Thinking, Planning and Urbanism.

    An academic librarian since 1980, Mary Hemmings has worked at Concordia University, McGill University and is currently the Assistant Director of the University of Calgary’s Law Library. Mary’s career includes a three-year role as “librarian-in-residence” at the UofC’s English Department and co-ordinator of the Gibson Collection of Speculative Fiction. She is author of a book chapter on the role of women in pulp fiction, and is a co-author of a chapter on libraries and popular culture. She has taught courses in Fundamental Legal Skills and Advanced Legal Skills at UofC’s Faculty of Law. Mary is currently working towards and LLM specializing in legal theory and history at Queen Mary College, Univesity of London.
Degrees  held: (BA History, Concordia) (MLS, McGill) MA Legal History, Calgary) (LLB, Calgary)

Research Interest: Interdisciplinary approaches to law and society
    University courses in interdisciplinary legal issues are a traditional part of the academic landscape and law is an integral part of society. Understanding its sources and traditions allows us to look critically at how laws are made and cases are decided. Saying “rule of thumb” was politically incorrect in the eighteenth century, and would be today if more people knew it referred to the size of cane allowed to be used to beat a wife. By using primary sources, inquiring students can discover a better understanding of law today. Broad approaches among a variety disciplines and media can engage and fuel life-time inquiry into a fascinating topic.

Book chapters/contributions
Controlling the Popular: Canadian Memory Institutions and Popular Culture, How Canadians Communicate, with Pannekoek, F., Clarke, H., University of Athabasca Press, 3rd ed, 2009, Refereed, In Press

The Changing Role of Women in Science Fiction: Weird Tales, 1925-1940, The Influence of Imagination: Essays in Science Fiction and Fantasy as Agents of Social Change, Easton, L., Schroeder, R, eds., McFarland Press, 2008, Refereed

Make ‘em Laugh: Images of Law in Eighteenth Century Popular Culture, Treatise on Legal Visual Semiotics, Wagner, Anne and Sherwin, Richard, eds., Springer, Accepted for publication, 2011.

Books reviewed (recent)
Law and Morality: Readings in Legal Philosophy, Dyzenhaus, D., Moreau, S.R., Ripstein, A., eds., Canadian Law Library Review, v. 32, no. 5, 2007,  p. 237. Refereed.

Heinneccius: A Methodical System of Universal Law with Supplements and Discourse by George Turnbull, edited and with and introduction by Thomas Ahnert and Peter Schroder, Johan Gottlieb, Newsletter of the Legal History and Rare Books Special Interest Section of the American Association of law Libraries, v. 14, no.  3, Fall, p. 40-41, http://www.aallnet.org/sis/lhrb/lhrb.pdf, Refereed.

Globalized Rule of Law: Relationships between International and Domestic Law, Oonagh E. Fitzgerald, editor, Canadian Law Library Review, v. 33, no. 5, 2008; reprinted by permission, Manitoba Bar Association, Headnotes and Footnotes, v. 41, no. 4 (April 2009),  p. 20.

Rediscovering Rhetoric: Law, Language and the Practice of Persuasion, Gleaeson, Justin T. and Higgins, Ruth C.A., eds., Canadian Law Library Review, v.34, no. 3, 2009,  p. 118-119, Refereed.

Carnal Crimes: Sexual Assault in Canada by Constance Backhouse, Canadian Law Library Review, In Preparation.

Panel discussions (recent)
Science Fiction and Other Archives, Interaction Worldcon Association, Interaction: World Science Fiction Conference, Glasgow, 2005

Papers presented (recent)
The Gibson Collection: The Problem of the Gift, Conference of the Book, Oxford, 2005
Controlling the Popular: How Canadians Communicate, Banff, 2007 (co-presenter)

Grants (recent)
Canadian Association of Law Libraries Research Grant, 2009; $4400:  Project "Legal Visual Semiotics: Eighteenth Century Satirical Prints as Primary Sources." This grant has allowed Mary to travel to the British Museum to review original eighteenth satirical prints for legal themes, in support of her upcoming book chapter in Treatise on Legal Visual Semiotics (Springer).

This is a case study of the regeneration process that occurred in Toronto’s Dundas and Yonge St. area. Begun in the late 1990s, the goal was to update a shabby downtown core in order to increase consumer spending and to diversify pedestrian demographics. Today the area hosts regular marketing “spectacle” events and has indeed become a vibrant sector of the city. How close it has come to rivalling New York’s Times Square or London’s Leicester Square for Toronto is still unclear. Political and economic challenges emerged almost as soon as redevelopment planning began. Early visions became subsumed during the procedural stages.

Milroy provides an excellent historical overview of the area as well as early planning and preparation that involved municipal, commercial, academic, and residential actors. Ultimately, the redevelopment relied on a sophisticated marketing plan to develop a specific “core image.”

Relying on the Ontario Municipal Board report, Milroy discusses the intricate process of public consultations, re-evaluations and, finally, rationalizations. Legal challenges from property owners stalled much of the process of civic regeneration as Ontario’s Expropriations Act battled the Planning Act.

The first phase of the plan was to realize a Metropolis Urban Entertainment Centre (Parcel A), that would also include elements of retail, dining and education. One feature of the cityscape would include a giant electronic advertising column, or Torch. It was meant to be garish and over-the-top. A modified version now stands at the southeast corner of Dundas and Victoria. Next, a square was realized outside the Eaton Centre and was opened in 2003. Business and resident associations played an important part in developing public safety standards, including increased policing.

Milroy emphasizes the need for urban debate and assimilation of urban vitality as opposed to a single-minded modernization drive. The appendices are particularly useful for providing background tools, such as elements of the planning framework, socioeconomic information about the area, various development options, issues raised at public meetings, in addition to financial plans and costing scenarios.

This is an excellent case study for small core urban planning particularly because of the 10-year longitudinal study.