From Shock to Awe - Creating Communities Together

The secret is out – the Greater Golden Horseshoe is one of the best places to live in the world.  As a result, the region is experiencing unprecedented population growth and an associated demand for housing and jobs.  Toronto has more cranes in the sky than any city in North America; and with that boom, communities around the GGH are feeling their neighbourhoods pressured to change in ways that seem detrimental to their quality of life.  What is the right balance?  And who decides?  This session will explore an integrated approach to community planning through collaboration – if there is to be inevitable growth, how can community members participate in the process in a meaningful way?  Establishing a process of working together, reducing the mentality of “us vs them”, and empowering community members with knowledge are all tools to create better outcomes for everyone.  As an urban planner who has worked in the public and private sectors, I have focussed my career on facilitating conversations to bridge the gap between what often seem to be impossible and adversarial divisions – if we are going to see change, let’s make good changes together.