Features
-
Entitled to Flip
In Vancouver today, rezoning doesn’t necessarily mean building. Increasingly, it means something else: securing entitlements — legal permissions that...
By Erick Villagomez -
The Trifecta of Control: Stealth. Speed. Complexity.
In the 1960s, planning decisions in Vancouver—like many North American cities—were made behind closed doors. Freeways bulldozed working-class...
By Erick Villagomez -
Et Tu, Uytae?
In just one month, well-known YouTube personality Uytae Lee released three high-profile videos addressing the creation of new downtowns, taxes, and...
By Erick Villagomez -
The Coriolis Effect, Part III: Reclaiming the Planner’s Toolkit
Parts I and Part II of The Coriolis Effect explored how market-aligned tools like the pro forma have subtly—but powerfully—steered urban planning in...
By Erick Villagomez -
The Coriolis Effect, Part II: Beyond the Spreadsheet
The Coriolis Effect, Part I went through a long gestation period as I humbly asked various people within the discipline for constructive feedback. I was...
By Erick Villagomez -
The Coriolis Effect, Part I: Planning by Spreadsheet
Just because there’s a number on it, it doesn’t mean that the number was arrived at properly…people gather statistics. People choose...
By Erick Villagomez -
Minority Rules: A Retroactive By-Election Game
With Vancouver’s by-election behind us, the post-mortems have begun—and this one might be more fun than most. One thing was clear: voters wanted to send...
By Erick Villagomez -
Downtown in Transition: An Interview with Sean Bailey
As downtowns adapt to shifting work patterns and rising public expectations, planners and designers are being challenged to think beyond traditional...
By Erick Villagomez -
The Governance Gap
In 2024, Ontario Premier Doug Ford ordered the removal of bike lanes from some of Toronto’s busiest corridors—Bloor, University, and Yonge—claiming they...
By Erick Villagomez -
UCS #45: Retail Reset
See our Launch and Introduction about the launch of the © Urban Cartoon Syndicate and the announcement by CityHallWatch. *** Related Readings: Hudson’s...
By Urban Cartoon Syndicate -
I Love These Streets. Come Walk with Me
Photos by Kayla Isomura Looking at my house fills me with a quiet joy. She is painted in turquoise with a bright yellow door. Vines gives her a winsome...
By Emilie K Adin -
Rising High, Falling Short: Social and Economic Division
Key Metrics Summary Building: A 40-story residential building constructed of a reinforced concrete frame with a curtain wall facade on a site without...
By Erick Villagomez