Recognition of Collective Memory
Memories are personal preoccupations; they’re an abstract entity that cannot be taken from anyone or readily altered. They hold immense power in building community and can become a tool that brings people together across cultures and generations. Regent Park is a neighborhood distinct in its fabric because the residents share a sort of collective memory rooted in the neighborhood. This collective memory has been created through shared backgrounds and experiences, and the residents have built a strong network around this shared identity.
However, in recent years, it’s been impossible to divorce conversations about Regent Park’s identity and the ongoing revitalization. Scholars like Brail and Lorinc (2023) have dubbed the process, “state-led gentrification” (pg. 2). In any case, the revitalization is set to alter the demographic makeup of the community (Toronto Community Housing, n.d.) which dilutes the cohesion that hinges on collective memory between long-term residents. Therefore, our group came to recognize ‘memories’ as the main element the redevelopment was encroaching upon and something Regent Park residents strived to protect.
When did it lead to nostalgia?
While we reflected on the power of memories shaping the Regent Park community, the main task was to translate our thoughts into a media project that engaged themes of civic engagement. With an interest in preserving memories, our conversations with Regent Park resident and teammate, Abdi, sought to delve into the archives of what Regent Park used to be. The long-term residents were accustomed to a completely different Regent, in both its physical form and community feel. It’s interesting to hear about the transformation of different buildings and street corners over time, and how the new development is melding with what has always existed. In this exchange, we found it compelling that the memories about a changing landscape resonated despite our diverse origins.
Our conversation transitioned from discussions about new neighborhood amenities to reflections on personal memories and Abdi shared with us the differences in how he and his friends used to pass the time, as opposed to children today. We started to move forward into the examination of nostalgia, and its role in placemaking and civic engagement. Amidst the uncertainty of the future, discomfort of the present, and the fuzziness of the past, nostalgia “offers a balm” (Kirsch 2022). The goal of our project then became to deepen this exploration to unravel intricate threads that tie memories, nostalgia, and community identity of Regent Park residents together. We hoped, through this effort, that the project would honor the memories of Regent Park’s past, while becoming a tool for new residents to learn and imagine its future.
Overview of project
Our boardgame set-up at the final exhibition.
Our discussions led us to the idea of a boardgame centered on places gained and lost by the revitalization. There are area cards, character cards, and tool cards. The 10 area cards are informed by new and non-existent Regent Park landmarks such as Daniels Spectrum, Root & Burger, and Bigfoot Park, among others. The character cards encompass different neighbourhood demographics like seniors, youth, or adults. Finally, tool cards are like action cards, where you’re provided with prompts to use each round. In the game, players must use the tool cards at hand to imagine ways different demographics can leverage objects/events/actions to engage in the community. The game invites players to think while being in the shoes of others in the neighbourhood about their wants and needs. The game sparked people to learn about the different sites and what they offer the community. Our website with instructions, details on each area card and links to download can be found here.
How/why did we choose the medium of our project?
To achieve our project goal, we employed digital storytelling as our primary methodology. Digital storytelling is an emerging form of research method that lends a platform for “rich, descriptive narratives” (Davey et al., 2021, pg. 2). We needed mediums that would play to the strengths of digital storytelling, which lies in its “simplicity, and correspondingly, its accessibility” (Davey et al., 2021, pg. 2). As a group, we reasoned that a project that was accessible but also responsive to the neighborhood's immediate conditions would drive civic engagement. It’s safe to assert that community media provides “channels for participation” (Milan, 2009, pg. 599), so the creation of a boardgame would be a fun way to extend that channel into the community. The website is intended to be an accessory should anyone seek more information about the game's details. Therefore, digital storytelling became the perfect way for us to convey stories in ways that conventional research methods could not.
