Symposium Program PDF

7:30AM – 8:00AM – Networking Breakfast and Registration
8:00AM – 8:45AM: Opening Keynote: Richard Florida
8:45AM – 9:30AM: WLI Toronto Presents: Growing Pains
10:00AM – 4:00PM: Regional Bus Tours (Choose 1 of 11)

City Building Disruption: Pushing the rules of engagement for innovative development
Toronto finds itself on a global frontier of rethinking the rules of engagement for development and city building. New technologies and innovations are increasingly running up against old zoning and building codes which preclude the ability for city builders to deliver progressive public policy objectives, from affordability to sustainability. On this tour you will meet the urban innovators and technology change makers as Toronto confronts the implications and opportunities of objective-based building code and zoning ordinances, including: R-Haus; Sidewalk Labs; View Glass & Ratio City.

Tour Speakers: 
Monika Jaroszonek, Co-Founder & CEO, RATIO.CITY
Leith Moore, Principal and Co-Founder, R-Hauz
Michael Barker, Principal and Co-Founder, R-Hauz
Tye Farrow, Senior Partner, Farrow Partnership
Joe Berridge, Partner, Urban Strategies
Brandon Tinianov, VP, Industry Strategy, Viewglass
Mark Hao, Director, Asset Management, Oxford
Guthrie Cox, President, View Canada
Matt Tapscott, VP, Finance and CFO, Canada Lands Company
Derek Goring, SVP, Development, First Gulf
George Carras, CEO, R-Labs
Meg Davis, Chief Development Officer Waterfront Toronto
Josh Sirefman, Head of Development, Sidewalk Labs

Tour Stops:
R-Labs
Sidewalk Labs
ViewGlass

PropTech: Where Toronto’s Booming Technology Meets Real Estate, Development & Our Community
The Tech Industry and Real Estate need each other. Tech needs Real Estate to grow and Real Estate needs Tech to improve itself. And both industries are booming in Toronto. Toronto ranks highest in tech jobs growth in Canada and the U.S., Sidewalk Labs has setup shop here, Uber recently announced a $200-million engineering hub and self-driving lab investment, and Toronto is on the shortlist for the new Amazon HQ. Start-ups, Incubators, Accelerators, Disruption – it’s all here in the Toronto SuperCluster. On this tour you’ll meet the people and organizations leading the charge. Together let’s try to answer this question: how do we make Toronto a global leader in PropTech (intersection of property and technology) and leverage tech to make the built-environment better?

Tour Speakers:
George Carras, CEO, RLabs
Nicola Spunt, Director of Content and Culture, Partisans
Joe Berridge, Partner, Urban Strategies
Jon Dogterom, Managing Director, Cleantech Venture Services, MaRS Discovery District
Adam Blinick, Director of Public Policy, Uber
Josh Sirefman, Chief Development Officer, Sidewalk Labs

Tour Stops:
Sidewalk Labs
MaRS Discovery District

Digital City Building
Toronto is at the global intersection of smart and physical city building. This digital and urban development frontier must balance how we build cities, use data and share in its value creation and benefits. What does a good deal for civic and private development look like? How do cities collect and protect this data while creating new opportunities for government and industry to build better, smarter cities? On this tour you will meet global and local city builders who are seeking to leverage the digital opportunities associated with big urban data – and the civic stewards of this increasingly valuable public resource.

Tour Speakers:

George Carras, CEO, RLabs
Kristina Verner, VP, Innovation, Sustainability and Prosperity, Waterfront Toronto
Jessica Rayes, Communications & Open Data Publishing Lead, Toronto Open Data
Ann-Marie Croce, Research Associate, Data, Toronto Civic Innovation Office
William MacGowan, Director, Digital Buildings, Cisco Canada
Ron Gordon, Senior Advisor, City Digitization, Cisco Canada
Joe Berridge, Partner, Urban Strategies
Josh Sirefman, Chief Development Officer, Sidewalk Labs

Tour Stops: 
Sidewalk Labs
Cisco Toronto Innovation Centre
Evergreen Brick Works

Private Business & Public Interest
Public private partnerships are entering an age of reinvention in the face of increased competition, public revenue shortages, and evolving social demands. As city-building becomes more complex and technologically sophisticated, how can the government and its agencies protect the interests of public access, quality, durability, and privacy? How can we balance the government desire to control outcomes against the private sector’s need to develop new solutions that serve both the public good and their private interests? Join us to visit and debate projects at the forefront of this conversation, including Sidewalk Toronto’s Quayside, CIBC Square, East Harbour, Alexandra Park, Galleria, and the PATH. We will explore how these projects reconciled divergent interests in their solutions for public space, community facilities and use of innovative technology.

