I am a professor and the Director of the School of Urban and Regional Planning at Ryerson. Throughout my career as a planner my research and practice have focused on complex, emergent challenges that Canadian communities face. My current research asks: who is planning the Canadian smart city? In 2020 I received the inaugural Canadian Institute of Planners President’s Award: Academic. I am an Advisor on the Toronto Public Library’s Innovation Council and serve on the Board of Directors for the Metcalf Foundation.
Given ongoing concerns about global climate change and its impacts on cities, the need for su... more Given ongoing concerns about global climate change and its impacts on cities, the need for sustainable planning has never been greater. This book explores concrete ways to achieve urban sustainability based on integrated planning, policy development, and decision-making.
Urban Sustainability is the first book to provide an applied interdisciplinary perspective on the challenges and opportunities that lay ahead in this area. Bringing together researchers and practitioners to explore leading innovations on the ground, this volume combines the theoretical underpinnings of urban sustainability with current practices through highly readable narrative case studies. The contributors also provide fresh perspectives on how issues related to sustainable urban planning and development can be reconciled through collaborative partnerships and engagement processes.
My chapter (12) is "Beyond A Technical Response: New Growth-Management Experiments in Canada". Wh... more My chapter (12) is "Beyond A Technical Response: New Growth-Management Experiments in Canada". While local government in Canada has made real progress toward reducing emissions through building energy retrofits and landfill gas capture, containing urban sprawl and the resultant emissions from transportation use remains a problem. In this chapter two Canadian efforts to respond the challenges of reducing greenhouse gas emissions through growth-management activities.
Featuring a strong line-up of respected Canadian scholars and with an interdisciplinary flavour, ... more Featuring a strong line-up of respected Canadian scholars and with an interdisciplinary flavour, this integrated collection of a dozen case studies conveys the need for both local and global analysis of environmental problems in the search for solutions and viable policy options.
The topics addressed are wide-ranging, but together represent the most critical environmental policy issues of our time, and offer an overview of the challenges — and opportunities — facing Canadians in the early 21st century.
My chapter (7) "Urban Sustainability" is an overview of how Canadian local government has responded to the global challenge of sustainable development.
North American policy responses to global climate change are complex and sometimes contradictory ... more North American policy responses to global climate change are complex and sometimes contradictory and reach across multiple levels of government. For example, the U.S. federal government rejected the Kyoto Protocol and mandatory greenhouse gas (GHG) restrictions, but California developed some of the world's most comprehensive climate change law and regulation; Canada's federal government ratified the Kyoto Protocol, but Canadian GHG emissions increased even faster than those of the United States; and Mexico's state-owned oil company addressed climate change issues in the 1990s, in stark contrast to leading U.S. and Canadian energy firms. This book is the first to examine and compare political action for climate change across North America, at levels ranging from continental to municipal, in locations ranging from Mexico to Toronto to Portland, Maine.
Changing Climates in North American Politics investigates new or emerging institutions, policies, and practices in North American climate governance; the roles played by public, private, and civil society actors; the diffusion of policy across different jurisdictions; and the effectiveness of multilevel North American climate change governance. It finds that although national climate policies vary widely, the complexities and divergences are even greater at the subnational level. Policy initiatives are developed separately in states, provinces, cities, large corporations, NAFTA bodies, universities, NGOs, and private firms, and this lack of coordination limits the effectiveness of multilevel climate change governance. In North America, unlike much of Europe, climate change governance has been largely bottom-up rather than top-down.
With my colleague Christopher Gore (Assistant Professor, Politics and Public Administration, Ryerson), I contributed to our chapter "Local Government Response to Climate Change: Our Last, Best Hope".
Changing Climates in North American Politics, 2009
7 Local Government Response to Climate Change: Our Last, Best Hope? Christopher Gore and Pamela R... more 7 Local Government Response to Climate Change: Our Last, Best Hope? Christopher Gore and Pamela Robinson Introduction In the face of ineffective federal responses to climate change in North America, ad-vocacy and action by states, provinces, the private sector, ...
Community–university research partnerships (CURPs) are increasingly common, yet much of the exist... more Community–university research partnerships (CURPs) are increasingly common, yet much of the existing research documents the experiences of individual projects or analyzes research methodologies associated with CURPs. Comparatively little is known about the role of university research centers in the design and implementation of CURPs. Even less is known about the role that interdisciplinarity (as a de facto characteristic of research centers) may play in enabling or impeding CURPs. This article contributes to filling this gap. Drawing from a reflective strategic planning process with research center associates and a broader faculty conference workshop, at Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada, this article offers reflections on the role of university research centers in CURPs.
