At a hinge moment across Canada, we’re pleased to support the 3rd annual State of Canada’s Cities Summit, hosted by the CUI. This year’s theme explores how city builders across the country are driving national progress through local innovation. Join us! https://ow.ly/LJno50XoGxg

Nov 20, 4 p.m.: Celebrate Rebecca Munce’s mural Petal and Stone – the inaugural work in the Gardiner Wallworks program – and explore the role murals play in driving urban transformation with The Bentway & the Creative Communities Commons. Register now: https://ow.ly/YvF550Xsu2V

Tomorrow, 12 p.m. ET: We look forward to welcoming Mercedes Sobers and learning about how the Black Joy Art Initiative helped her deepen and balance her PhD research into racial disparities in mental health and mental health service access in Ontario. https://ow.ly/zAsU50XoG9p

Shop on Washington Street redevelops the historic business district by placing Black- and women-owned businesses into brick-and-mortar spaces. The initiative worked with our EDDIT data storytelling team to share the legacy of Washington Street through data https://ow.ly/2HZ450Xsua5

@profchapple.bsky.social joins a panel to discuss the crucial role of the state in shaping the housing markets of two economic powerhouses – the U.S. & Germany – and why they adopted such different & unexpected housing finance policy approaches. Register now https://ow.ly/4YJ350Xo4ZP

Are you working to improve a social impact, ESG or CSR challenge within your org. or community in the GTA and looking for leadership, networking, multisectoral support? Apply to LSJC by 12/12. Bring your questions to online office hours, Nov. 19, 12 p.m. ET https://ow.ly/yYFn50Xsu8z

"Last month @uoftcities.bsky.social hosted a multidisciplinary seminar on recent research in urban homelessness data and policy, featuring research into sheltering in parks and the use of algorithms in homelessness services." Read more @serenet.bsky.social schoolofcities.utoronto.ca/multidiscipl...

Last month we hosted a multidisciplinary seminar on recent research in urban homelessness data and policy, featuring research into sheltering in parks and the use of algorithms in homelessness services. Read more: https://ow.ly/iXr450Xo43r

Grad students from any dept. or discipline: Apply now for our new MUGS course on the interconnectedness & intersectionalities of climate justice, housing, homelessness and how they diversely & disproportionately impact Black, Indigenous & racialized youth https://ow.ly/2hLK50XoJ0E

In this month’s Knowledge Café, Mercedes Sobers recounts how the Black Joy Art Initiative helped in her exploration of what mental wellness means to Black communities, what practices foster it, and how it can be strengthened within the Black community https://ow.ly/Mp2l50XoG4H

University of Toronto grad students: Designing the Techno-Urban will consider who benefits from urban technologies, whose perspectives are excluded, and how to design for pluralistic futures - incl. data ethics, urban public space, participatory design with communities https://ow.ly/ywiH50XoKE8

Each Dec. urban policymakers, community leaders, researchers convene to assess the health of our cities & how to strengthen them. This year focuses on local innovations, frameworks, partnerships that make cities stronger & how to scale them. Register: https://ow.ly/NwVB50XoGs9

Grad seminar Material Storytelling & Chemical Worldmaking will introduce material research; environmental inequities and impacts related to contaminants; the role of geography, environmental media & urban development in chemical distribution. Apply now: https://ow.ly/rkVh50XoK9m

TOMORROW (Nov 12) join us online for an exploration of West Bengal’s Drivers Union, COVID emergency food distribution, and how tech platforms are changing health and relief services and infrastructure across India. https://schoolofcities.utoronto.ca/event/social-infrastructures-of-platforms/

Tomorrow, 5-6 p.m. ET: We look forward to welcoming you to the info session on LSJC – a leadership development program co-run w/ United Way Greater Toronto for people tackling a social justice issue in their GTA workplace or community. Register now: https://ow.ly/RHm550XoIWp

This grad seminar looks at the challenges faced by cities in balancing safety, equity, sustainability in the food delivery gig economy & explores workers’ urban experiences – multimodal transport, conflicts over roads and sidewalks, public perceptions https://ow.ly/arlk50XoKHG

