Jino Distasio, Ph.D.
Director, Institute of Urban Studies
Redesigning Cities

Dr. Jino Distasio is proud to tell you the Institute of Urban Studies has been operating for forty years. Rightly so! It is a significant milestone among urban research centres in Canada. In the course of those four decades, the organization has not strayed from the original mandate and is resolvedly community driven. The Institute is a hybrid unit where much of the work is applied research addressing tangible need. This is balanced with academic research but the emphasis remains on community based responses. “The key is to build a strong relationship with communities,” explains Distasio, “seeing issues through their eyes, respecting their views, and working in partnership, to find practical solutions that strengthen and improve the community, and provide sustainability.”

Working within the city, as well as provincially and nationally, the Institute has participated in developing housing studies for local neighbourhood organizations, establishing Winnipeg's first Aboriginal housing plan, undertaking a large study of Aboriginal mobility into the city, and tackled the issue of transportation for seniors in urban and rural areas. Similarly, work continues on the development of a sustainability plan for the town of Churchill. From rapid transit and zoning, to the hidden homeless, the Institute continues to answer the call for assistance with a range of projects from the immediate and local, to the national and multi-city endeavours. A primary goal is to provide opportunities for students to have hands-on experience in the research. Thus, students and community members are both empowered and gain a practical appreciation for how communities work.

“We are passionate about the work we do: improving, strengthening, and exploring ideas for practical solutions to issues that communities face,” says Distasio. A new age of city design is dawning and fundamental changes to city planning are on the horizon. It is predicted that the costly automobile based society that has shaped North American cities in the post war era will shift back to an earlier model of mass transportation. Dr. Distasio believes that in the next decades the strong sense of place and community evident half a century ago will be rediscovered. The Institute will be observing it carefully, through a lens of sustainability and commitment to the community.