Urban geography on foot 

One unit of the students’ Year 8 geography course is devoted to urban geography, exploring topics such as land use, urban planning, urban renewal, livability and walkability. The afternoon tour provided the chance to see examples of these concepts firsthand.

“It’s meant to be an observational tour, examining the pros and cons of urban renewal,” Hogan says. “Cities are dynamic places. Students are able to see how different urban design principles and priorities change over time.

“For example, the single-use social housing district characterized by the red-brick walkups in Regent Park were built with good intentions, but when it didn’t work out, urban planners are trying a different model, this time creating a mixed land use and mixed income neighbourhood. The intent is to provide the community with 70 per cent market value housing and 30 per cent public housing, as well as adding a number of amenities, including a grocery store. The previous single land-use model qualified the neighbourhood as a food desert. We don’t know yet what the outcome will be.”

Toope notes that redevelopment isn’t always easy.

“We see a lot of pros, given the shiny new facades,” he says, “but there are negatives, too. Before the highrises were built, people had to relocate and it’s difficult to stay connected to your community when that happens.”

In Cabbagetown, the students received an introduction to the concept of gentrification.

“Cabbagetown was once one of the poorest neighbourhoods in Toronto, but the process of gentrification continues,” Toope says. “It was harder for the students to picture its past. There’s still part of the old Regent Park left, so it was much easier to visualize it and to contrast it with the new development.”

Prior to taking the walk, the students watched Farewell Oak Street, a National Film Board of Canada production about a previous revitalization of Regent Park, filmed in 1953. Hogan and Toope also gave them an assignment: to do a walkability study of their own neighbourhood so they could think about how important it is to live in a neighbourhood with amenities. Their tasks included making qualitative and quantitative measurements of walkability and writing a final report with suggestions for improving their neighbourhood’s walkability score.

The tour was a good learning tool, note Year 8s James Reeves and Ryan She.

“It connected all the concepts we studied and gave me a better feel for them,” Reeves says. 

Says She, “I got to enjoy the trip with my friends, and appreciate the difficulties of urban city planning.”

The trip also offered a chance for the students to see other parts of the city, something that “puts life into perspective,” Toope says.