Our approach to city change

Cities are “systems of systems”—they encompass streets, buildings, public spaces, parks, libraries, residential spaces, institutions, social networks and economic activity. Viewing cities this way helps us find opportunities to support efforts to make positive changes. Following an experimental phase, in 2016 Cities for People began working with other entities to develop an approach for changing cities. We have teamed up with a host of institutions, municipalities and non-profit organizations to pursue the following priorities: 1) increasing equality, 2) strengthening the city as a commons The commons: our streets, parks, squares and other places where people gather to celebrate, learn, rest, play, trade, express collective aspirations, and provide for themselves and one another. The commons are spaces where we do together what we can’t do alone., 3) enabling city labs, and 4) supporting urban innovation networks. Cities for People provides backbone functions to facilitate learning, communications, and field-building across the system. We aspire to collectively advance change and create conditions to better equip cities to meet the challenges of our times.

Focus Areas

Neighbourhood revitalization and poverty reduction initiatives ensure more inclusive and resilient cities across Canada.

We work with urban innovators to scale up initiatives that tackle poverty and social and economic exclusion. We also support neighbourhood revitalization projects that seek to improve social well-being, with a particular focus on urban Indigenous communities and areas with high percentages of newcomers to Canada. One major partner in this area is Vibrant Communities Canada (led by the Tamarack Institute), a network of individuals united to reduce poverty by building economically and socially inclusive societies.

By strengthening the civic commons, we support a culture of sharing and experimentation.

Civic commons are our streets, parks, squares, and so much more. They are shared spaces that belong to all people. We believe in the potential of the city as a commons to support urban vitality and provide all residents with a sense of belonging. To strengthen these civic assets, we support  placemaking Placemaking: an inclusive and collaborative process that builds local capacity and leadership. It empowers communities to define the physical and social attributes of spaces they inhabit. and  adaptive reuse Adaptive reuse is a key principle in sustainable city building that requires developers and architects to creatively reuse and upgrade existing infrastructure.. This involves reimagining and repurposing buildings and spaces whose original purposes have become redundant or obsolete, or could be updated to meet new community needs. We also believe in the value of open data Open data is data that is accessible for everyone to use and must be licensed in a way that allows for its reuse. to strengthen public participation and democracy.

Urban labs, experiments, pilots and prototypes offer spaces for transformative change that are flexible and multidisciplinary.

We encourage the flourishing of “urban labs,” spaces and ways of working that enable citizens, governments, institutions, investors and non-profits to invent new ways to solve tough issues, like affordable housing, and to explore possibilities for collective change, such as re-designing public spaces to foster democratic practices and quality of life in cities.

Urban innovation networks provide a dynamic platform for knowledge sharing and build a sense of belonging.

We support networks of urban innovators through gatherings, civic innovation awards and strategic partnerships. We have worked with our partners to organize study tours that emphasize the value of city-to-city learning exchanges. These activities have taught us what works and what doesn’t in cities abroad so we can bring these lessons back to Canada.

How We Support Change

Funder

We have provided major, multi-year grants to the following organizations: the Tamarack Institute for the Vibrant Communities-Cities Reducing Poverty initiative; Centraide for its Collective Impact Project that fosters neighbourhood revitalization

We have provided major, multi-year grants to the following organizations: the Tamarack Institute for the Vibrant Communities-Cities Reducing Poverty initiative; Centraide for its Collective Impact Project that fosters neighbourhood revitalization projects in Montreal; and Evergreen, for developing a national strategy aimed at inclusive urban innovation and channeling unused and underused urban assets into new social purposes. We also have a number of smaller grants, and occasionally we issue calls for proposals for fresh project ideas.

Strategic learning partner

As we develop a listening platform and international learning platform, we aspire to bring new ideas back to Canada and to share our country’s most promising urban projects with city

As we develop a listening platform and international learning platform, we aspire to bring new ideas back to Canada and to share our country’s most promising urban projects with city innovators abroad. We share what we’re learning with governments and foundations in Canada and internationally.

Capacity builder

Cities for People works with networks of urban innovators to identify new forms of collaboration and tools for transformation. We support these networks through online resources, strategic partnerships and national

Cities for People works with networks of urban innovators to identify new forms of collaboration and tools for transformation. We support these networks through online resources, strategic partnerships and national competitions (Civic Innovation Awards) and by commissioning research and publications.

Convener

Cities for People holds local and national gatherings to bring together urban innovators from various industries and institutions to collaborate in fostering transformative change and experimentation in cities.

Recent Funding & Investments

La Pépinière et Collaborateurs

Funds will be used by Pépinière et Collaborateurs to develop a sustainable strategy to promote the placemaking movement in Montreal.

$ 165,000

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Centraide of Greater Montreal

A grant from the Foundation will enable Centraide of Greater Montreal (Centraide), in partnership with the Chagnon Foundation and several other private foundations, to launch a large-scale Collective Impact Project [...]

$ 2,000,000

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Maytree Foundation

The Urban Project aims to empower Canadian cities to take on the big challenges they face, and to generate the action and ideas needed to solve those challenges -- from [...]

$ 500,000

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Evergreen

Evergreen will use a grant from the Foundation to lay the groundwork for a Canadian civic commons strategy. They will build partnerships and design a national program for a [...]

$ 300,000

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