The Spadina Expressway was one of five urban highways that were nearly built in Toronto in the 70s. The plan would have bulldozed neighbourhoods so that suburban commuters had a direct route to drive downtown. But campaigners like Bobbi Speck and Jane Jacobs stopped it, saving iconic neighbourhoods like The Annex. Today, Toronto is one of the worst cities in the world for traffic. Should the expressway have been built anyway? We tell the story of the grassroots movement to stop Spadina with the people who were there firsthand. Does the movement perhaps offer tips on how to solve Toronto’s notoriously bad traffic?

Was the Spadina Expressway a crisis averted or a missed opportunity?

How do we make our cities more livable? We want them to be more affordable, walkable and meet the needs of a tech-powered society. So, how do we actually reach those ideals? City Space is an urban living podcast from The Globe and Mail that seeks to answer those questions. Join host Irene Galea as she speaks to global experts and those close to home to learn what our cities are doing right and what we could do better. From accessibility to housing to transit, episodes will consider what truly makes a city run well, look to our global neighbours on what they’re getting right and deliberate on how to make the best cities we can.

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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.

A conversation with Justin Trudeau on Canada’s housing crisis

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.

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

Canada’s largest Chinatown has been under siege for over a century: first by race riots, then by poverty and most recently by the threat of development. We’re telling the story of why Chinatown, Vancouver, is one of Canada’s most resilient neighbourhoods, forced to evolve and adapt in the face of horrific racism. The future of Chinatowns everywhere should be in the hands of the people who live, work and find community there. So what does the future hold for a neighbourhood constantly in flux?

Can Chinatown, Vancouver, survive the neighbourhood's revitalization?

At the turn of the 20th century, a murder, a bar brawl and a sermon led to a 100-year ban on booze in Toronto’s Junction neighbourhood. The Junction was Toronto’s last “dry” neighbourhood — meaning no alcohol was allowed to be sold — until 2000. While other nearby areas saw business booming as bars and restaurants opened, The Junction declined and became known as “The Junkie Junction.” We’re telling the story of the Junction’s prohibition — and how it got its bars back. Today it’s a rapidly gentrifying area, thanks to the allure of its galleries, boutiques, bars and music venues. But are businesses always the best way to breathe new life into a neighbourhood? Has revitalization become synonymous with gentrification?

Prohibition's 100-year hangover in a Toronto neighbourhood

On August 18, 2021, downtown Halifax made international news when the city erupted in a sprawling protest against the removal of illegal homeless shelters from a park. Compared to other Canadian cities, Halifax’s homeless population has tripled in the last three years. Emergency shelters aren’t doing enough. Building new housing takes time. It takes policy changes — and money. Until that’s in place, is leaving people to camp in parks really the best a city can do? We’re telling the story of park encampments, and how the city’s homelessness problem got so bad.

Was the Spadina Expressway a crisis averted or a missed opportunity?

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