City of Toronto map - fantasy style

A friend shared this image with me on Facebook. 

 My first thought was to think of this class and how the prof brought up our own perception towards Toronto. Just thought this would be an interesting share, and whether some of you agree or disagree with the fantastical representation of each district.

I for one am really amused with City Hall, aka "Dragon Mayor's Lair".

Reading Benjamin's article on The Flaneur one cannot help but to juxtapose imagery and the feelings of wandering around Toronto with those described in the article from the 19th century in Paris. Almost 2 centuries separate the imagery alive in the Parisian descriptions but yet they are still able to resonate with a metropolis existing within the 21st century that is, technologically and, at least in theory (or on the face of things), economically and politically separated. Yet two selections stood out for me when visualizing our fair city of Toronto;

"Streets are the dwelling place of the collective. The collective is an eternally unquiet, eternally agitated being that - in the space between the building fronts - experiences, learns, understands and invents as much as individuals do with the privacy of their own four walls."

“The brutal indifference, the unfeeling isolation of each in his private interest become the more repellent and offensive, the more these individuals are crowded together within a limited space.” Friedrich Engels Die Lage der arbeitenden Klasse in England 1848

Now along with these two quotes I would like you to examine these two images from the corner or Bathurst Street and Bloor Street (as seen on the afternoon of Friday September 20th, 2013)

These images represent the impact that an individual has had upon the city and in turn a reflection of how the city has acted upon the individual. This man is at once part of the collective, indeed with the street being his dwelling place, and isolated from this collective due to him being labelled as one of the "homeless"(at least to outward appearances, the appearances garnered from a simple viewing, at once visual, auditory and olfactory). 

This individual (and I painfully have to lump myself into the 'brutal indifference' category because I cannot attribute a name to this man) routinely stands upon the corner of Bathurst and Bloor and silently, with a empty, worn, disposable coffee cup in his hands, not outstretched but neither held close, petitions for alms. His outward appearance does not vary from day to day or indeed from season to season but remains stoic in his unchanging appearance of stained kaki pants and an equally unclean black hooded sweatshirt. 

As I have mentioned he does not actively ask anyone for aid, but his intentions are not suspect nor illusive. In fact he does seem to break his silence, nor does his face change with any twisting of emotion. The actuation of the wall muriel is both accurate in its voice and characterization of his facial expression. The man could be the living embodiment of the art as much as the art is an embodiment of the man. 

Granted this individuals background and story are hidden to me, hidden behind my indifference but I cannot help but think that the city has been as active an agent in placing him in his circumstances as much as the city has been an active agent in memorializing this man's ever constant presence about this intersection. Perhaps it is a stretch but the city seems to have imprinted itself as much upon him as he has upon the city. 

     Hello all, I have never written a blog before so sorry if what I write does not make any sense, or is wrong.  Normally I like to keep my thoughts to myself because I fear about how I might come across.  Incidentally, I am adding this digression because blogging for dummies says I’m supposed to (seriously, that’s not a lame attempt at humour).

     Anyways, after reading the Sharon Kelly’s article “The New Normal: The Figure of the Condo Owner in Toronto’s Regent Park”, I was reminded about a documentary I saw called invisible city by Hubert Davis.  I could not find the full film, but this the trailer: 

                                          (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6SG4UG7ogY)

     I found it interesting that the filming of the documentary coincided with the ethnographic fieldwork conducted by Kelly.  However, the documentary offers a different view, as the director follows two Black Canadian youths who live in Regent Park, commenting on their struggles within the community.  I feel that this low-income perspective contrasts nicely with Kelly’s article.  Watching the film added depth to my understanding of the “social mixing” taking place through the revitalization of the neighbourhood.   I really enjoyed the premise of the article, which questions this whole idea about how the condo-owner might struggle with the idea of being some kind of saviour.   Among other things, both works left me wondering if this social mixing in the area might have the opposite effect of lowering crime in the area, and actually make it worse.

     Coincidentally, while reading for another course I am taking, I came across a sociological theory brought forth by Thorsten Sellin.  He argues that “cultural conflict” is a main factor of criminal deviance.  Basically, from what I understand, when the norms and values of two different cultures collide, conflict emerges (I must have missed something because that seems way too obvious).  Sellin discusses what he refers to as “take-over” situations, or the infringement of a more dominant group onto another group’s territory. As an example to explain this concept, he specifically highlights how “middle-class people gentrify a rundown neighbourhood” (P.66) .  After reading this, I immediately thought about the middle-class condo owner/low-income resident dynamic in Regent Park.  Intrigued, I wanted to see what has been happening since the first phase of the revitalization that Kelly discusses, and since the film came out in 2010.  I found this article by Sara Thompson and Sandra Bucerius: 

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2012/06/16/regent_park_revitalization_has_it_created_an_us_versus_them_dynamic.html

     I felt that the Star’s take on the development project (especially the first two paragraphs!) really provides weight to Sellin’s argument, fitting almost perfectly with his ideas that I clumsily laid out above. 

     Both the The Invisible City, as well as, Kelly’s “The New Normal” questions the ideology behind the concept of social mixing. This, in turn, left me questioning it. It looks as though the concept failed, and that crime has indeed gotten worse in Regent Park. While the project was a social failure, my guess is that it was probably an economic success from a private investment perspective.


Other Sources: 

Patricia A. Adler and Peter Adler. Constructions of Deviance: Social Power, Context, and Interaction, 7^th edition (Belmont: Wadsworth Publishing, 2012) pg. 66

Sara Thompson, and Sandra Bucerius "Regent Park revitalization: Has it created an us versus them dynamic?" (Toronto Star, June 2012)

Intersections Are Contests

Yesterday, we reviewed some of our favourite Toronto intersections. We were also asked to reflect upon our experiences of these spaces. The words we chose reflected the notions we also discussed last week, words such as “diversity” and “accessibility.”

