A heartfelt thanks to all participants for contributing to the success of our City Planning in a Time of Crisis: States, Markets and Democracy event held on Sept 10, 2026 at the CITY Institute. This event was based on two SSHRC-UKRI Knowledge Synthesis teams—Seeing Crisis like a City: Multi-level Governance in Canada and the UK […]
Supersized Data Centres coming to Canada Interview on CBC NEWS (04 June 2026)
Interview on the Urban & Social Dimensions of Ebola: CP24 (24 May 2026)
CITY Director Harris Ali radio interview on 105.9 The Region
This talk examines how mis/disinformation and conspiracy theories spread through social media have transformed at an unprecedented rate, the very nature of culture and politics in contemporary society. What is involved in these transformations? What are the implications of these transformations for the development of an impending democratic crisis in North America? We will discuss how this crisis in democracy is evident in terms of the polarization of society and the development of a crisis politics; enhanced conditions for encouraging the expression of political violence; the development of a post-truth society, and the dominance of politics by a small number of business and technical elites (that is, oligarchy), as well as the rise of authoritarian tendencies.
A new YFile published last week highlights two new studies from the "Multi-Level Crisis Governance in Canada and the UK: Seeing Crisis Governance like a City" project, led by CITY faculty affiliate Roger Keil. Read the full YFile here.
A new article published in the Journal of Canadian Studies by CITY Institute Director, Harris Ali, explores how populism, conspiracy theories and social media work together to weaken democratic systems in Canada and the United States. Read more about the new study here.
New article by S. Harris Ali, Creighton Connolly, and Roger Keil
Reminder that the research committee RC 21 on Urban and Regional Development may be of interest to many CITY members. Pictured below from left to right are CITY members: Roger Keil, Harris Ali, Sébastien Lambelet (CITY participants not pictured: Ute Lehrer, Natalya Murzenko) Congratulations to Roger and Sébastien who gave papers based on CITY-based research […]
Dear All, Please visit the link below to read some poignant accounts and reflections on the work of Prof Warren Magnusson (1947-2025) – an important figure in urban thought who has had a tremendous influence on many at CITY (and beyond) throughout the years. This collection of touching yet intellectually inspiring essays appearing in Urban Affairs […]