to monitor and adjust the plan as circumstances change or unanticipated developments occur.
1.1 A PROCESS BASED ON PARTNERSHIP The key stakeholders have been partners throughout the redevelopment process and have been engaged in creating the Social Development Plan process. Toronto Community Housing, the City of Toronto, the Regent Park Neighbourhood Initiative, community agencies, and Regent Park residents have come together to creatively participate in the planning process for the Social Development Plan. The need for a Social Development Plan was first articulated by tenants of Regent Park, and tenants continue to be engaged and to provide leadership in the process. Toronto Community Housing has taken carriage of the process and has facilitated the production of the plan. The Social Development Plan process is proceeding in the context of other placebased community development strategies like Neighbourhood Action, convened by the City through the Social Development, Finance and Administration Division.
1.2 ROLE OF THE REGENT PARK NEIGHBOURHOOD INITIATIVE The Regent Park Neighbourhood Initiative (RPNI) is a social planning body in Regent Park. Formerly known as the Regent Park Resident Council, RPNI was formed in 2002 to advocate and protect the interests and assets of residents and to work in partnership through its committees and other means to identify, assess, address and evaluate issues brought forward by the community. It is a voice of the residents that provides a vision for the changing community. As the neighbourhood changes, RPNI has the capacity to work with relevant stakeholders to identify the evolving needs of all of the residents of Regent Park and to advocate for effective action to address those needs. RPNI will act as a single voice for the new homeowners, tenants and businesses as the neighbourhood becomes diversified through the redevelopment. These partnerships are consistent with a long history of collaboration in Regent Park. Throughout many challenges, Regent Park has shown that when tenants can engage with partners such as community service providers, housing providers and the City in order to deploy their collected resources to benefit the whole community, exceptional innovation and extraordinary success generally follow. This illustrates that broad-based partnerships linking Regent Park tenants with diverse partners form an effective tool for community improvement. In the following section, this history is explored in detail and provides valuable insight for the Social Development Plan.
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REGENT PARK SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN 2007
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