Shawn Micallef, associate editor of Spacing magazine, wants to turn city planners into rock stars. The magazine and its two daily blogs cover social, political and cultural issues around Toronto and Montreal. With the two thriving cities currently experiencing a renaissance that is reshaping the cultural and social dynamics in the metropolitan areas, there is certainly plenty to write about.

"It was very rare that we heard the words public space... before Spacing magazine started," Micallef said on Carol Coletta's Smart City weekly radio talk show. Spacing has eschewed the trappings of typical city magazine topics such as restaurant reviews, and has instead focused its content on covering politicians, gentrification and issues of public space.

"What what we look at is the nitty gritty stuff in the city, stuff from a sidewalk level," Micallef said on the radio program.

The staff also promotes city-centric games. For instance, from the city's archives they'll choose numerous photos, post them up, and have participants determine where the photos were taken from. Micallef says part of the magazine's overall goal is to showcase the range of the cities' world- class elements and its esoteric local issues.

"There's something in the last few years like a billion dollars worth of new starchitect-level architecture going in. Last year we had a new edition to the Royal Ontario Museum, which was designed by Daniel Libeskind... and just opened is the Art Gallery of Ontario. The renovations were done by Frank Gehry, who actually grew up around the corner from the art gallery," Micallef said on the radio program. "When the Royal Ontario opened a lot of the hot dog vendors that were out front were moved away...because they were thought of as messy and were blocking the view. Whereas the hot dog vendors are kind of beloved in Toronto. A lot of people got their backs up about that."

View more blogs by Nichole Reber at Spacedesignjournal.com