Borderline Port Hope

From September 2021 – June 2022, we worked with Critical Mass Art to present Borderline in Port Hope, Ontario. Using income and demographic data from the 2016 Census, we developed a series of maps to identify borderlines in the community, led a soundwalk through the downtown core and facilitated a design fiction workshop to help imagine innovative, equitable futures for the community.

The project involved mapping the town using Census data, using differences between adjacent areas to identify borderlines, investigating the borderlines using Street view, driving and walking data lines, consulting with members of the community, and designing informal survey boxes along selected borderlines to learn how Port Hope has changed since the pandemic.

Research Methods

Map available data

Use Census data and other open data to to create area maps of the smallest available geographic units.

Identify borderlines

Calculate differences between adjacent areas.

Validate and question

Investigate borderlines through visual analysis, unobtrusive observation methods, and consulting with members of the community.

Deborah Odia, Household Income ‘borderlines’ in Port Hope, Ontario, 2016 Census. (2022)

Kasope Okubadejo, Race and Ethnicity ‘borderlines’ in Port Hope, Ontario, 2016 Census. (2022)

Anugra Shah, Borderline Port Hope: Changes to Population Density between 2016 and 2021 Census. [map] (2022)

Public Soundwalk

Borderline Soundwalk, downtown Port Hope June 26, 2022.

Community Survey Boxes

This borderline sits just north of downtown Port Hope. According to the 2016 Census, people in this area have less after tax income, and less housing stability than their neighbours. Alex pointed out that the historical property next to this apartment building has recently been restored. Survey boxes were installed along six major borderlines in the town.

Kasope Okubadejo and Deborah Odia, Income ‘borderlines’ and percentage of homeowners in Port Hope, Ontario, 2016 Census. (2022)
Survey design by Kevin Bonnell, Kiera McMaster and Testimony Oyinloye, Postcard design by Kiera McMaster.

Design Fiction Workshop

Community Notebook

The Borderline Community Notebook enables members of the community to share their lived experiences of Port Hope with one another. Designed by Anugra Shah, the notebook was inspired by the stories that members of the Critical Mass community shared with us during our soundwalk. By providing a tool to capture this information, we are able to assist citizens in better understanding the issues and concerns that impact those from outside their social networks.