neoliberalism | ACCOZZAGLIA, Page 2

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neoliberalism, Page 2

Figure 7. BIA streetscape treatments to public sidewalks within the Bloor-Yorkville BIA zone. Street furniture “props” are funded by compulsory annual fees received from BIA members — a private levy tool legalized by the province in 1970, giving birth to the BIA model. Props for public spaces in Bloor-Yorkville BIA feature granite-slabbed sidewalks, sunken pot lights for new trees, and stone “benches” engineered to minimize lounging or resting time (or accommodation for denizens with disabilities). This bench design (not shown) deprives the public realm of the means to accommodate denizens with reasonably comfortable seating; rather, the design coaxes denizens to minimize their sitting presence and seek out private sites of consumption which promise not only the illusion of public spacing (e.g., a sidewalk café), but also have cosier seating configurations. Within the Bloor-Yorkville BIA, City of Toronto street furniture is missing — including the absence of ubiquitous city bike ring posts designed to secure two bikes, replaced by a BIA-approved bike lock "columns" (which have difficulty accommodating more than one bike and are incompatible with several popular bike-locking solutions). [Idlewild]

The gendering of condo geographies: “Mnemotechny in Toronto”

Ephemeral toponyms, streetscape illegibility, and gendering the territories of condo development

Figure 4. “B.streets” proposed site, 2011, will occupy the former Loretto College building at Central Tech School at Bathurst, near Bloor. Project launched with unusually high fanfare, including a prominent piece in the Toronto Star in September 2011. While conceptual mural art depicts a lively street life reminiscent more of New Orleans or Portland than of Toronto, the inset illustration of the edifice shows no trace that the “B.streets” name will survive once the building is completed. [Idlewild]

Eradicating names, eroding memory, erasing imageability: “Mnemotechny in Toronto”

Ephemeral toponyms, streetscape illegibility, and gendering the territories of condo development

Figure 0. The temporary sales office of “LOFT”, a condo development on West Queen Street West, 23 January 2012. [Idlewild]

An introduction to “Mnemotechny in Toronto”

Ephemeral toponyms, streetscape illegibility, and gendering the territories of condo development

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