MES Major Papers

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10315/28142

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Access status: Open Access ,
Neurodiversity Planning and Accommodation: The Responsibilities of Urban Planners
(2025-12-15) Switzer, Samuel; Taylor, Laura
One of the key questions in modern planning corresponds to what the responsibilities are for planners. Are planners responsible for accommodating for the neurodiverse in the built form? In this paper, I aim to answer this question with extensive research into neurodiversity, its interactions with the built form, and how they can be accommodated for. I will express this through the use of walkabout interviews with neurodivergent participants regarding how their neurodiversity is influenced by the built form, as well as an interview with a planning professional regarding the existing state of accessibility in planning practice. From these interviews, I will compare them together, and contrast it with additional research into neurodiversity and planning as a means of exploring the connection between neurodiversity and the built form, and ultimately exploring different methods for how the neurodiverse can be accommodated. Finally, I hope to encourage the incorporation of Neurodiversity Planning into the broader planning world, as a key driver behind developments moving forward.
Access status: Open Access ,
Contesting Land and Power: Colonialism, Capitalism,and Resistance at Ada’itsx/Fairy Creek
(2025-12-16) Foster, Erin; Kipfer, Stefan
Protests at Ada’itsx/Fairy Creek started with a small group of activists and quickly grew to become a large movement that included direct action at multiple sites on the West Coast of Vancouver Island as well as a large online following that spanned across the country and to other parts of the world. The actions taken to stop logging at Ada’itsx/Fairy Creek by protesters and the various responses to those actions have raised many questions about decision making in the face of climate change, biodiversity loss, and increasing numbers of old-growth-forest-dependent species at risk. It has also drawn attention to crown-industry-Indigenous relations and to questions about land including title rights, jurisdiction, and responsibilities to the land and to each other on both unceded and treaty land in British Columbia. Marxist state theories, theories of colonialism and racial capitalism help explain different facets of these interrelated questions, all of which can be tied to colonialism and the resulting ongoing quest for control over land, the goal of extinguishing Indigenous peoples either through assimilation or genocide, the expansion of colonial capitalist system, as well as the ongoing resistance to these systems and relations. Scholarship has noted that current realities cannot be isolated from their histories and that to both understand current events and enact change one must understand past actions and the traces these have left. Situating the Ada’itsx/Fairy Creek case in economic, social, and environmental context and in a British Columbia influenced by colonialism, capitalism, and climate change, this paper examines the historical preconditions for the controversy at Ada’itsx/Fairy Creek and how these conditions remain reflected in current events and conversations that have taken place during the protests.
Access status: Open Access ,
Unbridled: Queering Animality with Human & Horse
(2025-08-31) Carenza, Joseph; Sandilands, Catriona
Though in the Global North, domesticated horses have been largely retired from their historical labouring roles, their bodies have continued to be instrumentalized to meet human desires. Not only does the classic interspecies dyad of the “Man on horseback” pervade in contemporary equine roles—as a symbol of white supremacy, heteropatriarchy, colonialism, and elitism—but also so often as a failure to meaningfully empathically engage horses. Unbridled is a major research portfolio that responds to these biopolitical and anthropocentric dilemmas through three interwoven projects. Each engages my own lived experiences to queerly reimagine being-with horses in our shared worlds, as reminder of our mutually embodied animality. The first project intervenes in the dominant horse-human pedagogical relationship as it unfolds in the riding school at which I currently teach as a riding instructor. I engage the literature of animal and critical animal pedagogies, as well as my own lived experience, to inform my discussion of some of the challenges and opportunities for achieving less anthropocentrically oriented relationships to horses in these educational settings. The second project invokes Warkentin’s phenomenological interspecies etiquette (2010), along with queer theories of performativity, to explore how notions of power and agency are co-creatively enacted during my encounters with the horses with whom I work. Incorporating arts-based methodologies, including life writing and figurative drawing, I challenge dominant cultural constructions of human and horse by attending to the embodied encounter as a possible site for more empathic relationships to blossom. The third and final component is a visual project that responds to traditional representations of horses in Western art history. Through six digitally composited portraits, I remix the work of animal portraitist George Stubbs (1724–1806) to queer the cultural symbol of the horse-human dyad—re-centring the affective, body-to-body intimacies that have always existed between our two species. Attending to the domains of pedagogy, performativity, and representation, this portfolio marks only the beginning of a larger project of challenging anthropocentrism and queering horsehuman intimacies. I intend to carry on exploring these themes and more as I continue to study contemporary relationships with horses in the Environmental Studies doctoral program
Access status: Open Access ,
Toward Care and Solidarity in Planning: Examining Food and Housing Insecurity Through Relational Care Ethics in Community Land Trusts
(2025-08-31) Yamaki, Akanee; Sotomayor, Luisa
