Spacing Radio is very pleased to announce a partnership with The STEPS Initiative!

STEPS (Sustainable Thinking and Expression on Public Space) is a national organization promoting the use of art to connect people with places, especially public spaces. STEPS is committed to enabling the use of art to challenge the ways in which public spaces are used, how citizens communicate on environmental issues, and the role of the artist in community development.

Since last summer, STEPS has been conducting interviews with artists, activists, and urban planners working in Canada’s public spaces. Through this series we bring you some of the highlights. This week, we shine the spotlight on Sheetal Lodhia's interview with Toronto-based artist David Anderson. She caught up with the founder and artistic director of Clay and Paper Theatre in Dufferin Grove Park.

Links from Spacing Shorts 002:

• Clay And Paper Theatre
• Touch Tours: theatre that's accessible to people who are blind or have low vision
• CYCLOPS: the cycling-oriented puppet squad

Image courtesy of Clay & Paper Theatre / CYCLOPS

While some parks are jam-packed with kids, dog walkers and seniors practicing Tai Chi, others are deserted and neglected. Producer Mieke Anderson speaks to David Harvey about his recent study on improving parks.

Also, Spacing Ottawa's Evan Thornton discusses his city's plans to turn back the clock to a time when car was king. And reporter Andrew Walsh addresses the pros and cons of the public bike network, BIXI, with Spacing Montreal's Alanah Heffez.

Links to stuff from Spacing Radio 026:

• The Metcalf Foundation report, Fertile Ground for New Thinking: Improving Toronto’s Parks
• Saving Ottawa's Bronson Avenue: WestSideAction and Centretown Citizens Community Association
• BIXI: in Montreal and in Toronto
• Our musical guest is Forest City Lovers: website and MySpace page

Lights? Check. Pumped tires? Check. Helmet? Check.

Okay, so many of us don't need to literally make a checklist every time we head off on our bicycles, but knowing how to dress appropriately, how to select a two-wheeler, as well as, some fun facts about the history of cycling can be key to a successful ride. And the younger we are when we learn these lessons the better.

Reporter Andrew Walsh met up with author Laura Robinson to discuss her new children's book Cyclist Bikelist, featured in the Public Goods section of Spacing Magazine's Summer 2010 issue. From coaching a mountain bike team for the kids from Chippewas of Nawash First Nations to simply watching children biking around her neighbourhood, the former member of Canada’s national cycling team offers us her insights and shares her hopes for the next generation.

Links to stuff from Spacing Radio's Summer Shorts 011:

• Cyclist Bikelist: Tundra Books website
• Laura Robinson: Play The Game

Ask a bunch of people their definitions of a 'complete street' and you're bound to get a whole bunch of different answers. In today's SUMMER SHORT, reporter Andrew Walsh explores what it means to share our roads. He attended the 2010 Complete Streets Forum this past April and spoke with Barbara McCann, credited with coining the phrase, and New York City's Assistant Commissioner for Planning and Sustainability Andy Wiley-Schwartz.

Links to stuff from Spacing Radio's Summer Shorts 006

• Barbara McCann: National Complete Streets Coalition
• Andy Wiley-Schwartz: New York City Department of Transportation

New York City Commissioner of Transportation Janette Sadik-Khan came to Toronto on Earth Day to speak at an event organized by Walk and Bike for Life. She spoke extensively about cycling (calling it not an alternative mode of transit, but something mainstream and ideally suited to the flat terrain of New York), but she also went much, much further. We feature almost her entire speech in this episode, and you've got to hear it to believe it.

Sadik-Khan outlines her plan to transform her city's grid into a network of shared spaces that favour people instead of cars. She calls her office the Department of Placemaking in New York, and her accomplishments and proposals -- including major new policies to massively expand the cycling network, prioritize transit, and give streets back to people through new design concepts and special community-based street closures -- provide a fantastic blueprint for Toronto.

Then, Nancy Smith-Lea of the Toronto Coalition for Active Transportation gives reporter Megan Hall a hometown perspective on the state of cycling in Toronto, citizen support for the bike plan, and what roadblocks need to be overcome to get more lanes painted. She also provides a preview of the upcoming Bike Summit on May 28th at the Toronto Novotel Centre.

We'll also check in with long-time Spacing contributor Fred Sztabinski, who lives and bikes in the unofficial world cycling capital of Amsterdam.

Plus, we feature music by Toronto band Spiral Beach.

Links to stuff from Spacing Radio 005

• Walk and Bike for Life: the organization's website
• NYC Department of Transportation: the home page, and the section on cycling
• Toronto Coalition for Active Transportation: TCAT's website, and details about the bike summit
• Fred Sztabinski: Fred's post on the Spacing Toronto blog about people who cycle as a family in Amsterdam
• Spiral Beach: the group's website and MySpace page