Shaping Justice and Sustainability Within and Beyond the City’s Edge: Contestation and Collaboration in Urbanizing Regions

In an era of globalizing forces, the region has become an important arena for collaboration and contestation, as metropolitan areas work to craft their individual identities. As they do so, questions of equity, inclusion, and sustainability remain. What is the role of diversity, difference and singularity of social actors and communities when it comes to forging visions of urban development that are collective in process, cohesive in vision and sustainable in implementation? Furthermore, as global financial systems exert greater control over national, regional, and local economies, what is the role of innovative and/or insurgent social practices in an urbanizing region? What are the most effective strategies to create environmentally and economically sustainable communities in a regional context? How will different factions of regional actors evolve given conventional relationships, increased social and cultural diversity, and the contradictions of competitiveness and solidarity?

The conference site, Toronto, has become an international model of alternative approaches to urban policies, particularly in the areas of housing, immigration/diversity, social equity, and environmental sustainability. The city anchors the largest metropolitan area in Canada, a region that has emerged as a global leader in innovation. But significant tensions underlie this impressive image. Rising socio-spatial inequality, escalating housing costs, racialized patterns of growth, and inadequate transportation infrastructure, all threaten the region’s future prospects. Furthermore, social, economic, environmental and political cleavages between municipalities comprising the Toronto region continue to emerge. Yet, there are also examples of collaboration in planning and policy at the local and regional levels that have created opportunities for community engagement, grassroots place-making and larger scale city-building. The conference provides an opportunity to both extend our understanding of the Toronto metropolitan experience, and importantly, to examine the broader topic of contestation and promise of collaboration in regions globally. Ultimately, the conference will allow us to examine a fundamentally critical question: how can policies and actions within a regional context promote the development of communities that are both just and sustainable?

Topical Categories

In keeping with UAA tradition, we encourage proposals that focus on an array of research topics including:

  • Arts, Culture in Urban Contexts
  • Disaster Planning/Disaster Management for Urban Areas, Cities and National Security
  • Economic Development, Redevelopment, Tourism, Urban Economics, Urban Finance
  • Education Policy in Urban Contexts, Educational Institutions and Urban Inequalities
  • Environmental Issues, Sustainability
  • Globalization, Multi-national Urban Issues
  • Governance, Intergovernmental Relations, Regionalism, Urban Management
  • Health and Urban Communities
  • Historic Preservation, Space and Place
  • Historical Perspectives on Cities, Urban Areas
  • Housing, Neighborhoods, Community Development
  • Human Services and Urban Populations, Nonprofit/Voluntary Sector in Urban Contexts
  • Immigration, Population and Demographic Trends in Urban Areas
  • Infrastructure, Capital Projects, Networks, Transport, Urban Services
  • Labor, Employment, Wages, Training
  • Land Use, Growth Management, Urban Development, Urban Planning
  • Poverty, Welfare, Income Inequality
  • Professional Development, The Field of Urban Affairs
  • Public Safety in Urban Areas, Criminal Justice, Household Violence
  • Race, Ethnicity, Gender, Diversity
  • Social Capital, Democracy and Civil Society, Social Theory, Religion and the City
  • Urban Communications (Urban Media Roles, Urban Journalism, Social Media/Technology in Urban Life)
  • Urban Design, Urban Architecture
  • Urban Indicators, Data/Methods, Satisfaction/Quality of Life Surveys
  • Urban Politics, Elections, Citizen Participation
  • Urban Theory, Theoretical and Conceptual Issues in Urban Affairs
  • Urban Issues in Asia and the Pacific Rim
  • Urban Issues in Central & South America and the Caribbean

Proposal Submission Formats and Policies

Individuals are limited to participation (as presenter, speaker or moderator) in one (1) session. There is no limit to the number of papers/posters for which you are a co-author. Persons in special panels can participate in one additional session.

A proposal can be submitted through the UAA website for a:

  • Research paper presentation (proposal requires an abstract) OR
  • Pre-organized panel (proposal requires a panel summary, group of 4-5 paper abstracts/ moderator)OR
  • Pre-organized colloquy (proposal requires theme statement & names of 4-5 formal discussants) OR
  • Breakfast roundtable (proposal requires theme statement & names of 1-2 conveners) OR
  • Poster (proposal requires an abstract)—best option for persons who are in early stage of their research