The '''Toronto Public Space Committee''' ('''TPSC''') is a [[Volunteering|volunteer]]-run, [[non-profit organization]] located in [[Toronto]], Ontario, Canada that defends the city's [[public space]] from corporate and private forces, including [[automobiles|cars]] and [[outdoor advertising]]. The TPSC argues that public property, such as [[sidewalk]]s, [[bike path]]s, [[parks]], and [[Town square|squares]], should be the independent and cultural “counterbalance” to the [[Profit (economics)|profit]]-driven [[private sector]].
As a grassroots organization, the TPSC is financed almost entirely on [[donations]], as well as various contributions in kind from its members, such as [[seeds]] and gardening tools. The TPSC uses a model of [[consensus decision-making]] at its monthly open meetings. The structure of the organization is currently undergoing a re-evaluation by its members.
In 2005, TPSC was called Toronto's Best Activist Group by the local ''[[Now (newspaper)|Now]]'' magazine.<ref>[http://www.nowtoronto.com/issues/2005-10-27/cover_story18.php NOW Magazine - Newsfront in Toronto, OCTOBER 27 - NOVEMBER 2, 2005<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051104005639/http://www.nowtoronto.com/issues/2005-10-27/cover_story18.php |date=November 4, 2005 }}</ref>
== Campaigns == The TPSC is consistently involved in local [[Toronto City Council]] affairs affecting city space. In recent years, the committee has formed various campaigns that aim to educate and lobby citizens, bureaucrats and politicians on matters such as anti-postering bylaws, tree protection, mobile (or truck) advertising, TTC subway video ads, and [[billboard]] advertising.
Other campaigns the TPSC spearheads are less political, but stay true to public-space advocacy. The committee hosts [[guerrilla gardening]] outings in the spring and summer; growing [[native plants]] and [[flowers]] in small crevices and decrepit planters in downtown streets. In 2005, the TPSC's Downtown De-Fence Project won a Clean and Beautiful City Appreciation Award.<ref>[http://www.toronto.ca/cleanandbeautiful/2005_awards.htm Clean and Beautiful City Appreciation Awards 2005<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
==''Spacing''==
{{Main|Spacing (magazine)}}
'''Spacing''', a 3-times-yearly magazine focusing on issues affecting Toronto's public realm, was originally published by the TPSC in house until it was spun off as a wholly independent magazine after the first issue. The two organizations support each other on occasion.
==See also== * [[Public space]] * [[Billboards]] * [[Culture jamming]] * [[Critical Mass (cycling)|Critical Mass]] * [[Guerrilla gardening]] * [[Spacing (magazine)]]
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [http://www.publicspace.ca/ Toronto Public Space Committee] * [https://archive.today/20060221103818/http://eye.net/eye/issue/issue_11.17.05/features/tpsc.html Space Cadets (eye weekly article)] * [http://www.beautification.ca/ City Beautification Ensemble]
[[Category:Community-building organizations]] [[Category:Culture of Toronto]] [[Category:Organizations based in Toronto]] [[Category:Political advocacy groups in Canada]]