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16/04/2024

Will the cost of hosting the FIFA World Cup pay off for Toronto?

The men’s 2026 FIFA World Cup is coming to Canada. Out of 106 games, Toronto will host just six. The city is facing a bill of $380 million or more for things like security and a stadium expansion. Huge sporting events like this are sold as being good for the hosts, boosting tourism and local business while also leaving a legacy of better transit. So does hosting a successful sporting event mean accelerated city building? What kind of legacy makes hosting worthwhile? We’re asking what Toronto has got itself into, by telling the story of two pivotal Olympic Games hosted in Canada, so that we can see what was good, what was bad and what was a boondoggle.

16/04/2024

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43 min
04/02/2025

Pedal politics: How Toronto’s bike lanes became so divisive

Study after study shows that bike lanes make roads safer for everyone and have a minimal effect on traffic congestion. Yet, in Canadian cities, they’re not always popular. In Toronto, they’re arguably the most divisive piece of road infrastructure, with the Ontario government introducing a plan to remove bike lanes on three major streets in the city and restrict new ones from being built. In this episode of City Space, we’re looking at Toronto’s complicated history with bike lanes and how they became so political.

04/02/2025

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39 min
05/07/2022

How online shopping is changing our city streets – and what comes next

With e-commerce largely replacing brick-and-mortar stores, how we shop is having real, physical effects on how our cities work. So in this episode, we’re looking at all things retail: As consumers, have we become addicted to convenience? How are businesses able to offer us even quicker delivery times than ever before, sometimes within even 15 minutes – and what is that doing to our main streets? What is the “last mile,” and why is it so important for making sure we’re taking care of the environment? Adrian speaks to Josué Velázquez Martínez, the director of the MIT Sustainable Supply Chain Lab, about the ins and outs of how products get to where they need to be – and why e-commerce, if done more thoughtfully, could actually be better for our planet. Plus, we hear from Alex Bitterman, a professor and the chair of Architecture and Design at Alfred State University of New York, about the rise of “dark stores”: private warehouses in the heart of our cities that allow for extra-speedy delivery times, while simultaneously threatening to snuff out our main streets.

05/07/2022

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30 min
23/05/2024

A conversation with Justin Trudeau on Canada’s housing crisis

Earlier this month, the City Space team met Prime Minister Trudeau for a sit-down interview to get his thoughts on the biggest challenges facing our cities: housing affordability, a labour shortage, population growth and the need for densification. Trudeau and the Federal Liberals unveiled a new housing policy in April of this year, a plan that they say will help solve the housing affordability crisis in Canada. As the prime minister says, the plan is certainly ambitious. It marks a significant departure in the federal government’s approach to housing, one that will require them to be much more direct and hands-on. But what took so long? We’re asking why his government has struggled to make a meaningful difference on housing affordability and availability in this country.

23/05/2024

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33 min
18/02/2025

Is expropriation the solution to a housing crisis? The majority of Berliners think so

Is expropriation, or forcing corporations to sell apartments to the government, a way to ease the housing crisis? Berlin seems to think so. In a landmark referendum back in 2021, the majority of Berliners voted ‘yes’ to forced sales, calling for the government to buy 240,000 apartments owned by some of Berlin’s mega landlords - whether they want to sell or not. Some call the strategy “radical” but needed. Others say it’s unconstitutional. But is it a viable solution to Berlin’s housing crisis, and could it work here in Canada? In this episode, we dive into the history behind Berlin’s expropriation campaign and try to figure out if a similar referendum on housing could succeed on this side of the Atlantic.

18/02/2025

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35 min
16/09/2024

The ‘ghost gear’ strangling Canada’s marine wildlife

Fishing equipment like nets, traps and lines that have been lost or abandoned are a serious problem for marine wildlife. They’re designed to trap sea creatures, and to last a long time. It’s called ghost gear, and Canada is leading the charge in efforts to clean it up. But it is challenging and often dangerous work. Today, The Globe’s BC reporter Justine Hunter explains how all this fishing gear ended up at the bottom of our oceans in the first place, why it’s so destructive to wildlife and what the obstacles are in trying to clean it up. Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com

16/09/2024

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20 min
15/04/2025

Solving mini city mysteries

This week on City Space, our team attempts to unravel a few puzzling urban enigmas. Can anything be a street name? Does a patch of grass qualify as a park? What does this unique house reveal about the development of the area? Irene and our producers guide you through different neighborhoods as they try to solve the mini-mysteries that define a city - in this case, Toronto. The hows and whys (or why nots) of urban design and city planning.

15/04/2025

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35 min
21/06/2022

Hybrid work is here to stay. What will that mean for our downtown cores?

If you’re a white-collar worker, chances are your office setup looks different than it did before the pandemic. After our two-year-long global experiment with remote work, many employees say there’s lots to like about it, with a number of companies now offering hybrid workplaces. All that empty office space is going to have an effect on the rest of our cities. In this episode, Jennifer Barrett, a senior planner with The Canadian Urban Institute outlines three ways that vacant offices could affect our downtown cores and what she hopes will be our way forward. We take a look at what Calgary is doing – since it was dealing with a vacant-office crisis even before COVID-19 – with the help of The Globe’s deputy national editor for cities and real estate James Keller. Samantha Sannella, the managing director for strategic consulting at global commercial real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield, also joins us to talk about how Calgary’s revitalization plans for their downtown could inspire other Canadian cities, and whether plans to convert offices into housing are realistic. Finally, Reshma Saujani, the founder of Girls Who Code, explains why so many people want this office revolution in the first place, and how this represents an opportunity to shift away from the white, male-centric ways in which workplaces were originally designed.

21/06/2022

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26 min
07/06/2022

From tipping to farming: How we should change the way we think about food

Cities are filled with seemingly endless options when it comes to food. But we’re also increasingly disconnected from what we eat and how it makes its way to our plate. In this episode, we’re taking a look at how the pandemic has given us the opportunity to rethink our relationship with food, both in terms of the restaurant industry and farmed food that fills our fridge. Adrian speaks to Corey Mintz, a food writer and critic about his new book The Next Supper: The End of Restaurants As We Knew Them, and What Comes After. Corey shares how the pandemic has changed the restaurant industry, from tipping to labour demand, and what diners should think about next time they eat out. Plus, we hear from Carolyn Steel, architect and author of Sitopia: How Food Can Save the World. Carolyn shares how cities have lost some of their essential connections to the food that fuels their citizens, and what we can do about it.

07/06/2022

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26 min
SEASON 4 TRAILER

Coming soon: Season 4 of City Space

Who decides what progress means to a city? In the new season of City Space, join host Irene Galea as she delves into the stories of changing cities and how they're holding on to their identities in the face of 21st century problems. Season 4 will tell stories of progress and preservation — and look for common ground in city spaces across Canada.

S4 Trailer

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2 min

In-depth audio journalism from Canada's national media organization, from daily analysis of the most important stories of the day, to in-depth commentary and investigative series.

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