York U Scholars Hub at Vaughan Public Libraries Speakers Series

Vaughan Public Libraries and York University invite you to the Scholars Hub Speaker Series. The partnershipbrings some of York’s top academic minds to Vaughan.
The series, titled ‘Environmental Changes,’ will feature talks and expertise from the Faculty of Environmental Studies, celebrating their 50th anniversary.
COST: FREE BUT PRE-REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED.
Space for each talk is limited. Refreshments are provided.
Jan. 29, 2019 | A Planet of Suburbs: How We Live in the 21st Century
Roger Keil (Professor, Faculty of Environmental Studies)
The 21st century is often called the urban century because more than half of us now live in cities. In reality, though, the urban century emerges at the margin. Most of the twenty-first century’s startling urban growth worldwide is happening at the peripheries.This talk is about the process that creates the global urban periphery – suburbanization – and the ways of life – suburbanisms — we encounter there. Illustrated with examples from around the world, the presentation argues that suburbanization is a global process, and part of the extended urbanization of the planet. This includes the gated communities of the elites, the squatter settlements of the poor and many built forms and ways of life on the periphery in-between. While urbanist orthodoxy opposes low-density “sprawl” for its disproportional environmental impact, the reality of life in the urban century is suburban: most of the earth’s future 10 billion inhabitants will not live in conventional cities but in suburban constellations of one kind or another.
This unique partnership is part of York University’s goals for community engagement and reputation-building, with a unique collaboration that invites alumni, students and their families, and the public to engage in meaningful talks and discussions.
Tickets: https://uecr.apps01.yorku.ca/machform3/view.php?id=260180.