Given ongoing concerns about global climate change and its impacts on cities, the need for sustai... more Given ongoing concerns about global climate change and its impacts on cities, the need for sustainable planning has never been greater. This book explores concrete ways to achieve urban sustainability based on integrated planning, policy development, and decision-making. Urban Sustainability is the first book to provide an applied interdisciplinary perspective on the challenges and opportunities that lay ahead in this area. Bringing together researchers and practitioners to explore leading innovations on the ground, this volume combines the theoretical underpinnings of urban sustainability with current practices through highly readable narrative case studies. The contributors also provide fresh perspectives on how issues related to sustainable urban planning and development can be reconciled through collaborative partnerships and engagement processes.
Wastewater analysis and surveillance are well-established practices whose use has dramatically ex... more Wastewater analysis and surveillance are well-established practices whose use has dramatically expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this article, we argue that the extraction of diverse types of data from wastewater is part of the larger phenomenon of ‘datafication’. We explore the evolving technologies and uses of wastewater data and argue that there are insufficient legal and ethical frameworks in place to properly govern them. We begin with an overview of the different pur- poses for wastewater data analyses as well as the location and scale of collection. We then consider legal and ethical principles and oversight frameworks that shape current approaches to wastewater collection. After situating wastewater collection within its particular civic context, we argue in favour of greater engagement with legal and ethical issues and propose doing so through a civic perspective. Our paper concludes with a discussion of the normative shifts that are needed and how we might achieve these.
Minecraft is a video game that allows players to interact with a 3D environment. Launched in 2009... more Minecraft is a video game that allows players to interact with a 3D environment. Launched in 2009, Minecraft has surprisingly durable popularity. Users report that Minecraft is easy to learn and understand, engaging and immersive, and adaptable. Outside North America it has been piloted for urban planning public consultation processes. Five years ago, authors conducted research using key informant interviews. This study asked practicing urban planners in Canada to assess Minecraft's potential. Key findings address Minecraft's usefulness as a visualization tool, its role in building public trust in local planning processes, the place of play in planning, and the challenges associated with its use in public consultation. This chapter explores Minecraft's ongoing use, offers reflections as to how this game could effectively be used for public consultation, and concludes with key lessons for urban planners whose practice intersects with our digitally-enabled world, with a pa...
At all levels, governments around the world are moving toward the provision of open data, that is... more At all levels, governments around the world are moving toward the provision of open data, that is, the direct provision to citizens, the private sector, and other third parties, of raw government datasets, controlled by a relatively permissible license. In tandem with this distribution of open data is the promotion of civic hackathons, or “app contests” by government. The civic hackathon is designed to offer prize money to developers as a way to spur innovative use of open data, more specifically the creation of commercial software applications that deliver services to citizens. Within this context, we propose that the civic hackathon has the potential to act in multiple ways, possibly as a backdoor to the traditional government procurement process, and as a form of civic engagement. We move beyond much of the hype of civic hackathons, critically framing an approach to understanding civic hackathons through these two lenses. Key questions for future research emphasize the emerging, and important, nature of this research path.
Urban forests are now recognized as essential components of sustainable cities, but there remains... more Urban forests are now recognized as essential components of sustainable cities, but there remains uncertainty concerning how to stratify and classify urban landscapes into units of ecological significance at spatial scales appropriate for management. Ecosystem classification is an approach that entails quantifying the social and ecological processes that shape ecosystem conditions into logical and relatively homogeneous management units, making the potential for ecosystem-based decision support available to urban planners. The purpose of this study is to develop and propose a framework for urban forest ecosystem classification (UFEC). The multifactor framework integrates 12 ecosystem components that characterize the biophysical landscape, built environment, and human population. This framework is then applied at the neighbourhood scale in Toronto, Canada, using hierarchical cluster analysis. The analysis used 27 spatially-explicit variables to quantify the ecosystem components in To...
... Pamela Robinson. Ryerson University Christopher Gore. Ryerson University - Politics and Publi... more ... Pamela Robinson. Ryerson University Christopher Gore. Ryerson University - Politics and Public Administration September 2, 2011. Abstract: Ongoing efforts by local governments to mitigate (reduce) greenhouse gases are often tracked through a reporting or milestone process. ...
