In urban design discourse, the role of the neighbourhood is rarely considered. Based on the 8th Oslo Architecture Triennale, this book shines a spotlight on this critical locus of city life, exploring social infrastructure, mobility, urban governance and more through case studies, essays and interviews. The subtitle, as editors Christian Pagh and Thomas Cook explain, speaks to both the architectural forms and political reform necessary to foster thriving communities. Highlights include interviews with renowned Danish practitioner Jan Gehl and Carlos Moreno, the researcher who coined “The 15-Minute City,” as well as chapters on suburbia and public joy. Despite the book’s Eurocentric focus, its teachings can be applied in the Nordic region and beyond.

3

Co-Designing Publics

While the idea that the city should belong to everyone is not radical, it contradicts urban planning practices that privilege expert voices over citizens. This series of conversations between scholars, activists and practitioners challenges this norm, exploring the public realm as a site of resistance and a solution to the crises plaguing contemporary cities. In doing so, editor Assem Inam unpacks the power dynamics that dictate how — and for whose benefit — the city is produced and the decision-making processes that determine urban priorities. Co-Designing Publics invokes a call for more informal urbanisms: citizen-led initiatives (from waste collection in Bengaluru, India, to youth mobilization in Cape Town, South Africa) that empower people to become agents of urbanization rather than consumers of spaces.