In 2017, Toronto offered an average of 12.5m² of green space per person, with only 10.5m² of easily accessible green space per person in the downtown core. Since then, completed building permits have further reduced access to parkland for the growing population.
In this talk, Mona El Khafif, visiting guest professor at the School of Cities, will introduce a series of urban strategies aimed at transforming residual lands into hybrid community assets and innovative public spaces. Using a GIS-based mapping and analysis framework, her work identifies underutilized spaces that can be reimagined as public assets and social infrastructure in Toronto.
El Khafif’s research, extended through studios and seminars, has resulted in an inventory of design strategies proposing hybrid public space typologies. These models promote co-production and community stewardship while addressing diverse programmatic needs. Her strategies align with Toronto’s 2018 TOcore: Downtown Parks and Public Realm Vision Plan, developed by Public Work Office in collaboration with Gehl Architects. Notably, the plan’s “Local-Places” approach has served as a guiding vision for transforming urban public spaces into inclusive and multifunctional hubs.
In this presentation, El Khafif will showcase her past work, with a focus on city-owned parking lots, and provide an initial overview of her current research. This includes a detailed analysis of three precedent case studies in Toronto identified as cultural commons: The Bentway, which reimagines the land beneath the Gardiner Expressway as a dynamic public space; The Stacked Market, a transformed brownfield site featuring container markets and open plazas; and Plaza POPs, a non-profit initiative temporarily activating mall parking lots for community use.
About the speaker
Mona El Khafif, an architect, urban designer, and dedicated educator, currently holds the position of Associate Professor at the University of Virginia School of Architecture (UVA) where she is also directing the School’s urban design programs. El Khafif is the co-author of the award-winning publication ‘URBANbuild: Local/Global’ (2009), has published ‘Staged Urbanism’ (German edition 2009), and most recently co-edited ‘Next New York’ (2022). El Khafif’s expertise extends across multiple scales in both her writing and design endeavors, exploring temporal, typological, and collaborative strategies within urban design and architecture.