This Major Paper examines the relational needs of food and housing insecurity, exploring how Community Land Trusts (CLTs) as a community centred, decommodified movement can currently address material needs. Canada is facing a dual crisis of housing and food insecurity, with nearly half of renters living in inadequate or unaffordable housing and over one-quarter of households experiencing food insecurity, revealing deep structural inequities that extend beyond individual need to societal questions of health, community, and care ethics. This study critically examines how CLTs in Toronto are attempting to integrate food and housing security, and how fragmented, solutionist approaches in planning and policy, often downloaded onto NGOs, limit their ability to meet community needs. Applying relational care ethics, I explore how planning might recenter social needs and move away from the commodified and financialized housing system. Congruent with the literature, my research emphases that CLTs, as a tool within the existing framework of neoliberal, capitalist and colonial understanding of land use, cannot be liberative on their own, but offer an alternative that can be leveraged towards greater mobilisation. CLTs are gaining momentum and popularity in planning theory and practice, promoted as a best practice to address structural issues in housing, yet their capacity is constrained by the very policy and economic structures that necessitate them. The research employed a qualitative case study of Toronto CLTs, drawing on literature review, document and policy analysis, and thirteen semi-structured interviews. Participants included CLT organizers and staff in Toronto, Nova Scotia, and Boston, alongside urban planners, food security workers, and academic experts. Data were analyzed thematically to identify both opportunities and barriers to integrating food and housing security through CLTs. Findings highlight persistent policy silos and structural barriers that limit CLTs’ ability to fully address food and housing insecurity, while also illustrating their potential to bring together grassroots movements in housing and food justice as a way to holistically address interconnected needs. This research contributes to planning scholarship and practice by illuminating the relational dimensions of food and housing insecurity and identifying the limitations and possibilities of CLTs within Canada’s current crisis.
Access status: Open Access ,
Role of Jamaican Migrant Farm Workers in the Ontario Agri-food Industry
(2025-08-31) Williams, Christal; Rotz, Sarah
This research explores the pivotal role of Jamaican migrant farm workers within Ontario's agri-food industry, contextualized within the framework of the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP) established in 1966. Highlighting the historical evolution of the program and its impact on the agricultural labour landscape, the study investigates how processes such as digitization, consolidation, and financialization influence labour practices and the experiences of these workers. Through a mixed-methods approach, including surveys and interviews, the study reveals the complexities of labour relationships shaped by racial capitalism, illustrating how systemic inequalities persist within the industry. The findings illuminate the critical challenges faced by Jamaican migrant workers, including exploitation and marginalization, against the backdrop of changing agricultural dynamics. This research not only contributes to a deeper understanding of the socio-economic factors affecting migrant workers but also emphasizes the need for equitable policies that address historical injustices and promote better working conditions within the agri-food sector.
Access status: Open Access ,
The Role of Planners in Fostering Successful Public Participation Among New Immigrants in the County of Simcoe, Ontario
(2025-08-31) Suryanarayanan, Sandhya; Sotomayor, Luisa
This research examines the evolving role of municipal Planners in fostering meaningful public participation among new immigrant communities in Ontario, with a focus on the County of Simcoe. As a rapidly growing County composed of sixteen municipalities and home to over half a million residents, Simcoe is experiencing significant demographic shifts. Between 2016 and 2021, the immigrant population in the County grew by over 33%, with a substantial proportion identifying as part of a racialized group. These changes bring Planning challenges related to housing, infrastructure, and services, but also expose a growing democratic gap when immigrants are not adequately engaged in local decision-making. Despite their increasing presence, many immigrants face persistent barriers to participating in Planning processes. These include language difficulties, unfamiliarity with Canadian systems, cultural mistrust, and socio-economic limitations. Such barriers go beyond access. They reflect deeper patterns of exclusion that can compromise the legitimacy and equity of Planning outcomes. To understand and address these challenges, the study draws on interviews with Planners, community engagement professionals, communtiy service providers, and a few residents from the Town of New Tecumseth. The findings highlight the shortcomings of conventional engagement approaches and underscore the importance of trust-building, clear communication, cultural sensitivity, and flexible engagement formats. Effective strategies include partnerships with local organizations, arts-based methods, plain-language outreach, and compensating participants for their time. The study calls for a shift in how Planners work, with an emphasis on relational practice, empathy, and long-term commitment to communities. It argues that inclusive participation requires more than checking procedural boxes; it demands structural, cultural, and professional change. To support this transformation, the research presents a practical Public Participation Toolkit offering grounded strategies for equitable engagement. The goal is to support municipalities in developing Planning processes that are not only inclusive but truly representative of the communities they serve.
