June 2022: Interpreting urban change through a critical visual analysis

When looking at old pictures of cities, it is clear that urban, economic, and social geographies have changed dramatically over the generations. Historic photos of Toronto’s streetcar network offer a unique opportunity to examine how Canada’s largest city has been transformed from a provincial, industrial place into one of North America’s largest and most diverse regions.

This talk is based around the book Streetcars and the Shifting Geographies of Toronto, which studies the city’s urban transformations through an analysis of photographs taken by streetcar enthusiasts, beginning in the 1960s. These photographers did not intend to record the urban form, function, or social geographies of Toronto; they were “accidental archivists” whose main goal was to photograph the streetcars themselves. But today, their images render visible the ordinary, day-to-day life in the city in a way that no others did. These historic photographs show a Toronto before gentrification, globalization, and deindustrialization. Each image has been re-photographed to provide fresh insights into a city that is in a constant state of flux.

This critical visual analysis helps to interpret and explain how the major forces shaping cities affect its form, functions, neighbourhoods, and public spaces.

About our speakers

Brian Doucet is a Canada Research Chair and Associate Professor in the School of Planning at the University of Waterloo
Michael Doucet is an Emeritus Professor of Geography at Toronto Metropolitan University

More info about Streetcars and the Shifting Geographies of Toronto can be found here

Please register for this free event

June 16, 2022
12:00pm ET
Live streamed to wherever you are!