Even though the course *officially* ended a while ago, it’s taken me a few days to reflect on what exactly has transpired since our first class in September. I originally came into this course with an idea of what I thought urban policy encapsulated, and these last 8 weeks have…

I genuinely feel the speed of time varies as the six weeks for the Urban Policy classes passed by. Before the course started, I thought time would fly. During the course, it felt like an eternity. (P.S. This course was fun but I didn’t love the long readings list for…

If you have watched Finding Nemo, you probably know the importance of sea anemones to marine habitats. Anemones provide food and shelter for reef animals such as clownfish. Clownfish, in turn, provide nutrients to the anemones. …

When I started this course, I barely had any knowledge on urban policy. The past eight weeks have not only encouraged me to look at public policy with an urban lens, but also equipped me with important knowledge and information on municipalities as non-traditional forms of government, cooperation between cities…

After learning about cooperation between municipalities and the provincial and federal governments, we turned to the role of civil society in urban policy and governance. During our class discussion we identified that civil society organizations play an important role in shaping policy and delivering key social services. Canada hosts a…

Many of the policy issues I’m most passionate about — such as housing affordability, climate change, and transportation — are perfect examples of urban policy issues. Over the past six weeks, I’ve learned how all orders of government and non-governmental actors work collaboratively to co-create urban policy. …

Throughout the last 7 weeks of the course, my view of urban policy expanded and it’s easy to see how complicated urban policy is. …

Municipalities are authorized by provincial and federal laws to regulate land development as defined by their respective jurisdiction’s approved plans. Key to their power is their ability establish zones which dictates building specifications and how land is used. …

A United Way study from 2015 ranked Toronto as the city with the highest level of inequality in Canada. It highlighted that the wealth disparity between households was growing twice as fast as the rest of the country. Unfortunately this trend in rising inequality has yet to reverse. Neighborhoods are…