Access status: Open Access ,
Wellness by Design: Integrating the Planning of Green Spaces to Enhance Health Outcomes for Senior Black Women
(2025-08-31) Samuel, Arlene; Ali, Muna-Udbi
This study aims to explore Senior Black Women’s (SBW) intersectional lens of race, sex, age, and gender, by amalgamating wellness and planning urban green space (UGS) issues. Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) principles supported the research in understanding SBW lived experiences as systemic barriers, such as spatial injustices, finances, social exclusion, and housing, which are based on racial constructs, which can affect one’s ability to age well. Senior Black Women’s voices are underrepresented in the sphere of planning green spaces and political decision-making processes, as limited academic literature exists that combines the different variables. Using semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis, the study highlighted how green space infrastructure (benches, lighting, washrooms, signage), green space perception (positive and negative), and capital investment for parkland are additional hindrances in the Black community. The evolution of cities relies on planning strategies that navigate the lines between development and resilient communities that address inequality, age-friendly landscapes and exclusion. The discourse from the participants amplified the symbiotic nature of city planning and well-being, suggesting that incorporating culturally responsive planning, community consultation, and environmental education practices can enhance the ideal of sustainable communities. Future city planning could be reimagined to encompass social reform policies, integrate public health initiatives and sustainable development goals.
Access status: Open Access ,
Ancient Water Governance for Modern Cities: Lessons from the Ancients
(2025-08-31) Piluris, Philip; Timmerman, Peter
This research paper examines how ancient water governance systems, particularly those of the Minoans, Egyptians, and Mesopotamians, can offer critical insights for contemporary urban planning practices rooted in equity, sustainability, and resilience. Drawing on archaeological evidence, cultural cosmologies, and infrastructure design, the study explores how water has historically functioned not only as a resource, but also as a sacred element, a civic duty, and a moral principle embedded in the fabric of everyday life. Using a comparative-historical methodology, this paper identifies four recurring themes in ancient water governance: cosmological integration, adaptive infrastructure, decentralized control, and systems thinking. These societies positioned water within ritual, legal, and architectural systems that reinforced collective identity and environmental attunement. Their water management practices reveal a deep connection to place where water was not abstracted, but intimately known, honored, and shared. Contemporary case studies including Cochabamba, California, and Mexico City are juxtaposed with historical models to demonstrate that many modern water crises stem less from technical incapacity and more from failures of governance, imagination, and cultural continuity. By centering cultural and ethical dimensions alongside material ones, the research argues for a renewed planning paradigm that treats water as a relational and symbolic force rather than a purely engineered commodity. This paper calls for a shift in planning education and practice: to recover long-view thinking, restore cultural context to infrastructure, and reimagine water governance as an act of ethical and communal stewardship. In doing so, it affirms that ancient knowledge systems, though distant in time, remain profoundly relevant to shaping more just and resilient futures.
