Edition 53: May 2026
What’s New
💻 Getting vocal about local: A case for local procurement in the arts. This blog highlights the importance of hiring local artists to not only animate public spaces, but also build community wealth, local capacity, and cultural economies. Read the blog.
💻 The disappearance of the public bench. This blog explores how benches are microcosms of belonging in urban public spaces, and what happens when they are removed or made unwelcoming. Read the blog.
💻 Why are we not boys? They can go anywhere. This piece explores how young women in Hyderabad navigate the city through constant risk calculation and the limits of policy fixes. Read the blog.
💻 Walkability, privilege, and the cities that shape our bodies. This blog reflects on how urban form quietly determines who gets to walk, comparing daily life in Isfahan and Vancouver. Read the blog.
📰 Canada's mid-size cities are growing like big ones and running into the same fights. This article examines 15 years of data across seven mid-size cities and finds apartments and multi-unit housing now make up the bulk of new builds, mirroring the affordability tensions in larger centres. Read the article.
📖 Non-boring mobility innovations. The 2025 edition features 15 essays by urban planning students of the University of Amsterdam, presenting fresh ideas to redefine the way we think about mobility and our streets. Read the book.
📄 State of community mobility systems in Canada. This working paper offers a national snapshot of how Canadians get around using active transportation and public transit, and the data gaps that limit how we plan for everyone who isn't commuting to work. Read the report.
📄 Why do cars get a free ride? The social-ecological roots of motonormativity. This study shares findings on how people underestimate public support for non-motorised transport, making the shift to walking, cycling, and transit harder. Read the research article.
🎙️ How to design a public washroom that works for everyone at Ottawa’s LRT stations. This CBC Ottawa Morning segment explores what inclusive, accessible public washroom design actually looks like and why it matters for all transit riders. Listen to the podcast.
🎙️ What we've learned about evictions. This Spacing podcast episode features discussion on the new free book bringing together years of research on why evictions happen, who they impact, and how to break the silence around them. Listen to the podcast.
🎙️ Is mission-driven design good for cities? In this Good for Cities episode, Nyasha Harper-Michon talks about socially engaged architecture, aligning development with community needs and embedding equity into city-building. Listen to the podcast.
What’s Inspiring
🚶♀️ From Barcelona to Paris, cities thrive with women in charge. Public space and mobility improve for everyone when women lead city-building decisions. Read the news.
🪶 Vancouver leads Canada with the first formal urban Indigenous engagement process. The City of Vancouver has become the first municipality in Canada to adopt a formal, trauma-informed framework for engaging urban Indigenous communities – co-developed with the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations, and over 200 urban Indigenous participants. Read the news.
🎨 Metrics that matter: how Ottawa is transforming streets for happiness. The results of a public life study show how small placemaking changes boosted trust, joy, and comfort in three Ottawa plazas. Learn more about the study.
🏙️ New plan proposes to unlock Moncton's Vision Lands for urban development. Moncton has unveiled a master plan for a 527-acre area that could house up to 30,000 residents, alongside a new regional park, schools, and trails, with car-light, mixed-use design as a primary focus. Learn more about the project.
🚧 Toronto council passes a motion to explore the closure of a section of Church Street to vehicles. A motion asked city staff to explore a nine-week pedestrian pilot on Church Street, from Wellesley to Alexander Street. Learn more about the pilot.
🌳 City officials encouraged by talks with Parks Canada over Ojibway National Urban Park. This article covers Windsor's ongoing negotiations with Parks Canada for the proposed park, which would protect ecologically significant lands in the traditional territory of the Three Fires Confederacy. Learn more about the project.
What’s Coming Up
👩💻 Communications Specialist employment opportunity at Women in Urbanism Canada (that’s us!). Apply by May 19, 2026.
🗓️ Measuring what matters: evaluating children's mobility across Canada features a panel discussion on current evaluation practices, ongoing challenges, and innovative research. Register for the webinar on May 20, 2026.
🗓️ Growing streets on Ookwemin Minising public workshop to design the future streets in the new island. Register for the event on May 20, 2026.
🙋♀️ Proposal Lead volunteer opportunity at Urban Minds TO. Apply by May 22, 2022.
👩💻 Fundraising Manager employment opportunity at Queer Momentum. Apply by May 22, 2026.
🗓️ Babies, bikes & books at Two Wheel View in Calgary. Register for the event on May 31, 2026.
🙋♀️ Board member volunteer opportunity at Run Her Way. Apply by June 12, 2026.
📝 Engaging men and boys through GBA plus to promote gender equity is a certificate program inviting men, boys, and people of all genders to advance inclusion and build safer, fairer communities. Take the course.
💰 National Tenant Organizing Fund grant opportunity from Solidarity Economy Incubation for Zero Emissions (SEIZE). Apply by June 20, 2026.
👩💻 Development Strategy Coordinator employment opportunity at Disability Collective. Open until filled.
Becoming a member gives you the opportunity to shape the organization and welcomes you into a community of like-minded women and gender-diverse people.
