As the Major Collaborative Research Initiative (MCRI) Global Suburbanisms: Governance, Land and Infrastructure in the 21st Century project enters into its final year of activities we invite you to join us for our final conference hosted by the Faculty of Environmental Studies at York University from Oct. 19 to 21.

The conference will be structured around the three foundational themes of the MCRI: Governance, Land and Infrastructure with the added topic of Comparative Suburban Research. Keynote speakers include Solly Angel (New York University, U.S.A); Roger Keil (York University, Canada); Crystal Legacy (University of Melbourne); Roberto Luís Monte-Mór (Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil); Jennifer Robinson (University College London, UK); and Kenate Worku Tabor (Jimma University, Ethiopia).

In addition to conventional scholarly presentation formats (keynotes, panels, papers), the conference will feature art and performance that shifts modes of artistic production from the centre to the periphery. We are teaming up with the Art Gallery of York University (AGYU) to present a panel on “off-centred curating” and the specificities of curatorial practices in suburbia and will be hosting a reception and artists talk and tour at the AGYU’s fall exhibit “Migrating the Margins” featuring work by suburban artists. We are also collaborating with York University’s Department of Theatre in staging a reading of the award-winning play Concord Floral, a work performed by and about suburban youth, set in the city of Vaughan. In addition to all this, photography and data visualization work created by MCRI Researchers Markus Moos (Waterloo) and Ute Lehrer (York University) will be showcased on the final day of our conference, providing a glimpse into the past seven years of working in the field of suburban research.