Access status: Open Access ,
Marine Protected Areas and Offshore Petroleum Licensing in Scotland
(2025-08-31) Perez Guzman, Manuela; Fraser, Gail
Economic growth and development have been prioritized over marine conservation, even though conservation measures such as Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) remain one of the few effective tools for protecting marine species and habitats from human activities. In the UK, energy companies bid for marine blocks under the Offshore Petroleum Licensing process, a system that reflects the ongoing tension between economic interests and environmental protection. This research examines the regulatory process of the UK offshore petroleum licensing rounds, focusing on the legislative framework, the role of regulators for both oil and gas and environmental protection, and the influence of other actors such as conservation bodies, eNGOs, and the public. As part of a broader series of case studies, existing interview questions, coding templates, and themes developed by a PhD student (Rutherford, J.) and an MES alumni (Kapoor, A.) were adapted to the UK context. 15 interviews were conducted, both in person and online, with stakeholders involved in marine conservation and petroleum licensing. For data analysis, a three-day coding workshop provided training in paper-based coding methods (highlighting and marginal notes), and additional instruction was obtained through online courses on NVivo software. This major research portfolio includes an introductory chapter on the general issue of marine conservation and social and economic development, followed by a literature review on topics relevant to the research, including energy transition, marine spatial planning, public consultation, and marine protected areas. The final component is a manuscript prepared for submission to the Journal of Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems. The manuscript examines the licensing of ocean blocks within MPAs for offshore oil and gas exploration (and possible development) in Scotland. It identifies significant shortcomings in the UK’s offshore petroleum regulatory framework, including limited credibility in consultation and engagement processes and weak or absent consideration of cumulative environmental impacts. The findings suggest that while the regulation of offshore oil and gas in the UK primarily prioritizes economic development, it does include environmental assessments and conservation regulations intended to protect marine ecosystems. However, in practice, these environmental safeguards are often weakened or overridden in favour of the energy industry interests. This not only undermines the effectiveness and benefits of MPAs, but also threatens the health and survival of marine ecosystems. Therefore, it is imperative that policy makers strengthen the implementation of environmental assessments and regulations, along with establishing highly protected MPAs to help marine species and habitats recover and thrive. These measures are essential to achieving the target of protecting 30% of the ocean by 2030.
Access status: Open Access ,
Empowering Communities: MFRC’s Role in Food Sovereignty
(2025-08-31) Panda, Rishav; Rotz, Sarah
This paper examines how community-led food initiatives in Malvern, a neighbourhood in Scarborough, Toronto, respond to structural barriers through the framework of food sovereignty. The central research questions guiding this study are “how do community-based initiatives, like MFRC, address food insecurity and promote food sovereignty, and what kinds of impact do they have within their communities?” Using a qualitative participatory action research (PAR) approach, the study draws on interviews with MFRC staff and participants to explore how their programs challenge dominant food security and charity-based models. The analysis includes a historical and spatial examination of Scarborough’s postwar urban development. It considers how the 1946 Ontario Planning Act, Metro Toronto’s hierarchical governance model and concession-block infrastructure planning produced fragmented, automobile-dependent suburban neighbourhoods, leaving areas like Malvern with limited walkable access to essential services, including affordable food. While both state and market frameworks often view food as a secondary issue, the work of MFRC shows that grassroots organizations affirm food as central to community well-being, identity and autonomy. This study contributes to the ongoing conversation on food justice by reframing food not as supplemental, but as central to social and spatial justice in marginalized urban regions.
Access status: Open Access ,
Toronto Waterfront’s Revitalization: Planning Policy’s Evolution and Commitment to Public Space Over Time
(2025-08-31) Minnes, Charlotte; Gilbert, Liette
This paper explores public space along Toronto’s waterfront through an evolution of strategies, plans, and reports from 1999 to present day. I discuss the industrial history of the waterfront prior to its redevelopment. Additionally, I examine the fragmented land ownership structure of the waterfront land which has posed unique challenges to its redevelopment due to a lack of consensus or support. There is a particular focus on what public space is and how it can be positively linked to wellbeing and quality of life. My research question aims to understand how the public and private are negotiated in the redevelopment plans of the Toronto waterfront over time, with a focus on the commitment to preserve and enhance public spaces through an examination of language and priorities. Through an analysis of strategies, plans, and reports and conversations with professional planners I developed an understanding of how public space has been prioritized. Throughout this research it has become apparent that public space has always been a primary consideration in planning the waterfront but has shifted in terms of how it is presented. From 1999 to 2023, the language surrounding public spaces has evolved from “green”, “parks”, and “public access” to “wellbeing”, “public realm”, and “gathering places”. This shift demonstrates the way public space is no longer being thought about simply as a park asset with public access, but as a space that is part of a greater public realm made up of connecting streets, parks, sidewalks, and trails that contribute to wellbeing, providing a place for social gathering. Within the last week of completing this paper, the waterfront reached a new milestone, opening Biidaasige Park in Ookwemin Minising, bringing 40 hectares of new parkland with public access.
