I am pleased to announce that we are launching a consultation process to create a School of Cities at the University of Toronto and that the Faculty of Arts & Science has agreed to serve as its academic and budgetary home.

The University of Toronto undertakes an impressive array of teaching and research on urban life. Since his inauguration in 2013, U of T President Meric Gertler has brought even greater attention to the University’s strengths in urban research, education, community outreach, and public engagement. The School of Cities is envisaged as a way to bring this expertise together and amplify it for the mutual benefit of the University and the surrounding urban region in which our three campuses are located.

Consultations about the School will be led by Professor Joshua Barker, a highly respected urbanist in the Department of Anthropology, Director of the Ethnography Lab, and Vice-Dean, Graduate Education in the Faculty of Arts & Science. Professor Barker will engage key stakeholders across the University’s three campuses to ensure extensive input is gathered in the creation of the School. In this role he will report to a new School of Cities Advisory Council chaired by David Cameron, Dean, Faculty of Arts & Science, and myself. The membership of the Advisory Council will be comprised of:

David Cameron, Dean, Faculty of Arts & Science (Co-Chair)
Cheryl Regehr, Vice-President & Provost (Co-Chair)
Cristina Amon, Dean, Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering
Vivek Goel, Vice-President, Research & Innovation
Bruce Kidd, Vice-President and Principal, University of Toronto Scarborough
Ulli Krull, Vice-President and Principal, University of Toronto Mississauga
Tiff Macklem, Dean, Rotman School of Management
David Palmer, Vice-President, Advancement
Ted Sargent, Vice-President, International
Richard Sommer, Dean, John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design

While it is anticipated that there will be broad participation from across the University, there are six Divisions with a critical mass of urbanists that are currently primarily engaged in planning for a School of Cities:

Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering
John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design
Faculty of Arts & Science
Joseph L. Rotman School of Management
University of Toronto Mississauga
University of Toronto Scarborough

Each of the above Faculties will also undertake its own internal consultation process in collaboration with Professor Barker. I expect these consultations to result in a draft proposal for the creation of a new Extra-Departmental Unit (EDU), which will be brought forward to governance in the Fall of 2017.