Welcome to the website of CELOS

See About CELOS, including our mandate

The Centre for Local Research into Public Space (Toronto)

The Centre for Local Research into Public Space (CELOS - pronounced "see-loss") is a non-profit corporation which works in the area of public urban space, mainly parks. The primary focus of activity is in the City of Toronto. CELOS currently engages in three main types of activities:

Research into the use and administration of public space

See Research

Research is at an early stage. The starting point has been detailed chronicling of activities at Dufferin Grove Park, already thousands of pages. This chronicling activity is gradually expanding elsewhere, notably through diaries of city rinks on cityrinks.ca.

Experimenting with ways of using public space

See Neighbourhoods

Experimenting with ways of using public space has been and continues to be a main activity. Insights and lessons learned provide input for research and analysis. CELOS supports activities initially launched by the Friends of Dufferin Grove Park, but with a broader scope.

Disseminating information about public space

See Publishing and Website Usage

This is also at an early stage. There are currently three main methods for dissemination of information: newsletters, websites, and publications.

Read more >>

Current research projects

Our current focus:

Law and the Justice System

How do laws and policies influence urban parks and public spaces without walls?

posted Fall 2008

Old City Hall Courts

Law, Policy and Liability -- The legal and policy environment for community involvement in neighbourhoods issues can be confusing. To help with this we're working on building up a library of experiences of how different laws, the implementation of laws and law-making directly or unintentionally affects how we use and enjoy our public spaces and parks. Read more >>

The Justice System -- What do any of us ordinary people know about the law? CELOS is doing court visits to follow some neighborhood arrests under the Criminal Code through the court system. We want to look at how crime, criminal activity and the actual and perceived working of the justice system affects people in our mixed-income, mixed-race neighborhood in downtown Toronto. Read more >>

Justice System Media - a collection of relevant reports about the justice system from Toronto's media outlets.

Regulatory Database Project - A project currently under development, to act as a searchable repository of information regarding community encounters with government regulations and controls.

A large collection of information about park playgrounds:

Playground replacements

Playground replacements -- the City calls them "playground enhancements" and plans to spend almost $14 million on new playground equipment over the next 10 years. Nice for the playground industry, but is it really an improvement? And which areas of the city are getting the new stuff? Read more >>