EUKN - European Urban Knowledge Network - Social Infrastructure and Vulnerable Communities

Social Infrastructure and Vulnerable Communities

Introduction

The study examines the local impacts of five years of amalgamation on marginalized communities in the City of Toronto.

Description

The report highlights community perspectives with respect to three main issues:

Municipal services with a focus on social
infrastructure
Community capacity building and the role of municipal government
Civic engagement in municipal politics.

Policy issues and areas for further research exploration are identified.

Background information

For more than sixty years, the Community Social Planning Council of Toronto (CSPC-T) and its predecessor agencies have tracked social conditions, monitored municipal service issues and analyzed policy and program change impacting the quality of life and well-being of Toronto residents. Through its research efforts, the Council identifies social trends and advocates for policy solutions to address needs and inequities within Toronto neighbourhoods and communities. From the 1960’s to the present, four reports in particular reflect this tradition of social research.

Methodology

Communities selected for inclusion in the study included geographic neighbourhoods and communities of interest. Twelve neighbourhoods defined according to the City’s community planning area schema were selected.

Neighbourhood selection was based on several factors related to or indicative of risk and marginalization:

incidence of poverty,
immigrant population,
newcomer population,
lone-parent families,
home language not English or French,
visible minority status,
unemployment rate,
youth unemployment rate,
less than high school education,
households in core housing need and dwellings requiring major repair.

Selected communities of interest included youth and racialized communities given the marginality and risk associated with group membership.

The study methodology involved both quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis, with a focus on the latter.

Conclusions

Based on the results of this study, the report card is one with mixed results.

The key issues raised by focus group and interview participants were:

Lack of access to affordable community space
Housing issues: the need for affordable housing, rent control, housing subsidies, and a national housing strategy;
the need for locally-accessible and culturally- and age appropriate programming.

Focus group participants were also very concerned about equity issues in service provision.

The chief concern with the issue of civic engagement for the respondents was the difficulty for ordinary citizens to understand and participate meaningfully in public consultations such as the City budget and the need to re-vision the means by which the efforts traditionally devoted by community organizations to such mobilization can be employed more effectively.

Contact info

Community Social Planning Council of Toronto
Phone: + 1 416 3510095
cspc@cspc.toronto.on.ca

Publication date

Project finished

01/03/2003

Researcher

Community Social Planning Council of Toronto

Links

Visit the Community Social Planning Council of Toronto website

Download the 'Social Infrastructure and Vulnerable Communities' Report (PDF, Eng, 970 KB)

Document type

research

Themes

Urban Policy > Social inclusion & integration > Community development

Keywords

Citizens' participation