Electric Cities

This podcast is a ‘welcome mat’ for visitors coming to Toronto, eager to learn what makes this city tick and why it continues to be one of the fastest growing urban regions in North America. Visitors to Toronto include the thousands of ULI members that will be descending on our city from other parts of North America, Europe and Asia to attend the ULI Spring Meeting later this year, from May 12-14, 2020. Jeremy sits down with Joe Berridge – one of the most respected registered professional planners among Toronto’s planning and development community. A partner with Urban Strategies, Joe has over 40 years’ experience providing advice to an extensive range of government and private sector clients, in Toronto, across Canada and in an impressive number of cities around the world.

Season 4 of Electric Cities is coming back in 2020 with stories of Toronto's success as a rapidly emerging global city. Tune in every other Tuesday starting in January as host Jeremy Warson sits down with some of the land use industry's most prominent leaders whose organizations got their start in Toronto and have successfully grown on the international stage. Register for the ULI Spring Meeting at www.spring.uli.org

After the recently elected Ontario PC party slashed the number of City of Toronto councilors from 47 to 25 in the 2018 municipal election, a lot of questions were raised about the current state of municipal governance in Ontario and the municipality’s ability for self-determination. In this episode Jeremy sits down with Prof. Zachary Taylor to explore the complexities and challenges of municipal governance in Ontario, how it compares with that of the United States, and some alternative ideas being raised to give cities, particularly the City of Toronto, the opportunity for greater autonomy. Professor Zachary Taylor is an assistant professor of political science and director of the Centre for Urban Policy and Local Governance at the University of Western Ontario. He is also author of a new book entitled: “Shaping the Metropolis – Institutions and Urbanization in the United States and Canada”.

In 2005, the Province of Ontario passed the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, (AODA), with the primary goal of making the Province fully accessible by 2025. With that end date only 6 years away, disability advocates are raising concern the Province has done relatively little to meet that deadline. Ontario’s 28th Lieutenant Governor, Hon. David Onley, is a wheelchair user and very much attuned to the challenges persons with disabilities encounter. In January 2019, he tabled a report with sharp criticism of the Province’s commitment to meet the goals of the AODA. Hon. Onley talks about his experiences as a person with disabilities and why he believes the AODA is a ‘toothless act’.

Canada’s aging population hit a major milestone in 2017, where for the first time in Canada’s history, the number of seniors exceeded the number of school-aged children. And it is projected that by 2041, seniors will comprise roughly one quarter of the country’s population. Jeremy sits down with Gil Penalosa, founder and Chair of 8 80 Cities, and President of Gil Penalosa & Associates, to talk about this significant demographic shift and the challenges of designing our cities and communities for an aging population.

Heritage building preservation has evolved to become an important component in Toronto’s real estate development industry, and many architects are re-imagining how treasured old buildings can be incorporated with the new. Jeremy sits down with Dermot Sweeny, President of Sweeny &Co Architects, and one of the leading architects on many of Toronto’s adaptive-reuse projects.

Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) is increasingly embraced by city and transit planners as a concept for integrating a mix of land uses, increased densities and public space, all within easy walking distance to public transit nodes. Jeremy sits down with Leslie Woo, Chief Planning and Development Officer at Metrolinx, to talk about the merits of TOD, its challenges, and the steps Metrolinx is taking to bring TOD opportunities to life.

As one of the key nodes in the Greater Golden Horseshoe area, Hamilton is enjoying a renaissance of sorts. Old run-down buildings are being re-animated and new ones are filling the sky thanks to a slew of new investments in the downtown core. The city’s population is on the rise, local and regional transit connections are improving, and there’s real swagger in the city’s emerging arts and culture scene. All told, Hamilton is no longer Toronto’s neglected neighbour to the west. Instead, it’s fast becoming the place to be. Jeremy sits down with Jason Thorne, General Manager of Hamilton’s Planning and Economic Development Department to learn more about Hamilton’s rising appeal, and how the City is managing its growth and long term plans for its future.

For this first episode of Season 3, Jeremy sits down again with Mimi Ng, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Menkes Developments, to talk about the Toronto condo market and the latest trends and market changes that have occurred since their last podcast discussion in early 2018.

In the last episode of Season 2 Jeremy ‘digs deep’ to learn about some incredible challenges involved in building a major transit project like the Spadina subway extension to Vaughan, and the Eglinton Crosstown LRT.His guest is Joanna Kervin, 3rd Party Technical Director with Crosslinx Solutions and former Director for the Spadina subway extension.

Since 2002, Waterfront Toronto has lead the ongoing revitalization of Toronto’s waterfront. But what do we know of Toronto’s lesser-known Waterfront Secretariat, which was set up to lead and direct the City’s participation in the revitalization? In October 2018, Jeremy sat down with David Stonehouse, Director of the Waterfront Secretariat, to find out more and to get the latest on some of the important development activities in the area.

The housing affordability crisis is one of the biggest challenges facing Toronto. And as it continues to magnify, there’s a greater and more urgent need for action and relief.Cherise Burda, Executive Director at Ryerson’s City Building Institute, summarizes the issues and why it’s become a crisis, and shares her thoughts on how the problem can be solved. Recorded on September 26, 2018.

Toronto’s suburbs have grown significantly over the years and continue to face big challenges associated with its sprawling growth. But for urban planning consultant and university lecturer Sean Hertel, the suburbs work much better than we think. Jeremy sat down with Sean Hertel in June 2018 to find out why.

After his keynote presentation at the ULI Toronto Symposium on November 7th, 2018, Professor Richard Florida sits down with Jeremy to share his views on Toronto and how it compares on the global stage. He offers high praise for the city’s livability and its strong appeal for broad economic development, but also raises concerns about the city’s increasing economic divide, its growing unaffordability, and lack of effective leadership. Professor Florida is one of the world’s leading urbanists having written several global best sellers, including the award winning The Rise of the Creative Class, and The New Urban Crisis. He is Director of the Martin Prosperity Institute and Professor of Business and Creativity at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, a Distinguished Fellow at New York University’s Schack Institute of Real Estate, and a Visiting Fellow at Florida International University.

Jeremy sits down with George Carras, founder and CEO of R-Labs Canada, to talk about technology and the rising influence its’s having on the growth of our city region. They discuss Toronto’s unique appeal for tech investments, the rapid emergence of ‘PropTech’, and the opportunities and challenges of working with big urban data.

Jeremy sits down with Dialog’s Antonio Gomez-Palacio to talk about urban design, the critical role it plays in city planning, and the impact it has on the wellbeing of our communities and the environment we all share.

In the first episode of season 2, Jeremy sits down with Urban Strategies’ Cyndi Rottenberg-Walker to discuss the complexities of Toronto urbanism, including the key reasons for its prosperity, and some examples of how the city is on the leading edge of growth and innovation.

The retail market has undergone significant changes in recent years. Jeremy speaks with Jamie Tate of Tate Economic Research to learn more about those changes, the impact it’s having on land development, and how retailers and developers are re-positioning themselves for success.

Jeremy speaks with Richard Witt, Executive Principal at Quadrangle, to learn more about the design of buildings that continue to reshape Toronto’s skyline and the challenges architects often face to satisfy the interests of their clients, the city, and the general public.

Jeremy speaks with Emma West, Partner at Bousfields Inc. and Vice-Chair with the Urban Land Institute in Toronto, to learn more about urban planning, the profession, and the vital role planners play in shaping our communities and city region. Emma also discusses important planning legislation that has undergone significant changes in recent years, including the newly enacted Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT) as a replacement to the Ontario Municipal Board.