Shape My City knows that Torontonians are full of great community-building ideas. It also knows that connecting people with the same vision can be tricky.
Caitlin Colson, project manager at Shape My City, tells co-founder Margie Zeidler’s story of being approached by people with great ideas; she would then connect them with the people she knew who were thinking along similar lines, or already had projects in motion. “She felt like a hub that was constantly trying to connect all these spokes. She wondered, how could people find each other? And how would they not have to rely on connections that they may not have personally?” Colson says. From this question,
Shape My City was born.
“It’s a network,” Colson explains. “We’ve custom-built a website for people to interact.” Aspiring city-builders can sign up for a free profile, then track interesting projects. There are meetings, conferences, film screenings, online book clubs, and more. Users can also take the plunge and create their own working groups, projects, and events, with the capacity for other community members to join them.
The website, which launched in September 2014, currently has about 350 members and lists more than 75 projects. These range from the annual YIMBY Festival, which celebrates and showcases the work of community grassroots organizations, to events like this month’s We Are Cities: Housing roundtable discussions on important urban issues and which features local experts. “People can search the site by the different issue tabs, and see what’s out there. We do a lot of cross-connecting and help bridge those gaps,” says Colson. The issue tags include topics like gender, urban planning, education, and arts and culture; users can also search by keyword, or browse different events for inspiration.
“We’re trying to help the people who get things done do them better,” Colson says. “We want to offer people and groups greater visibility, and increase the chance that they find interesting people to come work with them.”