ABOUT

The COVID-19 pandemic has upended the markers of what a successful city looks like. Usually, a ‘successful’ city would be characterized by lively public spaces that bring urban residents together. Conversely, the pandemic has, by necessity, kept people apart. 

However, the pandemic does present a precious opportunity to re-think the ways in which our cities have been designed. Any change towards a less car-centric, and livelier city requires not only shifts in urban planning, but also in attitude, culture and ideology.

Through the support of the University of Toronto's School of Cities Urban Leadership Fellowship and Student Academy 2020, The Alternative Maps Project was launched to instigate the subtle cultural shifts that are required to help us re-think urban space. It consists of three contributions from young artists who reside in Toronto and its surrounding neighbourhoods.

Each contribution functions as a small, creative intervention into the existing rhythms of the city, and is geared to inspire the public to see the city anew, helping us re-inhabit urban space in  more lively and ecologically-sustaining ways.

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Image: @2020 'Commuters 2' by Jacob Rathgeber

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