Our goal for our class on March 4th was to develop an action plan for moving our project forward and begin conducting research. For us UofT students, we found it important to further our understandings of how the redevelopment of the neighbourhood as impacted accessibility to and use of public space for the neighbourhood’s original residents. Sumeya discussed some of the spaces in Regent Park where she witnesses the most disjuncture in terms of who the public spaces were created for (i.e. Regent Park residents) and who the main users are (i.e. neighbourhood outsiders), namely: the site of the demolished Duke of York Junior Public School; the new soccer field; the Pam McConnell Aquatic Centre; and Daniel Spectrum. We collectively decided to highlight these places in our satirical commercial and, with Sumeya walking us through, we went out to explore them.
Despite the frigid cold and the lack of light, our walk through the neighbourhood and the insight Sumeya shared with us allowed for a more nuanced appreciation of the changing “public” quality of new public spaces in Regent Park. Though these spaces are meant to create a “complete” community in the neighbourhood by equipping it with a variety of amenities and resources, Sumeya told us that people from all over the city come to use them, making it more difficult for the residents of Regent – particularly long-term, pre-development residents – to use them. For instance, a new Catholic elementary school is slated to be developed on the land which the Duke of York Junior Public School was previously located. Here we remembered one of the Diva Girls saying on our first walking tour of the area, “Why would you build a Catholic school in a Muslim neighbourhood?” We questioned the kind of people who will be attracted to the neighbourhood because of this development, and we pondered on the broader role of development in shaping access to new development projects in the neighbourhood.
Prashansa pointing to the space where the new Catholic school will be built.
A “no trespassing” sign sits on the fence that blocks off the land which will be developed into a Catholic school.
In a similar way, the new soccer field exemplifies the challenges that new development brings to the neighbourhood by disrupting historical patterns of use. A park surrounded by residential buildings used to exist on the site, and Sumeya told us how she would sit on the steps to the houses and in the park with her family and friends in the summer. She notes how the new soccer field and condominium buildings lack places to sit, congregate, and socialize, and she no longer uses the space as often as she used to. Neighbourhood outsiders (like the UofT Space Jammers) would not necessarily know this history if they were using the soccer field out of the blue. Ultimately, walking through Regent Park with someone who is deeply familiar with the neighbourhood’s public spaces was an important learning experience for us as we were given insight that only someone with lived experience and connection to the neighbourhood would have.
The new soccer field that used to be a community park surrounded by many residential buildings.
“Toronto ‘NOT FOR’ Regent Park Aquatic Centre!” Sumeya mocked, referencing the dominance of neighbourhood outsiders who use the aquatic centre.
With our walking tour in mind, the spaces we visited above will be the focus of our satirical commercial. It will run for a maximum of three minutes, and we will be utilizing the green screen to produce it. Our next step is to take photos and videos of the spaces we selected to use in our commercial. A few aspects are still up in the air – such as a cringe-worthy jingle, and subtitles to assist viewers at the final showcase – but we want our commercial to evoke critical thinking by being as blunt and sardonic as possible. Outlined below is our production plan:
Pre-production
March 11 – take photos and videos of the selected spaces in the neighbourhood, decided on what content to use, and develop a rough script
Production
March 18 – filming in the green screen room
March 25 – filming in the green screen room
Post-production
March 25 – editing
April 1st – editing
Nikki, Ron, Prashansa, and Sumeya are The Space Jammers.