Join us for a screening of William H. “Holly” Whyte’s 1980 film, The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces followed by a lively panel discussion with architects, landscape architects, planners, and community builders whose thoughtful reflections will activate our collective imagination about the future of Toronto’s public realm.

Based on the book with the same title, this companion film is narrated by Holly himself and summarizes his seminal 1980 Street Life Project study of New York City’s plazas, widely regarded within the realm of city planning. Whyte presents deep insights – in an unpretentious and often hilarious tone – into the ways residents interact with urban environments. Whyte’s ideas and simple observational methods remain profoundly influential in the worlds of placemaking and livable cities.

The remastered film premiered in September 2025 in a screening series at Anthology Film Archives in New York City hosted by the Municipal Art Society of New York and in partnership with Project for Public Spaces (PPS).  

Moderated by John Lorinc (Spacing). Panelists include Roberto Damiani (Daniels Faculty), Zahra Ebrahim (Monumental), Paul Farish (City of Toronto, Parks and Recreation) and Jane Wolff (Daniels Faculty). 

Moderator Bio:

John Lorinc is a journalist and editor who reports on urban affairs, politics, business, technology, and local history. His work has appeared in The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, The Walrus, Maclean’s, and Spacing, where he is a senior editor. He won the 2019-2020 Atkinson Fellowship in Public Policy for his reporting on politics and governance of smart cities and the 2022 Balsillie Prize for Public Policy for Dream States: Smart Cities, Technology, and the Pursuit of Urban Utopias. Lorinc is the author of three books of nonfiction and co-editor of four anthologies.

Presented in partnership with School of Cities and Spacing.