Tour Speakers:
Brodie Johnson, Planning and Advocacy Manager, Toronto Financial District BIA
Craig Lametti, Partner, Urban Strategies
Paul Cope, Development Manager, Tridel Corporation
Andrew Goodyear, Senior Development Director, Toronto Community Housing Corporation
Michael Sutherland, Director, Urban Solutions, HATCH
Frank Lewinberg, Partner, Urban Strategies
Meg Davis, Chief Development Officer, Waterfront Toronto

Lunchtime Panel on Balancing Private Business & Public Interest:
Melanie Hare, Partner, Urban Strategies
Laura Berazadi, Metrolinx
Walter Daschko, Metrolinx
Joe Svec, Director, Mixed Use Developments, Choice Properties REIT
Benjamin Hoff, Partner, Urban Strategies
Renee Gomes, Vice President, Development, First Gulf
Barry Gula, VP, Development and Engineering, Freed Development

Tour Stops:
CIBC Square
PATH
Urban Strategies (Panel Discussion)
Alexandra Park
Sidewalk Toronto

Reinventing High-Rise
Toronto has long led North America in high rise construction. With more cranes in the sky today than New York, Chicago and San Francisco combined, we continue to live in an era of massive population growth. But while we have built up, have we been building right? Master-planned high-rise communities conceived even just 10 years ago are struggling to accommodate the rapidly changing needs of our city. Join us as we examine three high-density neighbourhoods that are testing new ways to reinvent themselves for the future: Parkway Forest, Toronto’s first tower renewal project, the accelerated intensification of Yonge and Eglinton, and the family-friendly surge of CityPlace. With so much already invested and built up, is transformation really possible? What lessons can we learn from these high-rise communities for other growth areas in Toronto and beyond?

Tour Speakers:
Len Abelman, Principal, WZMH Architect
Paul Kulig, Principal, Perkins + Will Toronto
Kristy Shortall, VP, Development and Planning, Metropia
Emily Reisman, Partner, Urban Strategies
Annely Zonenna, Senior Planner, Strategic Initiatives Unit, City of Toronto
Jeanhy Shim, President, Housing Lab Toronto
Gabriel Leung, VP, Development, Concord Adex
Peter Duckworth, Principal, ZAS Architects
Leo Desorcy, Manager, Urban Design, City of Toronto
Alex Teixeira, Senior Planner, City of Toronto
Cassidy Ritz, Project Manager, SIPA, City of Toronto
James Parakh, Manager of Urban Design, City of Toronto
Netanel Ben-Or, Executive Vice President, Elad Canada

Tour Stops:
Parkway Forest
Yonge and Eglinton
City Place

DiverseCity
Toronto is shaped by and for the people who move and live here. Immigrants from every region on earth are redefining expectations for city building, presenting new challenges and opportunities.  How are the private development industry and public agencies responding to this diversity? Join us as we visit key landing pads and cultural hubs for new immigrants in Toronto and Markham, including Thorncliffe Park, downtown Markham, the new Aaniin Community Centre, and the Aga Khan Museum and Ismaili Centre. We will explore how buildings and residential structures impact the lives of new immigrants and learn how different groups of newcomers are shaping our urban environment, from programming to built form.

Tour Speakers:
Vickery Bowles, City Librarian, Toronto Public Library
Michael McClelland, Principal, ERA Architects
Sheherazade Hirji, President, Ismaili Community Council of Ontario
Arvin Prasad, Commissioner of Development/Planning, City of Markham
Randy Peddigrew, SVP, Land Development, Remington Group
David Kwok, Entrepreneurship Manager, Innovation York
Duff Balmer, Design Principal/Sports + Recreation Global Market Leader, Perkins+Will
Phil Fenech, Principal, Perkins+Will
Deborah Walker, Director, Library Strategy, Markham Public Library
Sabina Ali, Chair, Thorncliffe Park Women’s Committee
Anjuli Solanki, Director of Community Programming, STEPS Initiative
Ahmadi Nargis, Programs Officer, Ismali Centres
Mary Frances Turner, President, York Region Rapid Transit Corporation
Biju Karumanchery, Director of Planning & Growth, City of Markham
Stephen Chait, Director of Economic Growth, Culture & Entrepreneurship, City of Markham
Brenda Librecz, Commissioner of Community and Fire Services, City of Markham
Mary Creighton, Director of Recreation Services, City of Markham
Richard Kendall, Development Manager, Central District
Parvathi Nampoothiri, Senior Planner, Urban Design
Arriz Hassam, Principal & Owner, Arriz & Co Design

Tour Stops:
Thorncliffe Park Public Library
Aga Khan Park and Ismaili Centre
Markham Centre
Aaniin Community Centre

Contemporary Heritage: Oxymoron or The Only Way Forward?
Every world-class city struggles to choose between heritage advocacy and modern development. In Toronto, we choose both — even when it’s hard work. Learn the hidden stories of century-old buildings, adapted respectfully and beautifully, like Broadview Hotel and QRC West, and visit Unzipped Toronto to discover how the highly anticipated Bjarke Ingels Group-designed redevelopment of 485-539 King Street West will attempt to balance contemporary design with important heritage consideration. Collectively, Toronto is on a decisive mission to reconcile heritage conservation with growth and evolution – one brick, one panel, and one sidewalk at a time. Walk with us through Toronto’s heritage, entertainment, and fashion districts to witness these battling ideologies blend into contemporary heritage harmony. Those in doubt of contemporary heritage’s ability to propel a city’s history into the future will be pleasantly surprised to hear Toronto’s response.