Yonge and Dundas provides, in some sense, both diversity and accessibility.

Try and visualize with me. You have emerged from the depths of the TTC into a blinding, deafening, muting swarm of people and things. Electronic billboards many times larger than your body. More massive are the buildings which form a cage of concrete, with only the distant sky above. Street performers make tremendous noise and movement (singing, shaking, gyrating, flailing their limbs, calling out) – all of these sights and all of these sounds. And the smell of street food, of gasoline, and the smell of the people that surround you on all sides, the smell of different places brought by some of these people. In the confusion of all these sights, sounds and smells, people brush past you, invading the “personal space” so important to many of us. All these sources of stimulus and you haven’t stepped 10 paces outside the subway. This is an example of just some of the information you are receiving in a busy Toronto intersection like Yonge and Dundas, and more precisely Yonge and Dundas square which is a meeting place for many but a resting place for few.

This sensual information – the sights, sounds, smells, touches – these are each embodiments of Yonge and Dundas culture. I think that precisely what is embodied is the imagined community we have named the market. The market makes accessible goods and services to be purchased. And there is some amount of diversity in what is available for purchase: television, clothing, food and city tours just to name a few. Though each can be purchased and consumed, the medium of consumption is different in each of these examples: clothing is worn, food is eaten, television is watched and listened to, and city tours are in some cases watched, listened to, worn and eaten.

You, the person reading this post, have probably decided that what I have been describing as diversity is shallow relative to other examples of urban diversity. This is a description merely of a diversity of things to be purchased at Yonge and Dundas. None of my examples were of things visitors could sell themselves in the market. None of my examples were of those objects or experiences existing outside of the market.

Yonge and Dundas (click the image to enlarge)
Screen Capture from Google Maps

In relation to the intersection between Baldwin and Augusta, the south entrance to Kensington Market, the intersection between Yonge and Dundas is best described as another species of intersection. Of course, there are things for purchase, but the volume-dial has been aggressively spun to a nearly inaudible frequency. The goods are in many cases on-the-street to enable consumers to touch and to closely view the clothing and food for themselves. The street performers are here, as they are at Yonge/Dundas but they do not need airhorns or amplifiers to make themselves heard. If you are at this intersection you do not need to expend effort to make yourself visible because there are less people and crucially for my purposes, there is less noise (phonic noise, visual noise, olfactory noise).

Baldwin and Augusta (click the image to enlarge)
Screen Capture from Google Maps

The messages of Yonge and Dundas are received, while the messages of Baldwin and Augusta are exchanged. There is no sending return messages at Yonge and Dundas. It is a cacophony of noise. Who could hear you with all this stimulus to receive? Of course the people immediately around you might think they hear something but this exchange will almost certainly falter. You'll have to repeat yourself over and over again because another custom at Yonge and Dundas is not to receive messages. At Baldwin and Augusta you must learn to pause long-enough to make these exchanges.

I have used the word must to describe a custom which you may think is voluntary. Why would I make an argument like this? This is a conditional, must-not usage. You must not break the law. You must not disobey your authority figures. You must not create dangerous situations. Each of these must-nots is predicated on the idea that you respect the customs of your environment, and if you contest the customs at any Toronto intersection you should be prepared to endure societal disgrace. The faces of societal disgrace include: stares, jeers, whispers, pointing, unintended injury, intended violence, malice, confusion and so on. These society-level behaviours exist wherever you find people, but the specific expectations and the degrees of severity you find are highly variable.

A consequence of participating in quieter intersections is an increase in what other people will expect from you and what you can expect from them in return (an exchanging of expectation). A consequence of participating in a noisier intersection is a decrease in expectation and an increase in the volume of information which you are exposed to.

When you and I decide to respect or contest the customs which surround us we are exercising our agencies. Depending on where these customs exist, we may need to work harder to express this agency. If we do not express our agencies we silence ourselves. If we remain silent we allow others to speak for us.

I hope that some of you will be willing to respond to me but I can appreciate that the internet can be both an extremely noisy and an extremely silent environment. I'm hoping for reasonable criticisms (I really wanted this first post to be in even less detail so I fully expect disagreement and corrections) and reasonable suggestions of how I could expand my connection between information and cities. I would also really appreciate any other examples of intersections (or of any additional social spaces) where these ideas could be brought to bare.

Global suburbanisms conference

Maria, who took Metropolis 347 some years ago and is now active in a community food initiative in Parkdale, sent on this information about an upcoming conference at York U on global suburbanisms.

Fritz Lang meets Kraftwerk

This opening sequence from Fritz Lang's Metropolis presents an image of what life is like in the underground city where workers toil. It is a world governed by the clock and an alienating and monotonous division of labour (in a subsequent segment, we see the above ground world of tennis and gardens--much like the suburban camp described by JK Galbraith in the documentary below). Here someone has presented a mash-up of this opening sequence with a song by Kraftwerk. One often thinks about the relation between cinema and the city but here we are also invited to think about the soundtrack to the city. Since the advent of the Sony Walkman and on to the iPod and beyond, our experience of the city has often been set to music. What is the soundtrack that best captures the city for you? 

Metropolis: Age of Uncertainty

This documentary narrated by John Kenneth Galbraith is rather dated but it is still informative. I like the dramatization of Engels' essay on 'The Great Towns,' which remains the classic 19th century account of the industrial city. I also like the section on Brasilia.