Vancouver
Is Your Planning Department Passionate?
As we move into a 2009 full of staggering urban challenges - economic, environmental, social, and leadership challenges - do our planning departments have the passion, creativity and leadership to be what our cities need them to be?
Vancouver's Olympic Architecture Falls Short
This column from The Tyee looks at the architecture for Vancouver's 2010 Olympic games and is not impressed.
Density Creates Childcare Options
The City of Vancouver is trading density for childcare, creating much-needed centers from density bonuses for new condo developments. The first such project, a 202-unit building called Atelier, opens one year from now.
Vancouver Growth Primarily Second Homes
Construction is booming in Vancouver, with tall condo buildings rising around the city. The city has become more sophisticated over the last several years, and has attracted a significant market of second-home buyers.
The Power Planner
Vancouver, British Columbia's planning director, Brent Toderian, has been named on of the 50 most powerful people in the city by Vancouver Magazine.
Tapping the Vancouver Planning Brain Trust
Many of the planners who helped transform Vancouver into one of the world's most liveable cities have been lured to cities all over the planet to try to tap in to the brain power that made Vancouver a success. But it's not that easy.
Stadium Living
A future housing development is planned next to Vancouver's GM Place Stadium. 'It’s certainly different than the livability we’ve stressed elsewhere,'says Planning Director Brent Toderian.
Vancouver Seeks Identity Through Public Square
A contest sponsored by the Vancouver Public Space Network asks the public to find Vancouver's heart, a civic square that best defines the city. Sean Ruthen ponders the city's relationships to the each its primary squares now.
Affordable Housing as 'Olympic Legacy'
Vancouver Olympic officials have announced that temporary Olympic housing units will be reused as permanent affordable housing after the Games.
Why Affordability Matters
In this article, Erick Villagomez argues that affordable housing, by enabling urban diversity, is the key to a city's economic and social sustainability.
Suburbs The New Ground Zero For Homelessness
Homelessness is on the rise in metropolitan Vancouver, but the numbers are most significant in the suburbs.
Cars Left Behind in Most Trips to Vancouver's Core
A recent study shows that about 60% of all trips into the urban core of Vancouver are not by car.
Vancouver to House Homeless For Olympics Preparation
In an effort to clean up the poverty ridden area set to host the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, officials have announced plans to place homeless people into housing next summer.
Vancouver May Be Livable, But It's Not Happy
This article from Vancouver Magazine looks at a recent study naming the livable and oft-envied city home to some of the least happy Canadians and asks why a great city has unhappy people.
A Community Built Around Food
Vancouver's South East False Creek community is making the production of food one of the major aspects of its preparation for the 2010 Winter Olympics. Its emphasis on local food production is a model other cities may look to follow.
Vancouverism on Exhibition
An unusual art installation in Trafalgar Square draws attention to Vancouverism: Westcoast Architecture and City Building, an exhibition about the city's achievements in urban development, engineering and architecture.
Toronto Looks West
This column from the Toronto Star argues that Toronto needs to take at least a few lessons from Vancouver if it wants to improve its planning.
'EcoDensity' Comes Through in Vancouver
A major rezoning plan has been approved in Vancouver, including the toughest environmental standards in North America.
12 Kilometers of Subway, or 175 of Trams?
Vancouver has plans to spend nearly $3 billion on a 12-km stretch of subway. But a recent study shows that same amount of money could be used to create a tram system covering more than 175 km in the city.
Is New Urbanism A 'Last Gasp' Attempt to Reform Suburbanism?
Plans to bring New Urbanist designs into British Columbia will do little to stem suburban sprawl, according to this column from the Globe and Mail.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
EMC Planning Group, Inc.
Planetizen
Planetizen
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
