Road to uTOpia

The swirl of attention for this week’s release of uTOpia: Towards a New Toronto, featuring 34 contributions from youngish city dwellers, is leading up to a grandiose Sunday (Nov. 20) affair at The Gladstone Hotel (1214 Queen St. W.). A series of panel discussions between 2-5 p.m. feature contributing writers holding forth on matters of public space, private space and political space, along with kid-friendly diversions like an opportunity to build a marshmallow city, guerilla gardening, and slideshows from urban history fetishist Alfred Holden. An intial excerpt from uTOpia, The Unfinished City by Erik Rutherford, featured in the Ideas section of the Sunday Star, culminates in an evocative comparison of Toronto to a young man who’s overeducated, poorly dressed and socially inept – in a good way, that is. Sunday’s afternoon program at The Gladstone is followed by a more raucous 8 p.m. party. A couple weekends later (Dec. 2-4), the former fleabag formally opens its doors for an official grand opening, with access to its 37 artist-designed rooms, an auspicious event previewed by Christopher Hume,  who notes that Parkdale’s barflies haven’t been discouraged from continuing to hunch upon the varnished stools every morning.

uTOpia: Towards a New Toronto [Coach House Books]