Gateway Cities
Growing suburbs, agglomerated townships, expansion of cities outside of their established municipal boundaries worldwide shows the need for more research on the city-region scale. Gateway Cities is the first year of the Regional Ecologies Project a look at three cities that serve as gateways to their respective regions-Toronto, New York City, and Chicago. Gateway Cities is a 10-month project that looks at how these cities operate as gateways for their region and further how they connect to each other.
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Gateway Cities looks at the layers of the Toronto, New York City, and Chicago regional systems in terms of energy, housing, transportation and public spaces, and examines the networks between these three cities, mapping the connections from a regional perspective, and proposing an ecology of innovation for these regional systems.
Main Project Partners:
For the Gateway Cities project the IwB is partnering with public, not for profit, and private organizations in each of the three gateway cities. This multi-partnership framework allows the IwB to thoroughly connect and explore regional systems in and between the chosen gateway cities; provide the IwB with access to vital research and data about each region; and create synergies between the three gateway city-regions that could spark further region-wide projects.
Partners participate in a variety of ways, from sitting on advisory committees, to sharing information, providing feedback on proposals, making presentations, hosting events and undertaking research and design projects in collaboration with IwB faculty and students.
To learn more about our 2013-2014 partners please click here.
“Cities are no longer contained. They expand beyond their geographic boundaries in the region and serve as hubs that connect their inhabitants to opportunities and resources.”
– Magdalena Sabat, Institute without Boundaries
What is good for New York may be good for Toronto or Chicago - and vice versa - as economic or cultural activities that are attracted to one region can spill over to the other. These global cities together anchor and form a super-region of interconnected economies surrounding the Great Lakes and the US Northeast. These cities serve as global gateways for their larger city-regions and have nation-sized economies; all three cities are on GFC’s 2011 list of the nine key global financial centres (London, New York, Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo, Chicago, Zurich, Toronto and Frankfurt). On its own, this super-region would be the world’s second largest economy - smaller only than the economy of the rest of the US.
Toronto, New York, and Chicago are cities embedded in global networks and economies that are dependent upon markets that go beyond their local and national parameters.
Tackling region-scale issues in each city and between the cities will give crucial insight into future city-region development, resilience and competitiveness of these cities by delivering a model for a smart region.
Expected Project Outcome/ Year Highlights:
Gateway Cities will include projects that investigate connected regional transportation plans, network plans for multi-use greenways, alternative regional energy plans, and regional identity and culture plans.
The project outcomes will be conducted through the curriculum deliverables developed by the students in their classes, a faculty led project based in Toronto, 3 international charrettes in each gateway city-Toronto, New York, and Chicago-as well as several research and development projects that enhance the curriculum.
2013-2014 Gateway City Year Highlights:
Student Design Projects
September 2013 - April 2014
Throughout the Gateway Cities 2013-2014 project, students will deliver class design presentations to IwB faculty, local and international design experts, project partners and partnering academic institution representatives.
Municipal Art Society of New York
October 17-18, 2013, New York City
The IwB students and staff traveled to NYC and attended the two-day 2013 MAS Summit, a signature NYC event designed to promote a meaningful dialogue about the future of New York City and other cities around the world. See the Office for Public Imagination Charrette project page for more details.
Office for Public Imagination Charrette
October 18-21, 2013, New York City
IwB students participated in a three-day charrette organized in partnership with the Parsons DESIS Lab’s MFA Transdisciplinary Design Program and the Illinois Institute of Technology’s College of Architecture that investigated new models for municipal and regional public innovation units. For more information see the Office for Public Imagination Charrette project page.
Responsive Buildings Toronto Charrette
February 20-24, 2013, Toronto
An annual IwB event that brings together 200 students, faculty and industry experts from around the world. The 2014 Toronto Charrette will conduct research and propose design solutions for responsive building typologies that will be durable, affordable, flexible, and efficient. For more information see the Responsive Buildings Toronto Charrette project page.
Region, Student Exhibition
December 2013 to June 2014, Toronto
IwB students designed and executed the ‘Region’ exhibition in the Front Gallery of the School of Design, showcasing their Major Project findings. The exhibit showcases and maps original and secondary research on the regional connections between Toronto, New York and Chicago. For more details see the Gateways Cities project page.
Airport City
January - June 2014, Toronto
Airport City is a neighbourhood integration plan that will be an IwB faculty-led 6-month component of the year-long Gateway Cities project. The project investigates Ontario’s regional systems of innovation and aims to understand Toronto’s role as a regional gateway. For more details see the Airport City project page.
Activating Resilient Communities Chicago Charrette
April 3-6, 2013, Chicago
A major charrette held in Chicago with the Illinois Institute of Technology’s College of Architecture proposing solutions for South Chicago neighbourhoods affected by population shrinkage. See the Activating Resilient Communities Chicago Charrette project page for more details.
The Atlas Project
April 2013, Toronto
Compiling the research findings from the 2013-2014 Gateway Cities project year, IwB students will develop “The Atlas”, a regional atlas that documents stakeholders, resources and networks of the project and investigates the regional connections between Toronto, New York and Chicago.
The Atlas will be featured at a special exhibition in May 2014, held at the Arup office in Toronto. Stay tuned for details.
Project Credits:
2013-2014 Cohort
IwB staff & faculty
Photo Credits:
Francesca Anderson
Andrea Herrera Betancourt
Andressa Nascimento (Beccaro)
Dallas Cotterell
Robert Iacocca
Mel Kapogines
Theresa Kienitz
Michlyne McCloskey
Maziar Mohit
Helaena Parkes
Devin Sager
Kate Watanabe