T O R O N T O

2014City Report:

© Decode Inc. 2014 www.youthfulcities.com info@youthfulcities.com Facebook: Youthful Cities @youthfulcities

02

Youth (15-29 yrs.) are at the centre of urbanization. They add energy, vibrancy, creativity

and digital age talent to cities. Youth build a city’s competitive edge, stimulate development

and find new solutions. They are the future of cities... now. But which cities are taking

advantage of this positive economic, social and political potential? Which cities will get

ahead?

YouthfulCities has worked with thousands of youth in 25 mega cities across the five

major global regions to build a way to measure and map cities from a youth perspective.

With more than 100 different indicators and 2500 points of data we are building an

unparalleled base of knowledge about cities and youth. This ranking sets up a unique urban

competition between the world’s great cities. YouthfulCities also amplifies the voice and

creativity of youth to build better, smarter, greener, more prosperous, ingenious, respectful,

playful, more dynamic cities.

Experience behind YouthfulCities - Decode founding partner www.decode.net

Since 1994, Decode has worked with global corporations and NGOs to create ideas and initiatives built by youth that

truly engage youth. Now with the founding of YouthfulCities, Decode, its global partners and a network of dedicated young

social entrepreneurs in the biggest cities in the world are creating better cities with youth in the drivers seat.

And that’s just the start. Next year we will rank 100 cities

More than 50% of the world’s population is under 30

More than 50% of the world’s

population lives in cities.

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Toronto finishes as the most youthful city overall in the 2014 Index with

a score of 843.85 out of a possible 1353. Toronto’s top place finish is

a result of its broad strengths in the majority of the 16 categories. It wins

the Diversity category outright and finishes in the top five of eight other

categories: Digital Access, Youth Employment, Financial Access, Economic

Status, Food and Nightlife, Music and Film, Fashion and Art, and the Public

Space, Sport and Gaming category. When ranked by theme, Toronto

finishes 4th overall in live, 5th in work and 2nd in play.

Toronto Population:

2.6 millionToronto Area (km²):

630

Youth Population:

20.85%Density (people/km²):

4,150.89

T O R O N T O

Live312.86

wORk240.96

PLAY287.15

843.851st Overall

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Overview

Toronto has a reputation for being one of the world’s most multicultural cities,

a reality that is confirmed as it tops the diversity category. Here it wins the

Number of Voting Languages indicator outright, with 26 languages to vote in,

scoring 40% higher than Chicago, the 2nd place city. Another strength exists

in Toronto’s 3rd overall finish in the economic status category. Torontonians

find themselves among the highest minimum wage earners, earning an

average $10.20 per hour and finishing in 4th place. Elsewhere, Toronto’s

strong performance in the public space, sport and gaming category comes

as a result of its 4th place finish in per capita number of public libraries, with

98, and its 5th place finish in per capita number of municipally maintained

recreation facilities, with 596. According to Bruce Wayne Yip, Toronto

entrepreneur and sport and gaming enthusiast, “Toronto boasts hundreds

of sports clubs for youth outside of school and work. With Toronto’s ever-

changing weather, new amateur sports leagues/clubs begin each quarter,

and for top-tier athletes, Toronto has some of the most renowned coaches in

the world for track and field, swimming, martial arts and hockey.” Toronto has

over 60 sports leagues and clubs, which include some very unique sports such

as dodgeball, hang gliding, and underwater hockey.

Despite its wealth of assets, the Index also reveals that Toronto’s challenges

lie largely in the areas of civic participation, where it finishes with a relatively

low number of youth engaged formally with city council (36), and safety and

mental health, where it finishes 18th overall and has the 3rd highest number

of suicides per capita, at 598. This last liability brings to light a serious issue

faced by youth in Toronto, and reflects the possibility that young people in

the city find themselves without the necessary supports when working through

mental health distress.

Despite these liabilities, Toronto’s broad strengths in the majority of areas

researched indicates that it is a city that benefits immensely from its diversity

and remains a place that can both actively attract mobile youth as well as

secure its current youth population.