Access status: Open Access ,
LET US ROT: Understanding Death Through Multispecies and Creative Collaboration
(2025-08-31) Capista, Sabrina; Gosine, Andil
As a society we have become very uncomfortable, repulsed by and scared of all matters of decay, despite its inevitability in the shadow of all life. In rejecting death and the natural processes of decomposition we are more likely to participate in environmentally destructive habits that ignore our interconnectedness with other than human kin. It is often through spiritual belief systems and personal connection to land that perspectives of environmental ethics take shape. In the most physical sense, death and rot are incredibly fertile stages of life for various species and showcase the natural recycling process that takes place within our habitats. In an effort to challenge anthropocentric narratives around death, this portfolio explores the question; what can we learn about death and decomposition by communing with other species and organic material as an art practice? This project was achieved through the method of research-creation, emphasizing the process of experimentation by creating data, as opposed to extracting it. Working actively with natural materials and visual themes of decay, this series of mixed-media artworks acted as a meditation on death. Infused with personal experiences of heartbreak and loss, this project establishes itself as an example of creative collaboration with the natural world as an emotional processing tool. This work rejects comfort in the known and through surrendering to the relationships created between material and creator, brings forth reflections and insights on death as a necessary precursor to all life.
Access status: Open Access ,
The Great Banana Fish Migration
(2025-08-31) Bradley, Michael; Gosine, Andil
In this reflection, I tell the story of The Great Banana Fish Migration, a picture book I worked on throughout my time in the MES program, and I use it as a framing narrative to understand my return to Canada after being away for more than seven years. Having observed a sense of hopelessness pervading Canadian society upon my return, I explore the origins of this way of thinking and how it can act as an obstacle for positive social and environmental change. In my exploration I delve into how art can empower individuals to adopt alternative perspectives that creatively fuel awareness, resistance, and resilience. I also include examples from my ongoing artistic practice creating banana fish character art as examples of my findings on creativity. In an effort to embody the implications that art can have on culture, I recount the conception and creation of the project, Banana Fish in the City, where I create 100 ceramic banana fish figurines and place them around Toronto with a message of hope to disrupt the notions of hopelessness that inspired my research. Turning a critical eye to this project, I describe how my intentions may have been misaligned with the understandings of art and hope that my research uncovered. The execution of this project also allowed me to realize that the transformation I sought to catalyze in others was actually ongoing within myself and looking at the imagery in The Great Banana Fish Migration, I was able to understand my research on creativity, art, and hope from a deeply personal perspective that summarizes my own subconscious quest for hope, direction, love, and purpose throughout my time in the MES program. This reflection ultimately serves as a diary documenting my personal growth through the program, as a record of how the banana fish as both a concept and art object have grown in tandem with me, and as an example of the kind of thinking that I advocate for as a response to hopelessness in the face of societal and environmental crisis.
Access status: Open Access ,
Assessing the Effectiveness of Source Water Protection Plan in Saugeen Valley Source Protection Area
(2025-08-31) Basnet, Neha; Winfield, Mark
The protection of drinking water sources is a cornerstone of public health, environmental sustainability, and economic resilience. This study critically evaluates the implementation and effectiveness of the source water protection plan within the Saugeen Valley Source Protection Area, established following Ontario’s landmark Clean Water Act of 2006, itself a legislative response to the Walkerton tragedy of 2000. Using a combined framework of performance and process evaluation, this research investigates the degree to which source water protection initiatives have improved water quality, influenced stakeholder engagement, addressed financial issues. Employing a qualitative mixed-method approach, data were gathered from semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders actively engaged in the source water protection implementation, supplemented by a comprehensive review of pertinent documents including water quality reports, committee minutes, financial records, and progress reports. Performance evaluation assessed tangible outcomes such as improvements in surface and groundwater quality indicators (phosphorus, E. coli, and macroinvertebrate populations), reliability and accessibility of safe drinking water, and aquatic ecosystem health. Complementing this, process evaluation examined governance elements including stakeholder participation levels, transparency, communications, institutional coordination, and financial continuity. Findings demonstrate significant advancements in source water quality within the Saugeen Valley Source Protection Area, notably through successful nutrient management strategies that substantially reduced phosphorus and nitrate contamination, and improvements in municipal wastewater treatment infrastructure which have enhanced microbial safety and ecosystem health. Stormwater infrastructure upgrades and targeted management plans have effectively mitigated contamination risks despite increasing extreme weather events. Institutional coordination between municipalities, conservation authorities, and provincial bodies emerged as critical, facilitated by ongoing multi-tier governance. However, challenges persist, notably due to the exclusion of private well systems from direct policy coverage, resulting in inadequate testing and persistent vulnerability. Despite strong initial stakeholder engagement, the study identified limitations in sustained inclusivity, particularly in formally incorporating Indigenous communities and private well users, indicating a need for ongoing, targeted engagement strategies. Additionally, financial sustainability remains precarious, relying on inconsistent provincial funding streams vulnerable to shifting political priorities. The study highlights anticipated challenges primarily arising from recent provincial legislative changes, particularly those altering the mandate of conservation authorities. Legislative shifts, notably Bills 66, 108, 229, and 23, have progressively limited conservation authorities' regulatory powers and environmental oversight capabilities. These legislative amendments risk undermining established water protection frameworks by prioritizing expedited development approvals and restricting comprehensive environmental assessments. Consequently, maintaining effective source water protection in the face of weakened oversight and financial uncertainty emerges as a central concern for sustaining the gains achieved under the source water protection plan.
