Heart of the City 2024

In this walk, participants from around the world will use photography to share their unique stories of finding the heart of their respective city. If the city were a living organism, where would its heart be? Is it a place of refuge amid the chaos of the city? The cultural epicentre that pumps lifeblood through the city’s arteries? In this walk, we hope to transcend geographical borders by sharing urban photo-based souvenirs of the places in our cities that bring us a sense of belonging, energy, or vitality.

While this walk will be listed on the festival homepages of Vienna (Austria), NYC (USA), Toronto (Canada), and London (UK), anybody anywhere is welcome to join. We only ask that you share a photo with us that to you shows the heart of the city you are in, as well as a brief description. You can submit your photo and description here.

Then, on Sunday May 12th at 1:00 pm EST / 6:00 pm GMT / 7:00 pm GMT +2, we will host a virtual call for people to share their photos and their stories. You are still welcome to join the call even if you didn’t submit a photo! We will have a conversation on what it means to find or feel the heart of the city, using the photos and stories from those from at least two different cities across the globe as a starting point.

Jane’s Walk Global

Jane’s Walk was founded in Toronto in 2006 by a group of Jane Jacobs’ friends and colleagues as a way to honor her life and activate her ideas. That first year, there were a handful of walks in Toronto. Over the next decade, the movement saw rapid global uptake by urban activists around the world. In 2017, 1,700 Jane’s Walks took place in 225 cities around the world, spanning 37 countries and 6 continents. The movement continues to grow every year and has now reached over 500 cities!

Since 2011, the Municipal Art Society of New York has hosted the New York City chapter of the festival. Read more about the global Jane’s Walk festival >