Cara Chellew

Title/Position: Research Administrator
Department/Faculty/Institution:
 Faculty of Environmental Studies
Degree(s)/School(s):
 Master’s in Environmental Studies (Planning) and Bachelor's degree in Philosophy, York University

MCRI Involvement: Research Administrator (2017-2019); Communications Assistant (2014-2016).

Background: Cara Chellew is a graduate from the Master of Environmental Studies program in urban planning at York University where her research focused on the design, regulation, and politics of public space. She is the founder of the Defensive Urban Design Research Network and the public space project Mapping DefensiveTO Her work has been published in the Canadian Journal of Urban Research, Spacing Magazine, and the Ontario Planning Journal.

Research Interests: Public Space; Inclusive Design; Planning Ethics; Urban Activism; Art & the City.

Publications & Presentations:

Chellew, C. (2019). Defending Suburbia: Exploring the Use of Defensive Urban Design Outside of the City Centre. Canadian Journal of Urban Research.

Chellew, C. (2019). Mapping defensive urban design in Toronto. Spacing.

Chellew, C. (2019, October 31). Public Space and Defensive Urbanism in Toronto. Guest lecture POL 378: Cities and Citizens, University of Toronto.

Chellew, C. (2019, October 8). Civic Hacknight #212: Mapping DefensiveTO. Presentation for CivicTech Toronto.

Chellew, C. (2018, November 3). TEDx Talk: Rethinking Defensive Urban Design. TEDxTartu, Tartu, Estonia.

Chellew, C. (2018, November 3). Using social and online media for research and activism. Workshop Organizer. TEDxTartu, Tartu, Estonia.

Chellew, C. (2018, April 10). Tragedy of the Suburbs: The politics of pedestrian mobility in Toronto’s inner suburbs. The American Association of Geographers Annual Meeting, New Orleans, USA.

Chellew, C. (2017, June 2). Defending Suburbia: Defensive urban design in Toronto's suburban public spaces. Canadian Association of Geographers Conference, Toronto, ON.

Chellew, C. & Hertel, S. (eds.) (2017). Planning in the New Millenium: A look at planning across the generations. Ontario Planning Journal.

Chellew, C. (2016). Design Inequalities. Spacing.

Chellew, C. (2016). Design Paranoia.Ontario Planning Journal.