Downtown Halifax Business Commission (DHBC) worked with our EDDIT data storytelling team to compose a narrative that supports investment in local businesses, public infrastructure, and cultural amenities as the city works to meet the needs of a fast-growing downtown https://ow.ly/uZKg50XoIPp

Nov. 19, 12 p.m. ET: Join us to hear from Mercedes Sobers about how the Black Joy Art Initiative counterbalanced to the strain of researching the poor outcomes & persistent barriers faced by Black residents of ON trying to access mental health support https://ow.ly/whRp50Xo5vO

India, Canada, anywhere in between: Join us on Nov. 12 for the next SofC India Academic Lecture on how workers, unions, & experimental partnerships between citizens, struggling services, tech platforms are changing infrastructure and governance in India https://ow.ly/rgiI50Xo58u

University of Toronto News features research on how to use aerial imagery to gauge the health of TO’s green roofs – work supported by an SofC Urban Challenge Grant and featured in our second Urban Discoveries video: https://ow.ly/hZ2O50Xl7bG

Across Canada, affordability & infrastructure gaps are testing the resilience of local communities. The 3rd annual Summit will focus on the local innovations, frameworks, partnerships making cities stronger & explore how to scale them. Register now: https://ow.ly/6AeC50Xo5GG

Responsive streetlights, algorithmic transit planning, community-designed air quality sensors - urban life is mediated by tech systems. This grad seminar asks how we can design in a way that treats cities as spaces of experimentation, resistance, care https://ow.ly/otQW50Xlm4Z

Applications are open for LSJC, a leadership development program for individuals from the public, private, community sectors tackling a systemic social justice issue in the GTA. Got questions? Join an online info session on Nov. 12, 5-6 p.m. ET. Register: https://ow.ly/Exaz50Xlm1h

November 12: Join Aditi Surie (Indian Institute for Human Settlements) and Ashique Ali Thuppilikkat (Faculty of Information, U of T) to hear about digital labour platforms and the role of technology in worker resistance in India. Free and online! https://ow.ly/r60J50Xl7QQ

Meet our 2025-26 Visiting Professor Crystal Legacy, who will join us from University of Melbourne Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning to work on her book Gaslighting the City and to build a research collab on the politics of urban infrastructure https://ow.ly/9CiS50Xlm9W

U of T grad students: Explore how buildings, landscapes, and urban environments act as media for the embodiment, release, transfer of chemicals & minerals – and how they impact geographies and health and raise questions for preservation and conservation https://ow.ly/CjyM50Xlm4K

Meet our 2025-26 Visiting Professor Alexandra Flynn, who joins us from Peter A. Allard School of Law - University of British Columbia to examine how the misalignment of orders of government makes it hard to address challenges of infrastructure, housing, and data. https://ow.ly/7u8X50Xlm9b

New multidisciplinary graduate seminar for the winter term: Join Dalla Lana School of Public Health postdoc fellow Sabina Mirza to explore the social issues impacting justice for the next generation: climate health, youth housing, and diversity & equity. Apply now: https://ow.ly/3qCS50Xlm3S

Nov 19: Mercedes Sobers presents her research on racial disparities in mental health experiences & services and explores how the Black Joy Art Initiative balanced the work strain by highlighting everyday practices sustaining wellness in Black communities https://ow.ly/WBX750Xl85y

Are you working to improve a social impact, ESG or CSR challenge within your organization or community in the GTA and looking for leadership, networking, multisectoral support? Join a free, online info session to learn more about LSJC: Nov 12, 5 p.m. ET https://ow.ly/SRtX50Xlm0A

What the federal budget means for cities this Thursday noon ET - moderated by @canurb.bsky.social featuring @fcm.ca @thehubcanada.bsky.social & @uoftcities.bsky.social (me) us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Nov. 9: Join Carolyn Whitzman Senior Housing Researcher, for a talk at Koffler Arts about artist Tracey Snelling’s Intergalactic Planetary exhibition and how they both explore the ways that marginalized communities navigate and shape urban spaces https://ow.ly/ucnx50Xl6mB

Meet our 2025-26 Visiting Professor Zack Taylor, who will join us from Western University's Dept. of Poli Sci to build a research collaboration on the effects of local fiscal decentralization in Canada https://schoolofcities.utoronto.ca/programs-opportunities/visiting-experts/visiting-professors/

