Following his talk, Joe Berridge asked the 150 attendees at the Agnes Etherington Art Centre to think about where Queen's is in the city, and where there are opportunities to make relationships closer and more creative to generate urban vitality.

Urban strategist Joe Berridge brought the Queen’s and Kingston communities together this week to get them thinking about how universities and urban communities can plan together for mutual benefit. Mr. Berridge, a partner with Urban Strategies Inc., is working with the university to update the Campus Master Plan.

More than 150 undergraduate and graduate students, faculty and staff members, city residents, council and local government representatives filled the Agnes Etherington Art Centre atrium and engaged in conversation following Mr. Berridge’s presentation. With the Queen’s main campus approaching capacity for development he asked the group to think about where our university is in the city, and where there are opportunities to make relationships closer and more creative to generate urban vitality.

“Joe provided a good overview of how the university and the city have grown together over the last 170 years, and of the challenges facing university campuses in urban centres,” says David Gordon, Director, School of Urban and Regional Planning (SURP), and member of the Campus Master Plan Advisory Committee. “The new Campus Master Plan is an opportunity for Queen’s and Kingston to realize mutual benefits from future growth and development.”

Good management practices for undergraduate and graduate student housing, the university as an employer, how universities generate the core market for cultural activity, and the university’s impact on food and festival tourism were also discussed.

Co-sponsors of the event include Queen’s SURP, the Ontario Professional Planners Institute and the St. Lawrence Valley Society of Architects.

Watch a video of Mr. Berridge’s presentation