The Canadian Metropolis

Conference organised by the London Conference for Canadian Studies, Le Groupe de recherche et d’études sur le Canada francophone (le GRECF), and the Urban Studies Group of the British Association for Canadian Studies, on Friday 16 and Saturday 17 February 2007. The aim of this conference is to combine social science, architectural and cultural studies perspectives on the analysis of contemporary change in major Canadian cities, exploring the connections between diversity, multiculturalism and cosmopolitanism on the one hand and economic change, creativity and urban regeneration on the other.

Conference Programme: Friday 16 February

Venue: the Canadian High Commission, Trafalgar Square, London SW1
9.30 Registration and Coffee
10.00 Welcome to the conference
10.15 Dan Hiebert (UBC), “Immigration and the transformation of Canadian metropolitan areas.”
11.15 Comfort Break
11.30 Stephen Shaw (London Metropolitan University), “Ethnoscapes as cultural attractions in Canadian ‘World Cities’.”
Scott Rodgers (King’s College London), “Mediating new cities of diversity: The Toronto Star and Toronto’s reading publics.”
1.00 Lunch
2.00 Annick Germain (INRS – Urbanisation, Culture et Société), “Métropole fragmentée ou métropole cosmopolite? L’immigration montréalaise et ses quartiers.”
3.00 Tea
3.30 Ken Hirschkop (University of Waterloo), “How many cultures are there in multiculturalism?: the imagining of ethnicity in Toronto.”
Charlie Mansfield (University of Newcastle / University of Edinburgh), “Constructing Urban Space in French-language Literature: Montreal in the Twenty-First Century and the Writing of Monique Proulx.”
5.00 Reception hosted by the Canadian High Commission

Conference Programme: Saturday 17 February

Venue: the Institute for the Study of the Americas, 35 Tavistock Square, London WC1
9.30 Registration
9.45 Betsy Donald (Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario), “Cities and the New Economy: the ‘creative class’ and ‘quality of life’ in Toronto and Boston.”
10.45 Coffee
11.15 Graeme Evans and Jo Foord (London Metropolitan University), “Creative Toronto and City Growth.”
Rachel Granger (Coventry University), “Place sensibilities: on the trail of Richard Florida’s creative professionals.”
1.00 Lunch. During the lunch break there will be an informal planning meeting for the new BACS Urban Studies Group, convened by Stephen Shaw, which all who are interested are invited to attend.
2.00 Helena Gradadolnik (LSE), “FrontierSpace: the role of architectural activism in Canadian cities.”
2.45 Break
3.00 Nicolas Douay (L’Université de Montréal / L’Université Paul Cezanne (Aix-Marseille 3)), “Metropolization in Montreal: What’s the Plan?”
Ceri Morgan (University of Keele), “Youth Disaffection in the ‘Global City’: The Montreal of the ‘Bof Generation.’”
4.30 Closing Remarks

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the Canadian Government, the Quebec Delegation in London and the Institute for the Study of the Americas for their support in the organization of this conference.

Index