Category: News

Enormous congratulations to Pop Place member Rachel Barber for publishing her first academic peer reviewed journal article in Wellbeing, Space and Society! Rachel is a co-author on a fascinating study that examines the socio-spatial dimensions of school closures and neighbourhood change in Ontario, Canada. The authorship team is led by the wonderful Dr. Patricia Collins (Queen’s University) along with Rachel, Dr. Jeff Masuda (University of Victoria), and Queen’s University School of Urban and Regional Planning alum Gabrielle Snow.

Best news yet: the paper is open access so it is available to everyone! You can find it here.

Population and Place Research Lab researcher Rachel Barber presented the findings of her Masters thesis research at the American Association of Geographers Conference on March 24th, 2023. Her presentation was entitled “Combating Mobility Inequality Through Age-Friendly Transportation: A Spatial Analysis of Walking and Public Transportation Routes in Elliot Lake”.

Yesterday evening we had the pleasure of celebrating Rachel Barber (along with several other brilliant Queen’s University graduate students) at the university’s Create an Impact event. We toasted the enormous impact that graduate students (and especially this select group of award winners) make in our disciplines as well as our communities. Congratulations Rachel!

Population and Place Research Lab Director Maxwell Hartt presented his work on shrinking cities to the German Ambassador to Canada Sabine Sparwasser, a delegate of German scientific council members, and a number of Queen’s administrators and fellow researchers. Wonderful discussions on the state of research and the huge potential for collaboration between the two nations.

Population and Place Research Lab director Maxwell Hartt has a brand new article published in Town Planning Review. Co-authored with his former Cardiff University graduate student Lucy Benbow and his Queen’s University colleague David L.A. Gordon, the team examine the age-friendliness of Rhiwbina Garden Village in Wales. They found that many age-friendly characteristics aligned with the garden village concept, including the importance of green space, access to public transport, and the accessibility and frequency of community activities. They also argue that the place-based self-sufficiency central to the garden city concept is a crucial factor for aging well. Their findings can be used to inform planning considerations to not only garden villages, but communities of all shapes and sizes.

You can find the article here.

We are thrilled to welcome Jianing Sun to the Population and Place Research Lab as a visiting PhD student! Jianing is a third-year PhD student at Chongqing University in China. Her research focuses on the sustainable development of shrinking cities – of which there are many in China. She will be spending a full year at Queen’s University where she will be working on her dissertation as well as collaborating with members of the Population and Place Research Lab.

We are so excited to have Jianing visiting us and bringing such fascinating international expertise to the lab. Welcome!

New Population and Place Research Lab publication “The role of bots in U.S. real estate development online communication” in the journal Computers, Environment and Urban Systems. The article is part of a larger collaborative project focused on social media bots in the planning discourse. The article is co-authored by Justin B. Hollander, Ruth Potts, Maxwell Hartt, Minyu Situ, and Alexander Seto.

Read the article here.

Population and Place Research Lab researcher Ellory Vincent presented her ongoing research at the Canadian Institute of Planner’s Planning Together: World Town Planning Day Student Symposium on November 8, 2022. Ellory was one of only eight presenters from all of Canada selected for the symposium. Her presentation was entitled “Playing & Place: Older Adult Perceptions of Playful Environments in Victoria, B.C.”

The Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning conference is always a treat and this year was no exception. Hosted in nearby (and lovely) Toronto, quite a few of the Population and Place Research Lab members were able to attend. Director Maxwell Hartt spoke on a roundtable about social media bots and planning, researcher Ellory Vincent gave an oral presentation about her work on the Aging Playfully project, and researcher Madison Empey-Salisbury presented a poster. It was also a wonderful opportunity to engage with some of the Lab’s affiliated researchers, including Justin Hollander, Samantha Biglieri, and Sharmistha Bagchi-Sen. A really wonderful event in an exciting, delicious city!

Population and Place Research Lab director Maxwell Hartt gave a talk about shrinking cities at the University of Toronto Scarborough on November 7, 2022. Following the talk there was some great questions and discussion from the students from the Department of Human Geographer. Special thanks to Dr. Julie Mah for the invite!