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Designing Safety in Regent Park
On March 5th, 2024, Regent Park resident and University of Toronto student Sara Abdella held a presentation for Regent Park community members. This presentation is a part of Sara Abdella's thesis for her second year at the University of Toronto and Masters for Urban Planning. This presentation was held at the Toronto Centre of Learning & Development in Regent Park. This presentation was supported and endorsed by Innis College, a constituent college to the University of Toronto, and Mothers of Peace Regent Park, an organization dedicated to enhancing and supporting the safety and well-being of the Regent Park community and its residents.
Sara Abdella is a student at the University of Toronto, completing her Masters thesis paper for Urban Planning. Born and raised in Regent Park, she has a first-hand account and perspective of the revitalization process of her community. Her research paper aimed to investigate the perspectives of Regent Park residents on the built form and design features, and to create a set of recommendations for planners to inform how to approach safety in master plan revitalization projects.
In her presentation, she gathered data and the perspective of fellow Regent Park community members and residents. Among her many findings, she found direct correlations between crimes and spaces within Regent Park, showing a heat map showing the overlapping activity.
During this presentation, she increased community engagement by encouraging those in the audience to give their perspective and feelings about safety in Regent Park and its surrounding communities. Additionally, after an analysis of statistics. She notes that Regent Park is placed at 12th for Toronto neighbourhoods with the most firearm discharges.
With observations made with her research paper, she concludes that the design changes of Regent Park, such as the placement of buildings, and green spaces for the community, among many other design changes, can assist with the perceptions of the safety of Regent Park and its community members. Much of her passion stems from her own lived experience as a Regent Park resident, and she continues to display interest in the betterment of her community.
Written by: Lawrence Rodriguez
Lawrence Rodriguez is a youth journalist for FOCUS Media Art Centre
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FOCUS Media Arts Centre (FOCUS) is a not-for-profit organization that was established in 1990 to counter negative media stereotypes of low income communities and provide relevant information to residents living in the Regent Park area and surrounding communities.
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