In keeping with the theme of nostalgia, we created a boardgame based on neighborhood landscapes. Tvisual elements chosen are deliberate to engage our audience and evoke emotional responses. We wanted the nostalgia to serve a purpose, to provide a “retreat, respite, a way to feel less alone” (Kirsch, 2022). If not nostalgic, we wanted our project to be informative. The decision to create a boardgame with an accompanying website was born out of a need to combine civic engagement, nostalgia, and placemaking. We needed mediums that would play to the strengths of digital storytelling, which lies in its “simplicity, and correspondingly, its accessibility” (Davey et al., 2021, pg. 2). Ultimately, our project, through the boardgame and website, seeks to serve as a catalyst for dialogue, reflection, and appreciation of Regent Park's diverse cultural tapestry.
Project Reflection
The game was successful in getting people to think creatively of how different people use different spaces. But above all, people had fun. Before this project, civic engagement was a formality to check a box off. Our project offers a glimpse into what alternative methods of civic engagement look like. A challenge for any form of public engagement is the “tension between community input and knowledge and the knowledge and experience of subject-matter experts” (Jones, 2023, pg. 9). Throughout this course, we have had conversations around apathy towards the revitalization and the SDP. On top of exploring why this feeling exists, we can also find personable ways to engage with residents.
In line with Norgaard’s (2011) work, apathy embeds itself into the cultural norms of the neighbourhood but also acts as a means of control and self-presentation to the public. How can we engage innovatively with the values and experiences of residents while also making these political conversations comfortable? When trying to get answers for our google form, the idea of tapping into our younger, playful selves to reflect the experience of youth and families stood out. Thinking back on not only our project, but the exhibit as a whole, each group highlighted niche experiences and interests that resonated with a variety of residents in the neighbourhood. While overcoming apathy doesn't inherently result in activism, Zhelnina (2020) highlights this step as "a fundamental building block of political agency" (p. 351). This meant fostering a culture of engagement through a sense of agency, ownership and comfortability in the process. This framing reveals that a “one size fits all” approach to engagement doesn’t always fully represent the interests of residents. Our project reimagines engagement that requires participants to argue with creativity related to matters of feasibility and inclusion of demographics different than themselves. Also, who doesn’t like playing games?
Individuals playing our game during the final exhibition
We don’t mean to say that this is the first of its kind. In fact, our project is inspired by Daniel D’Oca’s teaching methods and another card game called Kuwaitscapes. But for a community that, as we've discussed, is heavily studied, this informal way to engage is a contrast to how the neighbourhood is treated. We hope this media project helps combat the fatigue of being over-researched and instead, transfers some agency over to the residents. In addition, we hope our project has helped preserve some of the invaluable memories from the neighborhood and that engagement isn’t an active stressor but something to look forward to!
The RE-VISIT team members are Abdirahman, Ashwini and Roya
Works Cited
Brail, S., & Lorinc, J. (2023). Rebuilding public housing in Regent Park: The shifting dynamics of financialized redevelopment models. Journal of Planning Education and Research. https://doi.org/10.1177/0739456x231183353
Davey, N. G., & Benjaminsen, G. (2021). Telling Tales: Digital Storytelling as a Tool for Qualitative Data Interpretation and Communication. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 20. https://doi.org/10.1177/16094069211022529
Jones, K. (2023). Community engagement in local communities: hearing the voices of the public. FUTURE OF MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT SERIES, 16:32. Retrieved from https://www.policyschool.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/AUMA-UP42-ResPapr-CommEngageLocalComm.Jones_.Oct11.pdf
Kirsch, M. (2022, February 26). The Comforts of Nostalgia. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/26/briefing/nostalgia-oscars-mardi-gras.html
Milan, S. (2009). Four steps to community media as a development tool. Development in Practice, Volume 19, Numbers 4-5, 598–609. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233218454_Four_steps_to_community_media_as_a_development_tool
Norgaard, K. M. (2011). Living in denial: Climate change, emotions, and everyday life. mit Press.
Toronto Community Housing. (n.d.). Toronto Community Housing. https://www.torontohousing.ca/building-construction-and-revitalization/revitalization/regent-park
Zhelnina, A. (2020). The apathy syndrome: How we are trained not to care about politics. Social Problems, 67(2), 358-378.