Spotlight on planning: line-up set for New Urbanism Film Festival

NRU
March 23, 2016
By Leah Wong

A new film festival dedicated to urban planning issues is coming to the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area later this spring.

The Ontario chapter of the Congress for New Urbanism, Jane’s Walk and the University of Toronto urban studies program are teaming up to organize the New Urbanism Film Festival, which showcases films on grassroots initiatives that tackle urban planning challenges such as a gaps in public transportations, getting children to school and the revitalization of public spaces.

Modelled after an annual festival in Los Angeles, the New Urbanism Film Festival will show a variety of films that describe how some global communities have tackled urban issues, CNU Ontario chair Adrian Cammaert told NRU. Two of the films in the festival line-up are Urban Freeway Removal, a guide to highway removal projects, and Cerebral City, an Australian film on creating vibrant public spaces.

The goal of the festival is to share stories from other jurisdictions and, in the process, highlight the work of CNU’s Ontario chapter. Now entering its third year of operation, the chapter has attracted members across Ontario though, for now, the focus of activities is in the GTHA.

Unlike other planning organizations that look at planning issues as a whole, CNU specifically examines urban design and place-making. Such a focused approach is particular relevant today for the GTHA given that a provincial review is under way of Ontario’s Growth Plan. Similar to the intent of the provincial policy, CNU seeks to promote planning practices that encourage the development of vibrant and complete communities, as municipalities increasingly look to grow up instead of sprawling outward.

One of CNU’s current projects is the development of a form-based zoning toolkit that outlines steps for municipalities to follow when implementing a development permit system.

“One issue we’ve noticed throughout Ontario is that a lot of the [municipal] official plans and higher level planning documents always have these very nice, loft y goals. But what a lot of them lack is how to implement them on the ground,” said Cammaert.

Many municipalities are in the process of updating their zoning by-laws and considering whether or not to introduce a development permit system. Cammaert said that while there are benefits to such a system, there is a lot of confusion over its implementation. The toolkit, expected to be ready by the fall, is intended to act as a guidebook for municipalities seeking to implement the permit system.

The film festival is scheduled to be held at University of Toronto’s Innis Town Hall on April 21 and May 26.