Given ongoing concerns about global climate change and its impacts on cities, the need for su... more Given ongoing concerns about global climate change and its impacts on cities, the need for sustainable planning has never been greater. This book explores concrete ways to achieve urban sustainability based on integrated planning, policy development, and decision-making.
Urban Sustainability is the first book to provide an applied interdisciplinary perspective on the challenges and opportunities that lay ahead in this area. Bringing together researchers and practitioners to explore leading innovations on the ground, this volume combines the theoretical underpinnings of urban sustainability with current practices through highly readable narrative case studies. The contributors also provide fresh perspectives on how issues related to sustainable urban planning and development can be reconciled through collaborative partnerships and engagement processes.
My chapter (12) is "Beyond A Technical Response: New Growth-Management Experiments in Canada". Wh... more My chapter (12) is "Beyond A Technical Response: New Growth-Management Experiments in Canada". While local government in Canada has made real progress toward reducing emissions through building energy retrofits and landfill gas capture, containing urban sprawl and the resultant emissions from transportation use remains a problem. In this chapter two Canadian efforts to respond the challenges of reducing greenhouse gas emissions through growth-management activities.
Featuring a strong line-up of respected Canadian scholars and with an interdisciplinary flavour, ... more Featuring a strong line-up of respected Canadian scholars and with an interdisciplinary flavour, this integrated collection of a dozen case studies conveys the need for both local and global analysis of environmental problems in the search for solutions and viable policy options.
The topics addressed are wide-ranging, but together represent the most critical environmental policy issues of our time, and offer an overview of the challenges — and opportunities — facing Canadians in the early 21st century.
My chapter (7) "Urban Sustainability" is an overview of how Canadian local government has responded to the global challenge of sustainable development.
North American policy responses to global climate change are complex and sometimes contradictory ... more North American policy responses to global climate change are complex and sometimes contradictory and reach across multiple levels of government. For example, the U.S. federal government rejected the Kyoto Protocol and mandatory greenhouse gas (GHG) restrictions, but California developed some of the world's most comprehensive climate change law and regulation; Canada's federal government ratified the Kyoto Protocol, but Canadian GHG emissions increased even faster than those of the United States; and Mexico's state-owned oil company addressed climate change issues in the 1990s, in stark contrast to leading U.S. and Canadian energy firms. This book is the first to examine and compare political action for climate change across North America, at levels ranging from continental to municipal, in locations ranging from Mexico to Toronto to Portland, Maine.
Changing Climates in North American Politics investigates new or emerging institutions, policies, and practices in North American climate governance; the roles played by public, private, and civil society actors; the diffusion of policy across different jurisdictions; and the effectiveness of multilevel North American climate change governance. It finds that although national climate policies vary widely, the complexities and divergences are even greater at the subnational level. Policy initiatives are developed separately in states, provinces, cities, large corporations, NAFTA bodies, universities, NGOs, and private firms, and this lack of coordination limits the effectiveness of multilevel climate change governance. In North America, unlike much of Europe, climate change governance has been largely bottom-up rather than top-down.
With my colleague Christopher Gore (Assistant Professor, Politics and Public Administration, Ryerson), I contributed to our chapter "Local Government Response to Climate Change: Our Last, Best Hope".
Changing Climates in North American Politics, 2009
7 Local Government Response to Climate Change: Our Last, Best Hope? Christopher Gore and Pamela R... more 7 Local Government Response to Climate Change: Our Last, Best Hope? Christopher Gore and Pamela Robinson Introduction In the face of ineffective federal responses to climate change in North America, ad-vocacy and action by states, provinces, the private sector, ...
Community–university research partnerships (CURPs) are increasingly common, yet much of the exist... more Community–university research partnerships (CURPs) are increasingly common, yet much of the existing research documents the experiences of individual projects or analyzes research methodologies associated with CURPs. Comparatively little is known about the role of university research centers in the design and implementation of CURPs. Even less is known about the role that interdisciplinarity (as a de facto characteristic of research centers) may play in enabling or impeding CURPs. This article contributes to filling this gap. Drawing from a reflective strategic planning process with research center associates and a broader faculty conference workshop, at Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada, this article offers reflections on the role of university research centers in CURPs.
Given ongoing concerns about global climate change and its impacts on cities, the need for sustai... more Given ongoing concerns about global climate change and its impacts on cities, the need for sustainable planning has never been greater. This book explores concrete ways to achieve urban sustainability based on integrated planning, policy development, and decision-making. Urban Sustainability is the first book to provide an applied interdisciplinary perspective on the challenges and opportunities that lay ahead in this area. Bringing together researchers and practitioners to explore leading innovations on the ground, this volume combines the theoretical underpinnings of urban sustainability with current practices through highly readable narrative case studies. The contributors also provide fresh perspectives on how issues related to sustainable urban planning and development can be reconciled through collaborative partnerships and engagement processes.
