Curtner Urban Leadership

ULI Toronto’s Curtner Urban Leadership Program is an annual curriculum-based program designed to immerse mid-career professionals from different disciplines in Toronto city building to create positive change in our city. The program is sponsored by BDP Quadrangle in memory of one of its founding partners, Brian L. Curtner. The program reflects many of Brian’s passions, including city building, mentorship and collaboration.

Mission
Our mission is to cultivate thought and industry leadership by immersing emerging leaders in the real estate and land use industry in the challenges and opportunities of developing the Greater Toronto Area and the Greater Golden Horseshoe Area.

Program Overview
Participants will have an opportunity to provide leadership on a critical Toronto issue over the course of the eight-month program. Working in teams, participants will be responsible for sharing their expertise and advice to develop recommendations. Participants will be exposed to thought leaders across the key disciplines of land development. Leaders will have the opportunity to collaborate with top industry peers from various real estate disciplines, to engage in solving real land use challenges within a defined region of Toronto involving key stakeholders from the private, public, and non-profit community sectors.

Focus for 2021-22
Placemaking and placekeeping, while widely recognized as being an important element of community and real estate development and planning, are generally seen as something that the GTA only rarely does well. Over the coming 8 months, the Curtner Leadership Program is going to focus on placemaking and placekeeping in a planning, land use and development context. Program participants shall be immersed in monthly sessions focused on specific related topics, identify and discuss problems, issues and challenges and provide holistic and inclusive solutions with real examples and emerging best practices. In addition to the monthly sessions, the participants will work in groups to develop the first iteration of a specific plan for an assigned place within the GTA. These plans will be presented at a public Town Hall at the end of the program in June 2022.

The 2021-2022 Program highlight is an (optional) in-person visit to Montreal (Spring 2022 and at an additional cost), supplemented with some virtual visits, to explore real-life examples of placemaking and placekeeping in the city, and to hear from and interact with the on-the-ground leaders responsible this work.

Program Application

The Curtner Urban Leadership Program is specifically targeted to mid-career real estate, development, and planning professionals in the industry or public service. However, a limited number of spaces will be reserved for high potential early career professionals, and some spaces will be made available at a subsidized rate for professionals working in/with community and not-for-profit groups.

PROGRAM COST (Members Only)
ULI Member: $1,500
Annual Sponsor Rate: $1.200
Public Sector Member Rate: $500

Double vaccination and face mask are required to attend in-person sessions.
In-person visit to Montreal (Spring 2022) will be optional at an additional cost.
Program fee shall be charged upon acceptance of application.

DEADLINE TO APPLY:
Thursday, September 30, 2021
Cohort Size: (Up to) 30 participants.

APPLY FOR 2021 PROGRAM

Program Dean (2020-2022)

Kevin Stolarick, PhD
Visiting Researcher
Inclusive Design Research Centre
OCAD University

Dubbed the “Official Statistician of the Creative Class”, Kevin combines expertise on cities, inclusion, urbanization, statistics, design, and economic development with an appreciation of the importance of finding and sharing the knowledge or “pearls of wisdom” gained from leveraging his research, writing, management and organizational skills. The author of over 100 peer-reviewed articles and commissioned reports, he has presented over 75 invited key-note speeches and presentations and over 100 print, radio, television, and on-line media interviews and appearances. He holds a PhD in Business Administration (Information Systems) and an MBA from Carnegie Mellon, a Masters in Higher Education Leadership, and a BS in Honors in Applied Computer Science. Kevin provided quantitative research and analytical support for Richard Florida’s books including The Rise of the Creative Class and Rise Revisited. He continues in collaboration with other researchers in the development of measures, indicators, and approaches for Creative Economy theory with a focus on the economic and social value of inclusion.

Program Dean (2017-2020)

Paul Bedford
Urban Mentor and Former Chief Planner, City of Toronto

As Chief Planner for the City of Toronto for eight years, Paul Bedford focused his energy on the development of new planning values, policies and processes to guide the next generation of city building in Canada’s largest city. As the driving force behind “the Kings’ renaissance,” Toronto’s groundbreaking new Official Plan and unanimous City Council approval of the Central Waterfront Principles Plan, he challenged everyone to embrace new ways to think, act and plan.

Following his retirement from the City of Toronto after 31 years of public service, Mr. Bedford remains passionate about the city and is totally dedicated to city life. He is a frequent public speaker at numerous forums on planning issues affecting Toronto and is active in shaping the new urban policy agenda at all levels of government.