COVID-19 RESOURCE TOOLKIT November, 2020 A Guide for Canadian Planners and Urbanists

General: Sector resources | Mobility and transportation | Parks and public space | Street activation

This document contains over 800 curated resources collected from March to October 2020, and includes academic articles, best-practices documents, news reports, podcasts, panel discussions and more relating to the impacts of COVID-19 on the discipline of city-building

The City of Mississauga is conducting six consultation sessions with Black communities to generate greater insights into their lived experiences, challenges and opportunities to create a more inclusive and accessible City and Region.

General: Tools for engagement | Policy leadership

These consultations have been derived from Council Resolution 207 passed in June 2020 in an effort to address anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism, which have been identified as historic, pervasive, institutional and systemic issues in Mississauga that must be addressed. As part of Resolution 207, the Mayor established a Black Caucus composed of Black community members who are an advisory body working with the Mayor on issues pertaining to the Black community in addressing racism, discrimination and systemic changes in Mississauga.

Seizing the Moment: concrete ideas for building back better from the pandemic.

General: Sector resources | Housing and homelessness | Mobility and transportation | Policy leadership

Some propose ideas in bills already filed with the Legislature, while others are still taking shape and may need refinement before moving forward. There’s also some productive tension across proposals, giving readers an opportunity to weigh them against each other. Ultimately, though, they share a common goal – foregrounding justice and equity and ensuring that our region is more resilient when the next crisis hits.

CHANGING FACES of GREATER BOSTON: An in-depth look at how the opportunities and challenges of rapidly changing demographics are playing out in the region today

A collaboration between Boston Indicators, the UMass Donahue Institute, the four free-standing research institutes at UMass Boston dedicated to the major communities of color (the Trotter Institute, the Gastón Institute, the Institute for Asian American Studies and the Institute for New England Native American Studies) and faculty from UMass Boston’s McCormack Graduate School.

Universities are helping to shape city development: A prosperous and healthy city benefits urban universities and their surrounding communities.

Downtown

Through shared spaces, partnerships, university-led public symposia, grassroots projects and media conversations, universities increasingly want to influence the development agenda of the cities in which they reside.

Great idea: Lean Urbanism seeks to bring common sense back into the planning and development process—because great neighborhoods are built with many hands, often in small increments.

General: Sector resources | Main Street

Lean Urbanism is a multidisciplinary movement to lower the barriers to community-building, to make it easier to start businesses, and to provide more attainable housing and development.

Micro-retail spaces designed and programmed to advance, grow and celebrate creative retail.

Parks and public space | Street activation

Powered by San Jose Made, MOMENT embodies the urgency, immediacy and verve of today’s new retail and creative culture, featuring makers, creatives, artists and emerging brands for varying short-to-mid-length durations. Located in downtown San Jose within the ever-popular San Pedro Square neighborhood, MOMENT is perfectly positioned to elevate these already-amazing businesses, brands and talent to newer and greater levels of visibility at a time when San Jose itself is rising to newer and greater levels of visibility.

Montreal’s “Parklets,” — definitions, examples, benefits, implementation frameworks

Main Street | Parks and public space | Street activation

European web-platform for placemakers and placemaking tools

Main Street | Parks and public space | Street activation

We strongly believe that our members, publications, events and tools will help you through your placemaking journey.. We are a network of thousands of placemakers primarily based and working in Europe. We are the proud network behind Placemaking Week Europe. We connect to share our experiences, develop tools, champion each other, and work together to make great places. We are so excited to welcome  you to the community. 

Virtual conference recordings and presentations that brought together educators, researchers, policymakers, and practitioners support children and families in learning through play.

Arts and Culture | Children | Public health | Street activation

Designing for Effective Physical Distancing in Essential Public Spaces

General: Sector resources | Local businesses | Main Street | Mobility and transportation | Parks and public space | physical distancing

Ideas for the public spaces we are likely to emerge for during this period of physical distancing – grocery stores, pharmacies, parks, and the streets that get us to and from. Includes:

Grocery Stores & Pharmacies: Tips for Streamlining the Process of Buying Essentials Safely

Public Sidewalks: Helping People Keep a Safe Distance to and from Essential Services

Public Parks: Tools for Discouraging Gathering in Public Spaces While Allowing People to Get Fresh Air and Exercise

 

 

 

Proximity of Care Design Guide: design and implementation of child- and family friendly interventions in vulnerable urban environments, with benefits for the entire community.

Children | General: Sector resources | General: Tools for engagement | Policy leadership | Youth

Arup and the Bernard van Leer Foundation have combined their design and planning expertise and knowledge of early childhood development to produce the Proximity of Care Design Guide. The Guide builds upon the Bernard van Leer Foundation’s Urban95 initiative, which asks a bold but simple question: 

If you could experience the city from 95cm – the height of a 3-year-old – what would you change?

The Design Guide seeks to answer this question by helping professionals and decision makers operating in informal and refugee settlements to design and implement cost-effective interventions that improve the living conditions and well-being of young children, their caregivers and pregnant women, with benefits for the entire community.   A good start in life for the youngest urban residents is one of the best investments a city can make.

HerCity: Digital Toolbox for Sustainable, Equal and Inclusive Cities

General: Online communities and networks | General: Sector resources | General: Tools for engagement | Learning and education | Policy leadership

HerCity is a platform that involves women in urban development, in order to make better cities for everyone. Turning the tables and putting girls in the expert position, the digital toolbox aims to create more inclusive, equal, and sustainable cities and communities. The initiative makes methods and tools available to urban actors globally, in order to support cities in integrating girls’ participation in their long-term strategies. A toolbox with 9 flexible building blocks, Her City supports urban development from a girl’s perspective. We guide urban actors to implement projects through a step-by-step methodology providing an open and digitally accessible platform for all. We facilitate an ongoing dialogue between professionals and citizens.

Naheyawin is an Edmonton-based consultancy that offers sustainable, practical, Indigenous-based solutions for the improvement of diversity and inclusion in businesses, organizations and institutions through interactive workshop sessions, equity audits, and public engagement design and facilitation.

CUIxLocal | CUIxYEG (Edmonton) | General: Tools for engagement | Indigenous

They work alongside entrepreneurs, educational institutions, non-profits and government helping them to become stewards of Treaty and realize their capacity to create conditions of abundance in their organizations, and beyond.

New Zoning By-Law in Edmonton to be developed with Equity and Gender-based Lens

CUIxLocal | CUIxYEG (Edmonton) | Policy leadership

The “Philosophy of the New Zoning By-Law” Key Reference Document outlines the new ways in which zoning will be pursued in Edmonton. The development of new zoning by-laws is being pursued through an “Equity Lens” which is described as “a shift from previous ways of thinking about land use regulations. This framework encourages one to consider the “unintended social impacts of our regulations and take thoughtful and decisive action to create Everyone’s Edmonton.” A part of this equity lens is asking the questions:

  • What do Inclusive and Compassionate zoning regulations look like and how can we create options for a more equitable future?
  • How can zoning promote a Community of Communities, so all Edmontonians have access to the goods and services they need regardless of their neighbourhood?
  • What outcomes will we need to prioritize in the Zoning Bylaw to ensure Edmonton is a Rebuildable City, capable of adapting to change and disruptions while ensuring all Edmontonians have access to new opportunities?

Framed as a “Zoning By-Law For Everyone”

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