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David Roberts2

Director, Urban Studies, University of Toronto
I am the Director of the Urban Studies Program at the University of Toronto and an Associate Professor. My research generally focuses on the power dynamics in city-building and the ways in which historically marginalized groups are excluded or included in these processes. Most recently, I joined a team of researchers in Toronto, São Paulo and Brighton, UK to study the way in which racialized communities organized to fill the gaps of government services with regards to public health and food sovereignty during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

My doctoral research focused on the hosting of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and worked to map the ways in which various communities attempted to have their voices heard and needs met through the planning process for that event. I continue to be interested in the ways in which hosting large scale event dovetail with other trends in urbanization both globally and locally – and annually teach a course on the topic.

When hosting mega-events like FIFA, cities market themselves at the expense of the most vulnerable

Nov 30, 2022 07:28 am UTC| Insights & Views

Few events capture the attention of the globe like the Mens FIFA World Cup in 2018, the event boasted a viewership of 3.5 billion people. Yet, despite the enormous popularity of the World Cup, host cities and countries...

Economy

Governments have been able to overrule the Reserve Bank for 80 years. Why stop now?

Pay close enough attention to parliament these next few days, and youre likely to witness something truly remarkable: politicians from both sides of politics uniting to remove the power of politicians to overrule the...

Western Pharma Shifts Focus from China to India Amid Rising Geopolitical Tensions

Western drugmakers are increasingly turning to alternative sources for drug production and clinical trials, shifting their attention away from Chinese contractors. According to industry experts and executives, this...

What the UK government's back to work plan covers – and why it is unlikely to boost people's job prospects

Ahead of the UK governments latest economic statement, the chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, and the secretary of state for work and pensions, Mel Stride, unveiled a new employment support package dubbed the back to work...

Matching state pension to the national living wage would help pensioners maintain their dignity

A question that is perennially asked by financial experts is: can the government (in other words, the taxpayer) afford to keep increasing pensions? But in my view, the real question should be: what is the purpose of the...

Every state is about to dole out federal funding for broadband internet – not every state is ready for the task

When the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act was signed in late 2021, it included US$42.5 billion for broadband internet access as part of the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program. The program aims to ensure...

Politics

Alleged assassination plots in the U.S. and Canada signal a more assertive Indian foreign policy

A recent indictment from the United States Department of Justice has alleged an Indian security official was involved in attempting to assassinate a U.S. and Canadian citizen in New York. The alleged target, Gurpatwant...

Henry Kissinger was a global – and deeply flawed – foreign policy heavyweight

Declarations of the end of an era are made only in exceptional circumstances. Henry Kissingers death is one of them. Kissinger was born into a Jewish family in Germany, and fled to the US in 1938 after the Nazis seized...

The four challenges faced by Spain's new government

Pedro Sánchez investiture marks the beginning of the third consecutive parliamentary term led by the Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE). After a fraught period of negotiations, Sánchez now leads a broad...

'Father of Reconciliation' Pat Dodson to quit parliament

Labor senator Pat Dodson, often dubbed the father of reconciliation, is quitting parliament due to ill health. Dodson, 75, told the Labor caucus on Tuesday he would resign as a senator for Western Australia, effective...

South Africa’s immigration proposals are based on false claims and poor logic – experts

The South African government recently issued a long-awaited policy statement called a White Paper outlining proposed changes to the countrys asylum and immigration system. More than 20 years after its first...

Science

Massive planet too big for its own sun pushes astronomers to rethink exoplanet formation

Imagine youre a farmer searching for eggs in the chicken coop but instead of a chicken egg, you find an ostrich egg, much larger than anything a chicken could lay. Thats a little how our team of astronomers felt when...

Do we live in a giant void? It could solve the puzzle of the universe's expansion

One of the biggest mysteries in cosmology is the rate at which the universe is expanding. This can be predicted using the standard model of cosmology, also known as Lambda-cold dark matter (ΛCDM). This model is...

MicroRNA is the master regulator of the genome − researchers are learning how to treat disease by harnessing the way it controls genes

The Earth formed 4.5 billion years ago, and life less than a billion years after that. Although life as we know it is dependent on four major macromolecules DNA, RNA, proteins and lipids only one is thought to have been...

How do crystals form?

How do crystals form? Alyssa Marie, age 5, New Mexico Scientifically speaking, the term crystal refers to any solid that has an ordered chemical structure. This means that its parts are arranged in a precisely...

NASA's first successful recovery of asteroid samples may reveal information about the origins of the universe

The OSIRIS-REx mission is NASAs first mission to collect samples from an asteroid in this case 101955 Bennu and return to Earth. OSIRIS-REx is an acronym for Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification,...

Technology

Spotify Trims Workforce by 17%, Shares Surge Following Announcement

Spotify is terminating 17% of its workforce, which is equivalent to 1,500 jobs. This latest layoff is the third to hit the company this year. The Swedish music streaming provider revealed the new round of job cuts after...

Intel Triumphs in US Court: $2.18 Billion VLSI Verdict Overturned

A U.S. appeals court overturned a $2.18 billion patent-infringement award that patent owner VLSI Technology had won against Intel Corp. This ruling marks the reversal of one of the largest verdicts in the history of U.S....

UK's Ofcom Introduces Stricter Online Age Checks for Explicit Content

The new draft guidance from the United Kingdoms Ofcom reveals plans to implement stricter age verification measures for online pornographic content. To prevent children from accessing explicit sites, the watchdog suggests...

Montana's TikTok Ban Reversed: Judge Declares Unconstitutional, Stops January 2024 Enforcement

TikTok has been banned in Montana, and it was the first state in the United States to do so. A federal judge scrapped the order after saying it was an unconstitutional decision. U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy...

Mastercard's Shopping Muse: A New Era in AI-Driven E-commerce Personalization

Dynamic Yield by Mastercard, a digital personalization and artificial intelligence subsidiary of Mastercard, has unveiled its latest innovation, Shopping Muse. This generative AI chatbot assistant aims to revolutionize how...