The Role of Airports in Thriving City-Regions

Pearson International Airport is an indispensable hub for mobility, goods movement, and employment in the Greater Toronto Area. COVID-19 has significantly affected airports around the world, however, and it remains unclear how quickly they will recover once the crisis is over.

What role do airports play in ensuring thriving and prosperous city regions? How will that change following the COVID-19 crisis? How can governments at all levels work together to make sure airports are fully integrated within their regions and continue to succeed as economic hubs?

In this webinar, Jean-Paul Addie, Assistant Professor at Georgia State University’s Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, examined what we can learn from other city-regions on these questions. A group of local experts joined him for a panel discussion on the implications of his findings for Pearson and the region.

Speaker:

Jean-Paul Addie is an Assistant Professor in the Urban Studies Institute at Georgia State University.

Panelists:

Lloyd A. McCoomb was President and Chief Executive Officer of the Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA) from 2007 until 2012. He is currently the Chair of the Advisory Panel of the University of Toronto Transportation Research Institute.

Pamela Blais is an urban planner and Principal of Metropole Consultants, a Toronto-based planning practice.

Josh Neubauer is a Principal at Urban Strategies with a key role in Urban Strategies’ airport planning practice.

Moderator

Matti Siemiatycki is Associate Professor in the Department of Geography and Planning, Canada Research Chair in Infrastructure Planning and Finance, and Interim Director of the School of Cities at the University of Toronto.