Public Launch: Cool by Design

Explore the power of shade in public space at this free public talk on March 31, co-presented by The Bentway and DIALOG. This panel celebrates the launch of The Bentway’s Cool by Design, a new report examining how shade shapes health, comfort, and everyday life in cities adapting to rising heat. 

Celebrate Cool by Design, The Bentway’s recently released report that brings together interdisciplinary perspectives to explore the vital role of shade in public spaces and examines how design, culture, and community engagement can help rapidly warming northern cities respond to heat. 

Building upon findings from the City of Toronto’s Thermal Comfort Guidelines, developed in partnership with DIALOG and Buro Happold, and insights from The Bentway’s 2025 Sun/Shade public art program, speakers will examine shade as essential public health and social infrastructure. The Bentway’s unique site beneath Toronto’s longest urban canopy, the Gardiner Expressway offers practical lessons for the city’s future, showing how artists, designers, and everyday residents can help shape a cooler, more connected urban life.

The event will feature a panel discussion that brings together leading experts—landscape architect Fadi Masoud, environmental journalist and author Sam Bloch, and associate and senior urban designer at DIALOG, Dorsa Jalalian—to place the report’s ideas into dialogue. The panel will be moderated by CEO of The Bentway Ilana Altman.

This talk is presented in collaboration with DIALOG, whose leadership in climate-responsive public-space design research helped shape both the publication and seasonal programming.  

panelists

supporters

This event is co-presented with

Special thanks to

School of Cities

The School of Cities is a unique multidisciplinary hub for urban research, education, and engagement creating new and just ways for cities and their residents to thrive. Based at the University of Toronto and in a fast-growing, culturally diverse, and economically dynamic urban region, the School of Cities supports leading scholars, practitioners, and community members spanning disciplines, […]

Thank you for the invaluable contributions from artists, designers, The Bentway Sun/Shade Advisors, and community partners who supported Cool by Design: The Power of Shade in Public Space. Much like the public realm itself, this work relies on trust, accountability, and reciprocity.