In Greensboro, NC a coalition worked with the EDDIT data storytelling team to tell the story of the creative ways they’re increasing the number of fresh, affordable food options in East Greensboro, a historically underserved and disadvantaged area https://schoolofcities.github.io/eddit/greensboro-nc

November’s SOCIAL features two speakers on how collaboration with, and disruption by, service delivery apps for ambulances and emergency food delivery are impacting municipal government policies and responsibilities https://schoolofcities.utoronto.ca/event/social-infrastructures-of-platforms/

SofC & Institute for Management & Innovation (IMI) talked to The Star about our maps that trace the potential impact of U.S. tariffs in Cdn. neighbourhoods, by sector & for businesses + employees https://ow.ly/olOS50Xl7sZ

Read our affiliated faculty member Alexander Reisenbichler on the LSE blog, and watch his Knowledge Café talk from last April on lessons from the German housing market and policies: schoolofcities.utoronto.ca/event/knowle...

It's a good time to explore our recently published map that tracks the potential impact of tariffs at neighbourhood level across Canada. They're sortable by specific goods (auto, steel, lumber, etc.) and according to their impact on businesses and employment https://ow.ly/fzRb50XkJHc

Are you researching climate change, human mobility, and housing? If so, join us in Nola (January) for "Multiplied Displacements: The Climate-Housing Nexus" (free registration & some travel funding available) w/ @uoftcities.bsky.social & @buoncities.bsky.social architecture.tulane.edu/events/multi...

In celebration of all things spooky, we’re looking back at our second Cities in Fiction video, in which Professor Tyeshia Redden delves into three horror films to discuss what they reveal about urban gentrification, racial politics, displacement, and more. https://ow.ly/TK0550XkJFk

There’s still time to register: Join us for a screening of the seminal film The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces, in which “Holly” Whyte summarizes his groundbreaking study of NYC’s street life and plazas in an unpretentious and often hilarious tone https://ow.ly/w8Vj50XcJJt

Urban data geekery

This Fri & Sat, the Cities on the Edge workshop – livestreamed from Cairo & w/ SofC support – examines endangered urban heritage in Egypt, Sudan, Palestine. Roundtables will discuss urban heritage + violence, climate, museums & archives, urbicide: everydayorientalism.wordpress.com/2025/09/15/c...

Wisconsin's Eau Claire Transit is studying its routes, ridership, and service levels. They came to the EDDIT data storytelling team to figure out how best to communicate the benefits of transit to residents and grow a community of advocates and users https://ow.ly/y5QZ50XcKsT

U of T grad students from any dept or discipline: There’s still time to apply for the Winter 2026 seminar on the gig economy & what the rapid expansion of food delivery platforms tells us about regulatory frameworks, financial stability, precarious labour https://ow.ly/NVeF50XcKyG

Holly Whyte’s 1980 film The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces summarizes his seminal street life study of NYC’s plazas & is profoundly influential in the worlds of placemaking and livable cities. Join us on Nov 4 for a screening and panel discussion: https://ow.ly/zhR250XcJCm

U of T grad students: apply now for our Winter 2026 seminar on how cities are being shaped by digital technologies, data infrastructures, networked devices. The course will consider who benefits, who is excluded, and how to design for pluralistic futures https://ow.ly/Kqxx50XcKSQ

Are you a grad student interested in the interactions of architecture, preservation, conservation, pollution? Apply now for Material Storytelling & Chemical Worldmaking, a Winter 2026 seminar run by SofC and taught by Monica Hutton, architect & lecturer https://ow.ly/ElBh50XcKIT

14 municipalities in Cook County, Il formed C4 to collaborate on climate action initiatives, including the transition to electric landscaping equipment. C4 worked with EDDIT to build a story that elevates the transition to sustainable landscaping practices https://ow.ly/XBwm50XcKiN

Did you miss the launch of the first report from the Bundling Assets lab? Watch it online to hear about what works & what doesn’t when actors in the housing sector pool their assets for the purposes of loan equity, site development, and management sharing https://ow.ly/5sZv50XcJTF