Public or Private? The Pope Squat and Housing Struggles in Toronto

Part of a special issue on resistance to neoliberal globalization. In 2002, the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) in Canada occupied a vacant building in Toronto's South Parkdale neighborhood in a bid to resist privatization processes in the city and build a broad-based coalition to comb...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Lehrer, Ute (Author)
Contributors: Winkler, Andrea
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2006
In: Social justice
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Keywords:
Gentrification
Housing
Housing policy
Neoliberalism
Privatization
Public spaces
urban planning
Description
Summary:Part of a special issue on resistance to neoliberal globalization. In 2002, the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) in Canada occupied a vacant building in Toronto's South Parkdale neighborhood in a bid to resist privatization processes in the city and build a broad-based coalition to combat policies that drive neoliberal urbanism. OCAP's actions raised critical awareness of the housing crisis and forced recognition of the ownership of the physical property they occupied. The squat on 1510 King West represented a counter-story of housing in the city. A housing crisis is imminent despite city officials' celebration of the condominium boom as a key element of an Official Plan that follows guidelines responding to the needs of sustainability and smart-growth strategies.