In this assignment you will choose a Toronto (or GTA) neighbourhood and propose a utopian redevelopment of that neighbourhood. You will research and write an 1800-2200-word Utopia Project
In the Module on The Modern City and Ideas about the City, we heard some ideas about how people thought the modern city could be improved. Some of those ideas, such as those of Frank Lloyd Wright’s ‘Broadacre City’, were quite utopian in character. A utopia is an imaginary society or place that contains many or all of the desired amenities of its residents. In this Utopia Project, you are tasked with redeveloping a Toronto neighbourhood to help make the city more utopian!
You should be prepared to dream big! Don’t be confined by what already exists or what is too expensive! Do you want roller coasters? Social housing as tall as the CN Tower? Plots of land for people to farm? Go for it! The Utopia Project is up to you!
Despite your grand dreams, what you redevelop should be grounded in contemporary reality and how human geography addresses that reality. Human Geography is the study of the relationship between people, place, and space. Your Utopia Project must be about a particular neighbourhood and through your discussion of proposed changes you should illustrate the integrative character of Geographical analysis. Consider the various aspects of Geography of Toronto (urban, social, cultural, political, economic, environmental, transportation) and examine how your topic and neighbourhood might be affected by each approach. Your Project should be grounded in the human experience of neighbourhoods.
You are tasked with a four-part objective:
1) Identification of neighbourhood (Approximately one page)
You should consider at what scale your proposed changes will occur. For instance, if you are proposing to redevelop the wealthy Toronto neighbourhood of Rosedale, will your proposed changes occur at a small, medium, or large scale? For instance, see the map below for three possible scales at which a student might redevelop Rosedale. Be sure to suggest the boundaries of your proposed changes, no matter the scale you choose.
You must offer a critical description of the current neighbourhood. You might consider including information about some or all of the below:
-Statistics and/or demographics
-Housing and/or commercial costs
-Built form and/or land use (residential, commercial, industrial, recreational, institutional, transportation)
-Relevant historical aspects of the neighbourhood
*Special note: Many students choose the neighbourhood Jane-Finch for this assignment. While it is a legitimate choice, Jeff has read SO MANY projects about this neighbourhood! Please, if you can, choose another neighbourhood! You might even consider redeveloping part of a neighbourhood that isn’t traditionally the kind of neighbourhood that would be a target for redevelopment. I highly encourage you to do so. For instance, housing unaffordability and wealth inequality are major issues in Toronto, thus, a wealthy and expensive neighbourhood like Rosedale has problems! You can consider any Toronto neighbourhood as long as you justify it!
2) Discussion of the issue(s) your project aims to address (Approximately one to two pages). These might include some combination of the below:
-Housing type or prices
-Gentrification
-Poverty
-Automobile issues
-Public transportation
-Cycling infrastructure
-Urban sprawl
-Community space
-Public housing
-Monoculture (Starbucks and condos everywhere)
-Homelessness
-Natural environment
-Public safety
-Zoning/land use conflicts
-NIMBYism
-Accessibility
-Food deserts
Some of the issues you discuss should be issues with the particular neighbourhood you have chosen, but you might also consider remedying issues with the city as a whole. In this section you should cite your research where relevant.
For instance, in the above example about Rosedale, that neighbourhood might not seem like an obvious neighbourhood to redevelop because it is wealthy, but it lacks affordable housing, as does the entire city! So, if you proposed an affordable housing redevelopment for the ‘fancy’ neighbourhood of Rosedale, you might expect to deal with housing type or prices, poverty, public housing, and NIMBYism (or others!).
3) Literature review (Approximately one to two pages)
You must conduct a scholarly review of some relevant literature that discusses the issues your project aims to address. Your sources should support your proposed changes. See above for minimum research requirements. I would like to see a mix of scholarly and non-scholarly source usage.
4) Proposed utopian redevelopment changes (Approximately two to three pages)
What is your project? Here, you should lay out what you plan for the neighbourhood. There are many ways to do this and I encourage you to be creative! As long as your plan is within the realm of possibility, it will work for this assignment. I encourage you to dream. You might consider using images of your plans. Despite the room here for creativity, there are some things you should cover, including:
-Time frame for changes
-Plans for current residents/occupants (resettlement plans?)
-Transportation changes
-Infrastructure / built form changes (This is mandatory – you must propose physical changes!)
In this section you must also explain how your plan addresses the issues you have suggested above in 2). You should cite your research here as well. Your plan must be grounded in the literature!
Note: Because I’m encouraging you to dream big, money is irrelevant to this Utopia Project. You can imagine you have unlimited funds for your Project.
0 comments