CiTR -- The City

Environmental historian and author Sean Kheraj traces how this tension between popular expectations of idealized nature and the volatility of complex ecosystems helped shape the landscape of one of the world?s most famous urban parks. Kheraj's book, Inventing Stanley Park, examines how human forces have shaped ? and continue to shape ? this urban environmental space. Kheraj asks us to question our understanding of the 'nature' of Stanley Park, and why it is important be aware of our complex relationship with the environment. Sean Kheraj is an assistant professor in the Department of History at York University in Toronto.

UBC Sociology Professor Renisa Mawani traces the ways in which colonial and imperial power have historically been inscribed in the land now known as Stanley Park.

Historian and author Jean Barman reflects on Stanley Park's 125th Anniversary and processes of dispossession which were part of the making of Stanley Park. Her book Stanley Park's Secret won the 2006 City of Vancouver Book Prize. She also situates Stanley Park within the country's broader colonial geographies and the ongoing work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on residential schools.

Professor Marjorie Griffin Cohen (SFU Political Science and Women's Studies) discusses the challenges facing low-wage workers and unions, and policy options to foster greater economic security. Ben Isitt (Victoria City Councillor, labour historian, and legal scholar) talks about the history of BC's labour movement in order to put current challenges into context.

What are local solutions to addressing affordable housing, homelessness, and mental health? What are the gender dimensions to these issues?
We explore these issues in a Vancouver context with four speakers who bring considerable experience and insight into providing safe, adequate, affordable, and gender-inclusive housing in the city.

Urban scholar John Friedmann (UBC and UCLA) reflects on how we're to make sense of rapid urbanization in Asia.

"The first half of the 21st century is anticipated to be a period of continuing large-scale urbanization in the developing world, with much of this occurring in Asian countries, especially China and India. This fundamental, on-going change in Asia presents, on the one hand, prospects for economic prosperity, new visions of an urban future and the potential for local democratization, and on the other, challenges of increasing economic and social inequities, increased resource consumption and environmental degradation. Underlying all these problems and possibilities are fundamental research challenges for scholars to consider."

Dr. Leslie Kern, a professor of women's studies, discusses her book 'Sex and the Revitalized City: Gender, Condominium Development, and Urban Citizenship' and the social and political implications of real estate development reshaping the landscape of cities.

Dr. Sylvia Bashevkin (University of Toronto) and author and urban planner Prabha Khosla speak at the Women Transforming Cities National Conference convened on May 30, 2013. Dr. Bashevkin speaks about how women are to transform cities, and Ms. Khosla speaks discusses gender equality and social inclusion in municipal policies and services.

A conversation with 'My Brooklyn' documentary filmmaker Allison Lirish Dean on race, class, corporate redevelopment, and the displacement of vibrant and unique urban places.

A Rio de Janiero-based social anthropologist, Dr. Cecilia Mello, discusses the urban social movements taking to the streets in Brazilian cities demanding a better quality of life and a right to the city.