Wastewater analysis and surveillance are well-established practices whose use has dramatically ex... more Wastewater analysis and surveillance are well-established practices whose use has dramatically expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this article, we argue that the extraction of diverse types of data from wastewater is part of the larger phenomenon of ‘datafication’. We explore the evolving technologies and uses of wastewater data and argue that there are insufficient legal and ethical frameworks in place to properly govern them. We begin with an overview of the different pur- poses for wastewater data analyses as well as the location and scale of collection. We then consider legal and ethical principles and oversight frameworks that shape current approaches to wastewater collection. After situating wastewater collection within its particular civic context, we argue in favour of greater engagement with legal and ethical issues and propose doing so through a civic perspective. Our paper concludes with a discussion of the normative shifts that are needed and how we might achieve these.
Minecraft is a video game that allows players to interact with a 3D environment. Launched in 2009... more Minecraft is a video game that allows players to interact with a 3D environment. Launched in 2009, Minecraft has surprisingly durable popularity. Users report that Minecraft is easy to learn and understand, engaging and immersive, and adaptable. Outside North America it has been piloted for urban planning public consultation processes. Five years ago, authors conducted research using key informant interviews. This study asked practicing urban planners in Canada to assess Minecraft's potential. Key findings address Minecraft's usefulness as a visualization tool, its role in building public trust in local planning processes, the place of play in planning, and the challenges associated with its use in public consultation. This chapter explores Minecraft's ongoing use, offers reflections as to how this game could effectively be used for public consultation, and concludes with key lessons for urban planners whose practice intersects with our digitally-enabled world, with a pa...
At all levels, governments around the world are moving toward the provision of open data, that is... more At all levels, governments around the world are moving toward the provision of open data, that is, the direct provision to citizens, the private sector, and other third parties, of raw government datasets, controlled by a relatively permissible license. In tandem with this distribution of open data is the promotion of civic hackathons, or “app contests” by government. The civic hackathon is designed to offer prize money to developers as a way to spur innovative use of open data, more specifically the creation of commercial software applications that deliver services to citizens. Within this context, we propose that the civic hackathon has the potential to act in multiple ways, possibly as a backdoor to the traditional government procurement process, and as a form of civic engagement. We move beyond much of the hype of civic hackathons, critically framing an approach to understanding civic hackathons through these two lenses. Key questions for future research emphasize the emerging, and important, nature of this research path.
Urban forests are now recognized as essential components of sustainable cities, but there remains... more Urban forests are now recognized as essential components of sustainable cities, but there remains uncertainty concerning how to stratify and classify urban landscapes into units of ecological significance at spatial scales appropriate for management. Ecosystem classification is an approach that entails quantifying the social and ecological processes that shape ecosystem conditions into logical and relatively homogeneous management units, making the potential for ecosystem-based decision support available to urban planners. The purpose of this study is to develop and propose a framework for urban forest ecosystem classification (UFEC). The multifactor framework integrates 12 ecosystem components that characterize the biophysical landscape, built environment, and human population. This framework is then applied at the neighbourhood scale in Toronto, Canada, using hierarchical cluster analysis. The analysis used 27 spatially-explicit variables to quantify the ecosystem components in To...
... Pamela Robinson. Ryerson University Christopher Gore. Ryerson University - Politics and Publi... more ... Pamela Robinson. Ryerson University Christopher Gore. Ryerson University - Politics and Public Administration September 2, 2011. Abstract: Ongoing efforts by local governments to mitigate (reduce) greenhouse gases are often tracked through a reporting or milestone process. ...
The benefits derived from urban forest ecosystems are garnering increasing attention in ecologica... more The benefits derived from urban forest ecosystems are garnering increasing attention in ecological research and municipal planning. However, because of their location in heterogeneous and highly-altered urban landscapes, urban forests are vulnerable and commonly suffer disproportionate and varying levels of stress and disturbance. The objective of this study is to assess and analyze the spatial and temporal changes, and potential vulnerability, of the urban forest resource in Toronto, Canada. This research was conducted using a spatially-explicit, indicator-based assessment of vulnerability and i-Tree Forecast modeling of temporal changes in forest structure and function. Nine scenarios were simulated for 45 years and model output was analyzed at the ecosystem and municipal scale. Substantial mismatches in ecological processes between spatial scales were found, which can translate into unanticipated loss of function and social inequities if not accounted for in planning and manageme...
