Place Magazine

A “second life” is about redeploying what we already have, finding new possibilities in the familiar, and exploring how we can create the next chapter without starting from scratch. 

Across Ontario, buildings, active and derelict infrastructure, heritage sites, and public spaces are being redeveloped, reconsidered, and remixed. A stretch of forgotten land under a highway becomes a shared space for culture. A former military base becomes a mixed-use community. A hydroelectric power plant becomes a tourist destination. Office buildings become housing, shopping centres become neighbourhoods, and historic places of worship become community hubs for all. 

At the centre of this movement is the role of the planner, not simply in how they shape what gets built, but in how orchestrating the relationships, ideas, and decisions that allow existing assets to evolve. How they balance a range of interests, priorities, directives, equity issues, and climate realities. 

The Spring 2027 issue of Place explores how planners are helping communities “re-imagine places to love” through adaptive reuse, heritage preservation, and other creative redeployments of existing structures and spaces. 

We will explore the people doing this work, the communities they serve, and the varying approaches they are taking to breathe new life into existing places. Through the perspectives of planners, municipalities, developers, architects, advocates, and residents, the issue will explore best practices, personal experiences, success stories, and cautionary tales. 

Key themes, concepts, and topics: 

• Adaptive re-use 
• Converting structures/sites to housing  
• Hybrid infrastructure 
• Heritage planning and preservation 
• Unconventional public and shared spaces 
• Creative place-(re)making and place-keeping 
• Challenging norms on whose histories are valued and preserved 
• Collaboration, consensus-building, and community engagement 
• Partnerships, funding schemes, operating models 
• On-farm diversified use 
• Converting places of worship 
• Community-centred planning in adaptive re-use and heritage preservation 

OPPI is looking for submissions that touch on one (or more) of the following: 

• People: Featuring the planners, creatives, residents, and other professionals behind these transformations 
• Projects: Showcase unique Ontario examples of adaptive reuse, redevelopment, heritage, infrastructure, and community transformation. 
• Multiple perspectives: Profiling numerous viewpoints and experiences to create a more 360^o understanding.
• Unique voices: Research and identify interesting contributors and authors who may not typically write for Place, bringing fresh perspectives to the issue 
• Provocations: Challenging conventional practices, colonial thinking, white supremacy, and other power structures