Access status: Open Access ,
Destination Accessibility of Higher Educational Institutions from Scarborough
(2025-08-31) Bascombe, Gregory; Gebresselassie, Mahtot
The ability to access destinations such as educational institutions through public transportation can greatly benefit an individual in many aspects of life. Commuter students can face mobility issues when attending an urban university, issues that are not limited to mobility but also affect students’ academic success. This study presents an investigation of the destination accessibility of higher educational institutions in Toronto from Scarborough. The research emphasizes lived experiences collected through semi-structured interviews with post-secondary students who attend York University, Toronto Metropolitan University or the University of Toronto. Student experiences were analyzed to answer the research question: How does existing public transit affect Scarborough residents’ access to university education? The research found that mobility in Scarborough encouraged commuter students to manage their time in order to balance academics, commuting, and other responsibilities such as part-time jobs. The study revealed students’ appreciation for public transportation’s ability to get them to campus, but also captured their challenges surrounding the commute itself, which made being a student or attending campus difficult. Issues such as delays, busy transit, safety concerns, poor student mobility programs and a lack of information regarding transit schedules can also affect students’ academic success. The research also put forward three recommendations that can help improve students’ destination accessibility in the short and long term. The study is relevant as good access to higher education can be associated with increased income and improved life satisfaction, but poor destination accessibility can hinder one’s access to opportunities. The study is especially relevant in the context of Scarborough for two reasons. First, several transportation projects for the area have been cancelled. Second, statistics show that the area has a lower percentage of residents who have achieved a post-secondary education degree compared to most of Toronto.
Access status: Open Access ,
Assessing Geographic Context in Relation to Public Transit Experience in Toronto
(2025-08-31) Axiak, Michael; Gebresselassie, Mahtot
This research examines how geographic context affects residents’ experiences with public transit in Toronto, with a focus on equity, accessibility, and social sustainability. Using the theoretical lens of the Right to the City, this study investigates the lived experiences of transit users across three distinct sites: Bloor-Yonge Station in the downtown Toronto core, York University Station in North York, and Kennedy Station in Scarborough. These locations represent diverse socio-economic and demographic contexts within the city. Using a qualitative methodology, this research combines participant observation with open-ended questionnaires to explore how service reliability, accessibility, safety, and first- and last-mile connections vary across neighbourhoods and influence transit use. Findings revealed systemic inequities in the quality, reliability, and convenience of transit service, disproportionately affecting marginalized groups such as low-income, racialized, and disabled riders, particularly in suburban areas. While downtown riders face overcrowding and wayfinding challenges, users in North York and Scarborough experience longer travel times, infrequent service, and inadequate infrastructure. This study emphasizes the importance of transit planning that considers geographic context and the diverse needs of users to promote equitable transit usage and social sustainability. Insights from this research can inform more inclusive and effective transit policies that better serve the needs of each community in Toronto.