International Journal of E-Planning Research, 2016
Minecraft is a popular video game that allows players to interact with a 3D environment. Users re... more Minecraft is a popular video game that allows players to interact with a 3D environment. Users report that it is easy to learn and understand, is engaging and immersive, and is adaptable. Outside North America it has been piloted for urban planning public consultation processes. However, this game has not yet been studied to determine how and whether it could be used for this purpose. Using key informant interviews, this study asked practicing urban planners to assess Minecraft's potential. Key findings address Minecraft's usefulness as a visualization tool, its role in building public trust in local planning processes, the place of play in planning, and the challenges associated with its use in public consultation. The paper concludes with reflections as to how this game could effectively be used for public consultation, and offers key lessons for urban planners whose practice intersects with our digitally-enabled world.
Skip to content. Taylor & Francis Online: Librarians; Authors & E... more Skip to content. Taylor & Francis Online: Librarians; Authors & Editors; Societies. Register; Sign in; Mobile. Home; Browse; Products; Redeem a voucher; Shortlist; Shopping Cart Cart. The online platform for Taylor & Francis Group content. Search. Advanced Search Within current journal Entire site. Home > List of Issues > Table of Contents > List of Referees for Papers Received in 2006. Browse journal. View all volumes and issues. Current issue. Most read articles. Most cited articles. Authors and submissions. Call for papers. Instructions for authors. Submit ...
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Urban Sustainability is the first book to provide an applied interdisciplinary perspective on the challenges and opportunities that lay ahead in this area. Bringing together researchers and practitioners to explore leading innovations on the ground, this volume combines the theoretical underpinnings of urban sustainability with current practices through highly readable narrative case studies. The contributors also provide fresh perspectives on how issues related to sustainable urban planning and development can be reconciled through collaborative partnerships and engagement processes.
The topics addressed are wide-ranging, but together represent the most critical environmental policy issues of our time, and offer an overview of the challenges — and opportunities — facing Canadians in the early 21st century.
My chapter (7) "Urban Sustainability" is an overview of how Canadian local government has responded to the global challenge of sustainable development.
Changing Climates in North American Politics investigates new or emerging institutions, policies, and practices in North American climate governance; the roles played by public, private, and civil society actors; the diffusion of policy across different jurisdictions; and the effectiveness of multilevel North American climate change governance. It finds that although national climate policies vary widely, the complexities and divergences are even greater at the subnational level. Policy initiatives are developed separately in states, provinces, cities, large corporations, NAFTA bodies, universities, NGOs, and private firms, and this lack of coordination limits the effectiveness of multilevel climate change governance. In North America, unlike much of Europe, climate change governance has been largely bottom-up rather than top-down.
With my colleague Christopher Gore (Assistant Professor, Politics and Public Administration, Ryerson), I contributed to our chapter "Local Government Response to Climate Change: Our Last, Best Hope".
Urban Sustainability is the first book to provide an applied interdisciplinary perspective on the challenges and opportunities that lay ahead in this area. Bringing together researchers and practitioners to explore leading innovations on the ground, this volume combines the theoretical underpinnings of urban sustainability with current practices through highly readable narrative case studies. The contributors also provide fresh perspectives on how issues related to sustainable urban planning and development can be reconciled through collaborative partnerships and engagement processes.
The topics addressed are wide-ranging, but together represent the most critical environmental policy issues of our time, and offer an overview of the challenges — and opportunities — facing Canadians in the early 21st century.
My chapter (7) "Urban Sustainability" is an overview of how Canadian local government has responded to the global challenge of sustainable development.
Changing Climates in North American Politics investigates new or emerging institutions, policies, and practices in North American climate governance; the roles played by public, private, and civil society actors; the diffusion of policy across different jurisdictions; and the effectiveness of multilevel North American climate change governance. It finds that although national climate policies vary widely, the complexities and divergences are even greater at the subnational level. Policy initiatives are developed separately in states, provinces, cities, large corporations, NAFTA bodies, universities, NGOs, and private firms, and this lack of coordination limits the effectiveness of multilevel climate change governance. In North America, unlike much of Europe, climate change governance has been largely bottom-up rather than top-down.
With my colleague Christopher Gore (Assistant Professor, Politics and Public Administration, Ryerson), I contributed to our chapter "Local Government Response to Climate Change: Our Last, Best Hope".