T O R O N T O

Recommendations

As mentioned, Toronto shows weakness in both the safety and mental health as

well as the civic participation categories. Each of these exist as opportunities

for relationships between government and society to be better fostered, in order

to initiate and/or maximize the potential for projects serving these important

public interests.

The high number of suicides in the city reflects a need for crisis intervention

measures and processes that ensure individuals can access support when it

is needed. While Toronto boasts Canada’s largest mental health facility - the

Centre for Addiction and Mental Health - it houses a modest 12 beds for youth

in crisis, which could bear an increase. Crisis intervention also comes from

organizations like Distress Centre, which handled over 133,000 calls in 2012.

While encouraging, the statistics show that the city nonetheless has the 3rd

highest suicide rate per capita. This suggests that more programs like Distress

Centre are needed, and overall that a more coordinated service delivery model

for youth in mental health crisis might be necessary.

Regarding Toronto’s weakness in the civic participation category, as mentioned,

one key reason for this is the relatively small number of youth engaged formally

with city council. There are at present a maximum of 36 youth involved at

any given time. At certain times this is lower. One recommendation would be

to increase this to a full-time 44 youth at minimum, which would line up with

the number of wards in the city. Having one youth per ward would be key to

enabling the system to more promptly assess and provide for the varied needs

of youth in the city. This would in turn nurture a larger youth population that will

emerge from youth council better suited to flourish in civic and political life.

05

T O R O N T O

Toronto finishes 1st in Diversity

“It’s exciting to find out that Toronto is not only a multicultural city, but one that

values the voice and political participation of its hugely varied ethno-lingual

groups. Toronto is a city that makes space for any individual regardless of

age, gender, sexual orientation, or language, which is in part reflected by

the fact that the city has the highest number of languages to vote in, when

measured against the remaining 24 cities on the YouthfulCities Global Index.”

- Gabriella Penev

key Comments

M o l l y L e a t h e m - Urban Decoder Molly is a recent graduate from the Arts and Contemporary Studies program at Ryerson University, specializing in History. She is interested in combining her passion for urban histories with city building.

G a b r i e l l a P e n e v - Urban Decoder Gabriella recently received her Bachelor’s degree from Ryerson University in Global Studies and has experience leading international community development projects. She hopes to pursue a Master’s degree in contemporary cross-cultural histories.

Toronto finishes 2nd in Music and Film

“Toronto’s film industry is one of the most robust in North America. The Toronto

International Film Festival has come to the fore as one of the industry leaders

in supporting young and up-and-coming filmmakers. The city itself boasts a

huge industry of post production, prop and equipment rental along with the

skilled trades necessary for producing major feature productions down to

the smallest types of films and music videos. The Canadian Film Centre has

a program almost like grad school for filmmakers. Toronto International Film

Festival has TIFF Talent Lab, Jump Cuts for high school kids, TIFF Studio for

young producers and TIFF Rising Stars for young actors. It’s not surprising to

me that Toronto does so well in this category.” - Joseph Clement, Documentary

Filmmaker

A very special thank-you goes out to Ryerson University, our academic partner and supporter in

Toronto, through which we were extremely fortunate to have access to a number of students. This group

contributed to the Toronto data collection over the summer of 2013.

Special Thanks:

06

The 2014 YouthfulCities Index ranks the performance of 25 of the world’s most

populous cities from a youth perspective. It evaluates how youth LIVE, WORK

and PLAY in their urban settings, in order to determine how cities are serving

their youth, and discover how youth can be better integrated and engaged in

their cities. YouthfulCities provides municipalities, businesses and individuals

the chance to asses how they can better support young people in their cities

and engages youth to take initiative in joining with these partners to create

exceptional urban communities.

Between January and November 2013, youth analysts collected and evaluated

data on 80 indicators across 16 categories and 3 themes. There are two types

of indicators that were “normalized” across the cities: those that measure the

cost of an item and those that measure the per capita number of an item.