The New Wealth is Health: Realigning Our Cities
For generations, the wealth of a Torontonian was defined by the accumulation of ‘stuff’ — a big house, a double-car garage, and shiny new gadgets. As the indicators of wealth shift in favour of health and wellbeing, so too are our cities. Does this mean anyone can be wellbeing-wealthy, or just a lucky few? Discover the building blocks that have made Regent Park and Parkdale, two of Toronto’s most socio-economically diverse and inclusive communities, global models for a neighbourhood that can attract and support the people, the groups, and the services of an eclectic societal fabric. In between, hear from on-the-ground urbanists of the cultural and political climate required to transform part of the 200-year-old St Lawrence Market into a modern-day mecca of food sustainability and the 27-acre CAMH facility, the largest mental health care and teaching hospital in the country. Hint: transformation at this scale takes a mighty village.

Tour Speakers: 
Mark Guslits, Principal, Mark Guslits & Associates Inc & Artscape
John Gladki, Principal, Gladki Planning Associates
Tonya Surman, CEO, Center of Social Innovation
Scott Barrett, Senior Project Manager, Strategic Projects, Real Estate Services Division, City of Toronto
Frank Lewinberg, Partner, Urban Strategies
Lori Spadorcia, Vice President, Communications & Partnerships, CAMH
Loretta Ryan, Executive Director, Association of Local Public Health Agencies (alPHa)
Joanna Kimont, Planner, City of Toronto
Kirk Hatcher, Planner, City of Toronto
John Coffman, Urban Toronto Beekeepers’ Association
Fran Freeman, Urban Toronto Beekeepers’ Association
Ken Greenberg, Principal, Greenberg Consultants Inc.
Kelly Skeith, Senior Development Director, Toronto Community Housing Corporation
Jermyn Creed, Community Hub Manager, Daniels Spectrum
Denise Soueidan-O’Leary, Community Manager, Centre for Social Innovation
LoriAnn Girvan, Chief Operating Officer, Artscape
Paul Moyer, Merchant in Vineland Ontario, Moyer Farms
Charles Gardner, Medical Officer of Health, Simcoe Muskoka District

Tour Stops: 
Regent Park
Daniels Spectrum at Regent Park
Centre for Social Innovation (CSI)
St. Lawrence Market
Parkdale
CAMH

Putting the Public back into Public Space
Toronto’s civic approach to reinventing public space is attracting international attention. Whereas residents were once seen simply as users, they are now demanding to be co-creators of parks and public spaces. When communities are empowered to shape shared spaces with events, programs, art, and infrastructure that reflect their unique needs and identities, parks and public spaces become more inclusive, interesting, and accessible to people of all ages and abilities. This tour will explore some of Toronto’s most dynamic communities where residents are leading a people-first approach to the ongoing management and programming of their civic commons – and will answer the question as to how these best practices can be exported to other communities.

Tour Speakers:
Sabina Ali, Chair, Thorncliffe Park Women’s Committee
Kevin Lee, Executive Director, Scadding Court Community Centre
Alina Chatterjee, Director of Development, Scadding Court Community Centre
Amanda O’Rourke, Executive Director, 8 80 Cities
Isorine Marc, Artist, Jamii Esplanade
Jutta Mason, Community Activist, Dufferin Grove Park

Tour Stops:
R.V. Burgress Park
Scadding Court Community Centre
Berczy Park
David Crombie Park
Dufferin Grove Park

Toronto’s Laneways: Tapping into Overlooked Spaces
Toronto is growing at a rapid pace, with nearly 25,000 new residents moving to our city each year. Our downtown and midtown neighbourhoods are intensifying in response – and to get the most out of our land, some developers, City staff and communities are beginning to tap into a layer of our urban fabric that has long been ignored. This tour will highlight emerging ways in which Toronto’s 2400 laneways are being used to open up a second frontage to properties, transforming them into full, vibrant parts of our public realm in the process.

Tour Speakers:
Brandon Donnelly, VP, Development, Slate Asset Management
Michelle Senayah, Executive Director, The Laneway Project
Hugh Clark, VP, Development, Allied Properties
Andrew Bascom, General Manager, SPiN Toronto
Barry Gula, VP, Development and Engineering, Freed Development
Samantha Irvine, Associate , ERA Architects
Al Smith, Executive Director, St. Lawrence Market Neighbourhood BIA
Dror Duchovny, Director of Marketing and Business Development, Elad
Janice Quieta, Associate, ERA Architect

Tour Stops:
Junction House
Reimagine Galleria
King-Spadina Heritage Conservation District
Berczy Park & Scott St.

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