Spacing Radio

Spacing Radio
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Spacing Radio

Spacing Radio is the voice of Spacing, Canada's leading publication on urbanism.

  1. Episode 83: The War on Bikes

    4 DAYS AGO

    Episode 83: The War on Bikes

    With Premier Doug Ford's repeated promises to rip up bike lanes in Toronto, and possibly even other Ontario cities and towns, we've decided to dive deep into why and what that might mean for the future or road safety and city planning. We have a panel discussion featuring Cycle Toronto Executive Director Michael Longfied and Toronto Today Editor Allison Smith. We talk about both the impact of removing cycling infrastructure and why Doug Ford has suddenly made a few kilometres of bike lanes in Toronto a provincial priority. And we speak to Deputy Mayor and City Councillor Amber Morley about she defends the new Bloor Street bike lanes in her ward, and how/if the City can move forward with safe street projects.

    1h 2m
  2. The Overhead: Preserving Community

    OCT 15

    The Overhead: Preserving Community

    We're pleased to bring you another season of The Overhead, and we begin by checking back on a topic we've been tracking from the start: community land trusts. This time, we're focusing specifically on the "community" aspect of land trusts. We've spoken about the benefits of removing certain land from the market, preserving it as affordable housing in perpetuity. But how do land trusts help longstanding cultural communities so they can continue to call their neigbourhoods home? We see different communities turning to land trust model as a way to avoid displacement, or reassert cultural ownership over land they've traditionally called home: in the traditionally Black neighbourhoods of Hogan's Alley in Vancouver and Africville in Halifax, or in Toronto's Chinatown. To answer this, we spoke to Nat Pace, network director of the Canadian Network of Community Land Trusts, and Chiyi Tam, managing director of the Toronto Chinatown Land Trust. As Tam puts it, when we talk about the heritage of a place, we spend a lot of time speaking about the buildings or the character. We lose sight of what really makes a place: "Heritage is the people, it's not the buildings. And affordability is a core function to do heritage preservation work, in and amongst all of our communities — whether that's dragon dancing or whether that's the literal existence of Africville." How can ownership over land help preserve our diverse communities?

    29 min
  3. Episode 82: Toronto's political gridlock

    OCT 1

    Episode 82: Toronto's political gridlock

    This month, we respond to Doug Ford's stated plan of banning new bike lanes in Ontario municipalities and building an underground highway from Markham to Scarborough. Then we speak to environmental lawyer and cycling advocate Albert Koehl about his book Wheeling Through Toronto: a history of the bicycle and its riders. We talk about how attitudes towards cyclists have changed over time, or even repeated themselves. Finally, we talk to transportation consultant and former TTC Chair Adam Giambrone about the need for a culture change at Toronto's transportation commission.

    52 min
  4. Episode 81: Talking Transit '24

    SEP 12

    Episode 81: Talking Transit '24

    It's been a while since we had a good, old-fashioned transit talk with friends of the show Tricia Wood (York University urban geography professor and Spacing contributor) and Matt Elliott (Toronto Star columnist and publisher of the City Hall Watcher newsletter). We talk about returning TTC service levels to pre-pandemic levels, what we should look for in the next TTC CEO, what is even happening with the Eglinton Crosstown, and Doug Ford's transit expansion plans.

    59 min
  5. Episode 80: Toronto's Drone Scandal

    AUG 8

    Episode 80: Toronto's Drone Scandal

    We heard a lot about drones at the Paris Olympics, but what about in our own backyard? In this episode, Spacing's John Lorinc tells us about a piece he wrote called Eyes in the Sky, which documents the stealthy creep of the Toronto Police Service's use of drones to keep tabs on residents. Next, author and green advocate Lorraine Johnson tells us about an open letter she co-signed urging Canadian municipalities to change their outdated bylaws which prohibit growing habit gardens and other helpful plant species in our lawns and backyards. Finaly, Ingrid Buday founded No More Noise Toronto out of frustration with the city's high-volume noise pollution, especially traffic sounds. The group advocates for new bylaws protecting residents' right to peace and quiet, and gathers its own data to make the case.

    56 min
  6. Episode 79: Is Toronto strangled by rules?

    JUL 16

    Episode 79: Is Toronto strangled by rules?

    Toronto is often accused of being over-regulated. It's a fair criticism. For example, photographer and urbanist commentator Dan Seljak tells us how he stumbled upon the small Finch Store selling espresso, fighting to stay open in the face of City zoning laws. For more of the story, and how Finch Store was granted a reprieve, we speak to local City Councillor Alejandra Bravo. And we speak to Councillor Gord Perks, chair of the Planning and Housing Committee, about why Toronto works on complaints-based bylaw enforcement, and how we can improve the system for small businesses, special events, and more.

    46 min
  7. Episode 78: Bike Month

    JUN 18

    Episode 78: Bike Month

    It's Bike Month! It's a time we celebrate cycle culture in Toronto and surrounding cities and towns. At least officially. Despite some significant gains in cycling infrastructure, there are still a lot of people and (more troubling) politicians who'd like to run riders off the road. To put this all into perspective, we spoke to Lanrick Bennett Jr., a cycling advocate who, for the last few years, has represented Toronto as the Bicycle Mayor. And, Spacing co-founder Shawn Micallef tells us about the new edition of his book Stroll: psychogeographic walking tours of Toronto. In 2010, Shawn wrote the book as a series of guided walks, with historic background and personal reflections, through different parts of the city. Now, 14 years later, he's retread those steps for a brand new version of the book.

    48 min
  8. The Future FIx: Fighting Wildfires With Drones and Video Games

    MAY 31

    The Future FIx: Fighting Wildfires With Drones and Video Games

    Wildfire season has already begun in Canada. Due to climate change, we are seeing more frequent and devastating fires. They choke the air, the decimate the landscape, and they displace people from their homes. So we have to fight them with everything we've got. Neal McLoughlin is superintendent of the Predictive Services Unit at BC Wildfire Service. He tells us how AI and drone technology is helping to monitor, fight, and prevent forest fires. And Moulay Akhloufi is a professor at the University of Moncton, where he heads their Perception, Robotics and Intelligent Machines Lab. He tells us how his team has been exploring every avenue available to detect wildfires, and predict how they'll spread. That includes video games.

    38 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

Spacing Radio is the voice of Spacing, Canada's leading publication on urbanism.

Information

  • Creator
    Spacing Radio
  • Years Active
    2016 - 2024
  • Episodes
    135
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © All rights reserved
  • Show Website
    Spacing Radio

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