M e T h O D O L O G Y

Thirteen indicators reflect the cost of a given item. The data for these

indicators was normalized and compared by expressing it relative to one hour

of minimum wage labour in the given city. For example, if a movie ticket cost

$15 and minimum wage was $10, then 1.5 would be the city’s score in this

indicator. All local currencies were normalized to US dollars. Where cost data

is referred to below, the costs expressed are the amount of a given item in US

dollars, before being expressed as a unit of minimum wage.

Fourteen of the indicators are evaluated per capita. Where per capita data is

referred to below, the numbers are expressed as absolutes, taken before per

capita calculations. Expressing the results of these insights, this year’s Index

largely reflects information current for 2012.

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L iveCiviC PARTiCiPATiONPercentage of population 15-29 years oldVoting ageVolunteer opportunitiesPolitical influence

DiveRSiTYLanguages to vote inDiversity of foodOpenness to LGBTOpenness to immigrantsOpenness to religion

iNTeRNAL TRANSPORTKilometers of public transportationHours per week dedicated transit operatesBike rentalsKilometers of bike paths, per capitaDriving ageCommuter time by carCommuter time by transitCommuter time by footWalkabilityTransit cost monthly

DiGiTAL ACCeSSExtent of WIFI free at universitiesExtent of WIFI free in public transitExtent of WIFI free in librariesExtent of WIFI free in public squaresExtent of WIFI free in cafesCost per minute prepaid cell service, no planMobile phone infrastructureCost per hour of internet access in web cafe

eNviRONMeNTAL SuSTAiNAbiLiTYWater scaleQuantity of recycled waste, per capitaCarbon emissions, per capitaNumber of types of recycled materialsTotal cars, per capita

SAFeTY & MeNTAL heALThHomicides, per capitaSuicides, per capita

WoRkeDuCATiON ACCeSSPost-secondary institutions, per capitaTuition fees

YOuTh eMPLOYMeNTYouth unemployment rateYouth employment centersStudent debt

eNTRePReNeuRShiPAge to register a businessEarly stage entrepreneurial activityEntrepreneurship incubators

FiNANCiAL ACCeSSAge to open a business bank accountNumber of chartered banksAge for personal banking availabilityFinancial literacy

eCONOMiC STATuSMinimum wageAnnual incomeHousingStudent housingGINI coefficientConsumption tax

PLAyFOOD & NiGhTLiFeNumber of nightclubs, per capitaNumber of restaurants, per capitaCost of fast food mealCost of 12 large eggs

MuSiC & FiLMFilm festivals, per capitaNumber of cinema seats per capitaCost of movie ticketMusic festivalsCost of music concert

FAShiON & ARTGraffiti and street artIs there a youth fashion showcaseIs there a fashion incubatorNumber of design schools, per capita

ReGiONAL & GLObAL CONNeCTiviTYNumber of cities connected by direct flightsGetaway city train costGetaway city train distanceGetaway city train frequencyGetaway city bus costGetaway city bus distanceGetaway city bus frequencyGetaway city plane costGetaway city plane distanceGetaway city plane frequencyCost of hostel stay

PubLiC SPACe, SPORT AND GAMiNGMunicipally operated green space, per capitaNumber public libraries, per capitaMunicipally maintained recreation facilities, per capitaGatherings of gamers

