Welcome to
My Urban Curious Blog:
Authoritative, Affectionate, and Occasionally Absurd
I have been writing about cities, urban design, and the quirks of how people live together for more than twenty-five years. Some of that writing has been technical, or professional. Some has been quirky, or heartfelt. Some has been—let’s be honest here—slightly absurd, usually after an unusually strong espresso.
Why I Am a Delusional Optimist—About Urban Planning
It’s a tough time to be a planner.
Housing crises, climate emergencies, biodiversity loss, failing infrastructure, public cynicism—some days the work feels impossibly heavy.
And yet: the very things that make this moment hard are also what make it meaningful. When the stakes are this high, planners don’t just participate in change—we have to lead it.
Ten Ways to Loosen Our Zoning Corset: Paris Lessons for Canadian Cities
Why do Canadian cities feel so… well-behaved, compared to Paris?
The short answer: we’ve largely zoned out streetscape spontaneity.
In Canada, we need to shed—or at least rethink—a few old habits.
Eight Big Ideas from Paris: A Planner’s Photo-Essay
Paris rewards the flâneur and flâneuse—the idle walker-who-observes. Every corner, every café terrace, every balcony seems to hold a lesson in how cities can shine, and evolve. During my recent wanderings in Paris, I gathered eight ideas—small gestures and grand visions alike—that reveal how the French capital is quietly reinventing urban life.
From Telok Ayer to Toronto and TROIS-RIVIÈRES
Plan Canada Magazine, Fall 2025
In From Telok Ayer to Toronto and Trois-Rivières, a Canadian urban planner visits Singapore to explore what Canadian cities might look like in 2100. Inspired by a walking tour through the historic Telok Ayer district and by conversations with Singapore’s planning and housing offi cials, the author refl ects on Singapore’s bold choices. The experience sparks a hopeful vision: that Canada can embrace long-range, imaginative planning grounded in global exchange, adaptive reuse, and people-fi rst priorities – aff ordable housing, accessible transportation, and placemaking. Travel becomes the lens that sharpens our capacity to envision and shape Canada’s urban future.