By Roger Keil "The imminent collapse of our civilization is standing in two key aspects of our civilization that are driving it over the edge: suburban living and the obsession with the automobile. … [M]uch of the urban structure of today all around the world being abandoned or with greatly reduced populations clustering on urban […]
Suburbanicity Blog
Towards a more equitable transit future for the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area
By Sean Hertel, Michael Collens and Roger Keil In the fast-growing, complex and diverse Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, transit discussions rarely focus on improving access for the greatest number of people and addressing the complex needs of the public. As plans are made, money is spent, routes are plotted and fare schedules are set, […]
Beyond the white picket fence: An interview on suburban governance with Roger Keil
By Sarah Wesseler With more people gravitating toward cities than ever before, new urban morphologies are proliferating throughout the developed and developing worlds. Roger Keil, a professor at Toronto’s York University, has spent his career thinking about the implications of this process. We spoke with him about Suburban Governance: A Global View, a newly released book he co-edited with University […]
Switching Tracks: Transit equity needs attention in Toronto
By Michael Collens, Sean Hertel and Roger Keil What is transit equity and how can we ensure we get it as we roll out major transit investments in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA)? A report and expert workshop led by York University’s Greater Toronto Suburban Working Group (GTSWG) aim to kick start a […]
In order to green Toronto, we have to go to its fringes and beyond
By Roger Keil The book The Natural City, edited by Ingrid Leman Stefanovic and Stephen Bede Scharper, provides a wonderful cross-section of state of the art thinking on urban-nature relationships in the broadest sense. The subtitle of the book suggests a particular interest in the “built environment” but even the casual reader will notice that […]
Town and gown in postsuburbia: Toronto’s universities in the global age
By Jean-Paul Addie and Roger Keil Toronto is a university town. But more and more, the weight of student numbers shifts out of the central city into the sprawling Canadian metropolis’s burgeoning sub- and exurbs. Clearly, the importance of the centralized campuses of the University of Toronto, Ryerson University and OCADU is not waning. However, […]
Resilience: Not a cuddly kitten, more like a beastly cat
By Roger Keil Resilience is a tough and controversial term. Inspired by a recent invective by Tom Slater, in which he roundly rejects resilience as a concept and bemoans especially its use by the evil powers of regeneration and gentrification, I want to offer a few thoughts of my own. In a commentary on an […]
Sub/urbanization and density: A few critical notes
By Roger Keil Density is a concept that enjoys much love in urbanist circles.1 It is often seen as a necessary precondition for sustainability and even resilience. It has become a rarely questioned normative objective. Densification and intensification are desired processes of urban planning and development. So how about ‘good density’? Is the term as […]
Critical urbanism: My football team of sub/urban books in 2013
By Roger Keil As 2013 draws to a close, I am reflecting on a few critical urban books that have taught me something during the past year. Not all of them are brand new. They are not the only ones that mattered to me over the past 12 months (or have shown promise to continue […]
What do we know about the 'Suburban Revolution'?
By Roger Keil We are in the middle of a suburban revolution. It comes in two waves. The majority of migrants from distant shores or the domestic countryside end up on the edges of the metropolis. Existing suburbs that already contain most of the people and economic activities in many urban regions are subject to […]