C AT e G O R Y i N D i C AT O R S

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NORTh AMeRiCA

Toronto, Canada

New York City, USA

Chicago, USA

Dallas, USA

Los Angeles, USA

LATiN AMeRiCA

Mexico City, Mexico

Lima, Peru

bogota, Colombia

Sao Paulo, Brazil

buenos Aires, Argentina

ASiA

Tokyo, Japan

Seoul, korea

Manila, Philippines

Mumbai, india

Shanghai, China

euROPe

London, Uk

berlin, Germany

Rome, italy

Paris, France

istanbul, Turkey

AFRiCA

Cairo, egypt

Nairobi, kenya

Johannesburg, South Africa

kinshasa, DRC

Lagos, Nigeria

Geographic Regions

08

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100

TOR27.11

LA30.81

DAL31.46

Chi33.57

NYC40.80

SP45.32

LiM46.06

MXC62.23

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100

DA L51.46

LA51.86

NY C54.48

Ch i66.00 LO N

77.25

TO R78.32

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100

bRL73.46

PAR72.39

bA62.77

NYC60.71

Chi59.98TOR

53.06

DAL52.96LA

48.63

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100

PAR93.57

LON85.79

TOk74.32

TOR71.88

LA68.61

Chi67.39

DAL65.86

NYC65.57

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100

Se O71.86MN A

67.30

bA65.66

NY C61.21

TO R53.79

LA42.30

Ch i36.77

DA L32.04

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100

LiM94.58

kiN94.57

LAG94.36

NYC85.16

TOR73.54

DAL64.78Chi

60.32

LA59.69

L ive hiGhLOw

Civic Participation

Diversity

internal Transportation

Digital Access

environmental Sustainability

Safety & Mental health

3rd

1st2nd

3rd1st

2nd

3rd 1st

2nd

3rd 1st2nd

3rd1st

2nd

3rd

1st

2nd

09

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100

MXC93.93

MuM82.26

bRL76.89

DAL71.22

TOR59.95

Chi51.96

LA51.42

NYC50.13

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100

bR L73.80

NY C73.16

CA i72.02

TO R64.35

LA58.42

Ch i56.52

DA L50.61

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100

LA54.33

DA L47.56

NY C39.32Ch i

32.33

TO R30.39

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100

MuM58.78

NYC53.57

LON40.45

TOR36.95

Chi36.15

LA22.83

DAL22.71

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100

NYC74.98 LA

79.06

Chi79.37

DAL80.10

TOR81.03

bRL82.28

TOk92.30

wORk hiGhLOw

Youth employment

education Access

entrepreneurship

Financial Access

economic Status

3rd 1st2nd

3rd

1st

2nd

3rd 1st2nd

3rd

1st

2nd

3rd 1st2nd

10

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100

NYC56.26

TOR61.01 LA

65.54

DAL65.79

Chi67.02

SeO69.92

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100

bRL80.34

TOR67.68

Chi66.20

LA65.32

DAL63.96NYC

57.14

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100

Chi59.85

LA66.85

DAL68.97

NYC82.07 TOR

96.89

JbG98.56

PAR100.00

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100

DAL76.31

NYC74.90

SeO70.68

TOR64.17

LA63.96

Chi62.15

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100

DAL56.93

Chi55.44

TOR54.29

LA39.49

NYC35.58

PLAY hiGhLOw

Food & Nightlife

Music & Film

Fashion & Art

Regional & Global Connectivity

Public Space, Sport and Gaming

1st

3rd

1st

2nd

3rd

1st2nd

3rd

2nd

3rd

1st

2nd

3rd1st

2nd

11

The 2014 YouthfulCities Index is an ambitious collaborative effort to analyze 25 cities around the world from a unique youth perspective. Our venture aims to add another 75 cities over the next year, in order to bring the total number of cities ranked to 100 for the second iteration of our Index.

Want to join the global effort to create better cities built by youth?Add Your City to the global initiative to rank the world’s top cities from a youth

perspective.

here’s how it works:

Our innovative City Package will build unprecedented knowledge about

Your City, helping to move local urban development in a groundbreaking

new direction. We employ unique and innovative measures to calculate and

harness the real potential of today’s youth. By combining our passion for

seeking out ever-changing urban youth perspectives with a hybrid approach

to gathering information, creating insights and fueling youth-oriented local

ventures, the YouthfulCities City Package will transform Your City into a

dynamic and engaging hub for youth to live, work, and play.

Our strategy involves four interconnected steps to bridge the gap between

youth and Your City. We initiate the process by:

• Sourcing and developing a local candidate to act as Your City’s Urban Decoder

• Launching a locally customized Urban Youth Survey

• Developing a city specific YouthfulCities INDEX

• Establishing the 30Network to harness the creativity and expertise of leading young professionals in Your City.

From building a diverse network of young leaders, to creating a comparable

city database, the City Package will connect you to the global network of

youthful cities and give you the edge to attract and retain youth to make Your

City better.

Click here for more details about how to get your city involved.

Get your city involved in the next Youthfulcities index