Access status: Open Access ,
Corporate Sustainability Claims Versus Lived Realities: Sarnia’s Chemical Valley
(2025-08-31) Asiedu, Desmond; Gilbert, Liette
In April 2024, the Aamjiwnaang First Nation declared a state of emergency as benzene levels soared to twenty times above provincial safety standards, prompting school closures and federal intervention. This crisis highlights the disconnect between corporate sustainability claims and the realities of environmental justice in Canada’s Chemical Valley. My research investigates how Imperial Oil’s sustainability frameworks impact environmental justice outcomes for affected communities, concentrating on the period from 2015 to 2024, which saw a surge in environmental social and governance (ESG) and sustainable development goals (SDG) adoption. Using a mixed-methods gap analysis, this study examines the disconnects between corporate claims and material impacts through a systematic document analysis of sustainability reports, environmental monitoring data, community health studies, and media coverage. The analysis employs Schlosberg’s tripartite environmental justice framework, critical corporate sustainability and sustainable development theory, as well as Indigenous environmental rights perspectives. Findings reveal profound gaps: despite Imperial Oil’s reported 27% reduction in volatile organic compounds, benzene concentrations at Aamjiwnaang fence-line monitors exceeded Ontario’s standards by 300-2000% (2017-2023). The analysis demonstrates systematic failures across distributive justice (disproportionate toxic exposure), procedural justice (consultation without authority), and recognition justice (exclusion of Indigenous epistemologies). These findings suggest that ESG frameworks operate as enablers for fragmented sustainability, obscuring localized impacts through aggregated metrics. My research proposes an integrated environmental justice-ESG framework comprising four pillars: governance for justice; environmental performance through an environmental justice lens; social performance centered on equity; and disclosure for accountability. This framework mandates community co-governance, hyperlocal monitoring with community authority, culturally appropriate grievance mechanisms, and impact-focused materiality assessments. The study contributes to critical sustainability scholarship by demonstrating how standardized ESG frameworks can perpetuate rather than remedy environmental inequities, while offering pathways towards more just corporate accountability.
Access status: Open Access ,
The Changing Frameworks for Watershed Governance and Management in Ontario Considering Climate Change Effects
(2025-08-31) Anthony, William; Winfield, Mark
This paper analyses the evolution of provincial watershed governance in Ontario from the 1946 Conservation Authorities Act to the 2024 Provincial Policy Statement. Applying perspectives from historical institutionalism and Kingdon’s Multiple Streams Framework, this study examines the critical junctures, path dependence, and policy windows that defined the Ontario government’s historical approach to watershed governance and management. Twenty-six policies and laws were identified as the most significant developments in Ontario’s historical watershed governance framework, divided into five policy periods that reflect significant changes in government agendas and subsequent watershed policy direction. The analysis shows that beyond immediate environmental or health crises, the Ontario government’s approach to watershed governance is primarily dictated by shifting political agendas, rather than the constant presence of environmental pressures. The paper concludes with a call for provincial policymakers to consider the impacts of policies on Ontario’s essential watersheds as Doug Ford assumes his third term in office.
Access status: Open Access ,
Black Movement and Freedom: Questions of Cyclescapes, Cycling Planning, and Minstrelsy
(2025-04-30) Ismail, Sabat; Ali, Muna-Udbi
This paper investigates the following central question: What are the outcomes of the historical and ongoing restrictions placed upon the Black diaspora's physical movement? Related to my research question, I consider what the literature and archives have to say about Black experiences with movement and I engage with cycling-related scholarship on class and race, particularly as it relates to Black communities. I explore this in this paper to sufficiently contextualize the subject-matter I am engaging with. I argue that the historical and ongoing restrictions of the movement of the Black diaspora is subjectivity-producing and provides an alternative lens to better understanding anti-Blackness, and liberatory ways of understanding and engaging with movement. Additionally, to contribute to advancing an underexplored research topic in Black Geographies and further the growing scholarship on cycling and racism. Additionally, I explore the experiences of cycling and Black communities and conduct a research analysis on late nineteenth-century minstrel and other anti-Black imagery featuring bicycles. This paper focuses on Canada and the United States, bringing cycling and transportation research into conversation with Black studies and Black geographies. I draw on archival materials from the late 1800s to early 1900s, alongside a counter-archival and discourse analysis. My sources include journalism, transportation planning data, and academic literature in social geography, anthropology, and history—all centred on cycling in North America.
Access status: Open Access ,
Queer Publics: Planning for POPS in Queer Communities
(2024-12-31) Simoneau, Paul; Gilbert, Liette
This paper aims to understand the role of Privately owned publicly accessible spaces (POPS) in the context of the historically queer neighbourhood of the Village in Toronto. Maintaining the framework of socially produced spaces, this paper examines the development and redevelopment of the public realm in the Village to determine how queer communities experience space in the city and the role of the built form in facilitating inclusive and safe spaces for queer expression. To do this, I engage with the privatization of urban infrastructure and its role in influencing planning-related institutions and policy. I examine the relationship queer communities have with informal spaces such as bars in comparison to public and publicly accessible space. Importantly, not all queer people experience space in the same ways, and queer inclusive planning accounts for intersectionality and the safety and inclusivity of all users of space.

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