The World Urban Pavilion Opens in Regent Park

By Dimitrije Martinovic and Adonis Huggins
Dimitrije and  Adonis are staff at FOCUS MEDIA ARTS CENTRE

The arrival on Thursday, April 21st, 2022, of the United Nations World Urban Pavilion  in Regent Park, locates the Regent Park Revitalization on a global stage. More than twenty-five years in the making, the transformation from an area known only for being Canada's largest social housing complex, to listing as of “Toronto's Top Neighbourhoods,” (Macleans Magazine) is still another tens from being completed. Nonetheless, the bold experiment of combining social housing with market value housing has for the-most-part paid off.

But it is not only this mix of public and private-sector funding that has worked, but it is also the input from residents groups that has had an equally significant impact.

In recognition of these successes, the United Nations Habitat and UrbanEconomy Forum have partnered with Daniels Corporation (one of the development partners of Regent Park) and Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, to open The World Urban Pavilion in Regent Park.

Based in Toronto’s Regent Park, and located in the DueEast Condos at  591 Dundas St East, the Pavilion aspires to become a global knowledge hub which shares best practices, promotes research and conducts social and institutional innovations in sustainable urban development.The Pavilion will support cities and communities to achieve the United Nations’
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular, SDG11: sustainable and resilient cities and communities. It will do this through local and global partnerships driven by creativity and innovation.

There is a palpable sense of pride that permeates throughout the Regent Park community, and now with this new global spotlight, there is a resounding sense that everyone may have got this right, and that indeed there is much to be celebrated on all accounts.