Securing hipster leisure: park policy in gentrifying neighbourhoods

Abstract

In this research note, we situate the policy response of park circles enacted by the City of Toronto at Trinity Bellwoods Park in the context of urban gentrification. Rather than a public health measure, we argue that the enactment of park circles as a response to park crowding during the COVID-19 pandemic is reflective of broader processes of gentrification and operates to secure the park as a space for ‘hipster leisure.’ In so doing, park circles represent an extension of neo-liberal policy rhetoric whereby the privatization of public space and the displacement of certain populations are naturalized. Our analysis invites future critical scholarship on parks, leisure, public health, and gentrification as well as the transformations occurring within these intersections.