Dr. Shelagh McCartney will be hosting this month’s session at the School of Urban and Regional Planning at Ryerson University on the evening of September 12, 2016. Invitations are open to those at different points in their careers and to those practicing or pursuing various forms of design. Limited space available.
Dr. Shelagh McCartney is a licenced architect and urbanist with a specialization in community development and housing. Dr. McCartney received her Bachelor of Environmental Studies and Bachelor of Professional Architecture degrees from the University of Waterloo, before attending Harvard University where she received a Master’s in Design Studies with Distinction concentrating on Urban Development and Housing, and a Doctorate of Design. As a Fulbright scholar at Harvard, Dr. McCartney’s research focused on exploring community-based housing solutions for American Indigenous people and comparing American and Canadian Housing policies. Other research interests have included informal settlement morphology, and the effect of land policy on housing development in both North America and the global south. Dr. McCartney has held teaching positions at the University of Waterloo, University of Toronto, Carleton University as Co-ordinator of the Urbanism Program and Harvard University. Now, as an assistant professor at Ryerson University’s School of Urban and Regional Planning, Dr. McCartney is committed to innovative teaching, developing within students a sense of responsibility and social-awareness, encouraging students to explore creative design solutions to the problems facing their world.
Outside of academic research, Dr. McCartney has practiced privately across the globe, leading teams in projects requiring extensive community consultation, and as part of a team or individually she has secured wins or mentions in four international competitions as well as over twenty Canadian design awards in the past ten years.
In 2012, she founded +city lab, an innovative research and design practice exploring platforms that focus on contemporary, interdisciplinary approaches to city and open territory design. Through scholarly and applied research +city lab uses design and planning as a research vehicle to pose and explore alternative urbanisms that address the broader social contexts of a project.
Shelagh McCartney lives in Roncesvalles-High Park in Toronto with her husband and their two young daughters. When not designing like she gives a damn, McCartney loves to bike with her family through Toronto’s diverse neighbourhoods and seek new moments and tastes.