Examples of pro bono projects in Toronto
One of the projects we are working on at the Centre for City Ecology is a community planning and design assistance program, in which professionals can offer their services at a reduced rate or pro bono to communities in need of assistance. Such programs exist all over the United States and have culminated in fruitful partnerships and successful community centres, plans and problem solving initiatives. When John Cary spoke at CCE about his book, The Power of Pro Bono, he stressed the importance of such initiatives by outlining recent successes and pointing to the fact that communities and non profit organizations deserve good spaces, even when they are not always able to pay for them monetarily.
Though pro bono projects are most numerous in the United States, several examples show that they can be successful here too. From the Community. Design. Initiative. renovations and additions to the Scarborough Storefront to the proposal put forward by planners and the Lakeview Ratepayers’ Association in Mississauga, pro bono projects can work in Canada and result in meaningful projects for both communities and design professionals. These examples throughout Toronto are testament to that.
Community Design Initiative
The Community. Design. Initiative. is a project linking architecture and design with place-based poverty reduction and youth engagement in Kingston Galloway Orton Park, one of Toronto’s priority neighbourhoods. The project is a partnership between the East Scarborough Storefront, a service delivery hub, and sustainable.TO and archiTEXT. The teams at archiTEXT and sustainable.TO offer both architectural and mentorship services to youth from the community who are involved in leading and designing the project. The outcome will be LEED certified renovations and an 8000 square foot addition to the Storefront, including development of a business incubator, and the development and design of an eco-food hub. The project has caught the eye of the Tower Renewal initiative, and is being profiled as the case study for Tower Neighborhood Renewal.
Youth involved in the initiative were recruited through their existing participation with the Storefront, and have been engaged from concept to construction, from charettes with professionals to interior design to landscape architecture. They have been mentored by planners and architects and have taken the lead in the building's design. Another intention of the project is to create spectacular architecture, designed by youth, outside of the downtown core in a priority neighbourhood. The resultant feeling of ownership and accountability on the part of the youth and the community has led and will lead to increased social and economic investment from residents of Kingston/Galloway/Orton Park.
Learn more about Community Design Initiative!
Active 18
Active 18 is an association of citizens, residents and business-owners in Ward 18. It formed in 2005 in response to the proposed developments located south of Queen Street West in a portion of the Queen West Triangle. It is focused on urban design, development and architecture, ensuring that new development brings benefits to the community; and increasing residents’ voice in the development of the neighbourhood. Active 18 was a party at the Ontario Municipal Board to present an alternative vision of the development in the West Queen West Triangle. Urbanspace Gallery profiled this work in the Triangles: Who Builds Toronto? exhibit.
The organization drew on volunteer aid from some of its members, including planners, artists, architects and lawyers, to help develop planning and design charettes, alternative community plans, and the case at the OMB. Active 18 continues to be very busy addressing the challenges of new development within undeveloped employment lands in the lower part of Ward 18.
Ward 20 Community Mapping
In 2007 and 2008, City Councillor Adam Vaughan worked with a volunteer group of Ryerson University students from the School of Urban and Regional Planning on two initiatives:
- Community Mapping to identify locations where change, redevelopment and reinvestment were expected, areas that needed to be protected from unsuitable redevelopment, and desired improvements that could be introduced through new development; and
- Creating a “Report Card” or Community Checklist to assist residents and neighbourhood groups in measuring or assessing proposed projects.
The Ryerson team worked closely with local neighborhood associations on both of these initiatives, holding sessions with all of the neighbourhoods in the Ward. Within each area, community input was collected to gain better insight into residents’ visions for the future and to determine areas where opportunities for change exist. At the same time, a neighbourhood-based Community Checklist was developed that listed critical concerns to consider when evaluating development proposals. The maps and checklists are available online at http://www.ward20.ca/districts.php. These are resources for local residents and neighbourhood associations, as well as property owners, developers, architects, City Planning staff and Councillor Vaughan. Used together, the maps and checklists will help inform all parties involved in the planning process.
This process relied on the volunteer time of the students and community representatives.
Explore Ward 20's community maps!
Lakeview Ratepayers Association
The Lakeview Ratepayers Association is the municipally recognized residents’ association for the community of Lakeview in south east Mississauga.They developed their own community plan, the Lakeview Legacy Project, with voluntary professional help, including software and mapping and planning expertise, from the University of Toronto Centre for Landscape Research. The plan recommended, for example a 7 kilometre network of public parks along the Lakeview waterfront, creating linkages to the water, and encouraging intensification with live-work units, mixed-use commercial and residential on the north side of the Lakeshore.
In 2008, the Lakeview Legacy Project was presented to Mississauga City Council. The Project concept was adopted by Council and as a result, a Council resolution was adopted unanimously which directed City staff to address the Lakeview Generating Station lands for use other than for a power generating facility.
Kipling Towers Charette
On Saturday, November 13th, 2010, DIAC brought eight designers from various disciplines together with tower tenants, City planners and the property management team in a design charrette at the Kipling Towers in Rexdale, Ontario. The objective of the charrette was to explore short-term design opportunities addressing the tenants’ immediate concerns in the areas of signage and communications, exterior recreation areas, waste management, interior multi-purpose rooms, safety and security. The tenants had the chance to discuss their concerns with professionals from the disciplines of architecture, landscape architecture, industrial, interior and graphic design.
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