Urban Design
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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 -
What Brasilia’s “Bike Reporter” can teach Toronto cycling advocates
As a young man, Afonso Ventania raced bikes competitively, but retired at 26 and decided to go into journalism. He spent several years covering sports and...
By John Lorinc -
One more housing bill and no new homes
How many bills does it take to build the homes Ontario says it needs? The recently re-elected Doug Ford government would have you believe it takes...
By Michel Nayrouz -
Reversing the Ford government’s biking backlash
At a time when Washington has launched a scorched earth attack on virtually all federal climate policies, the Ford government’s hyper-partisan...
By John Lorinc -
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 politics of beautification and decongestion
How should a city solve major problems without allowing the proposed solutions to inadvertently prevent the solving of said major problems? This...
By John Lorinc -
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 -
UCS #50: Welcome to Jericho Water Park
See our Launch and Introduction about the launch of the © Urban Cartoon Syndicate and the announcement by CityHallWatch. *** Related Readings: Vancouver...
By Urban Cartoon Syndicate -
OP-ED: Feeling the thermal comfort
Nathan Phillips Square is one of Toronto’s most iconic landmarks – its open plaza and the modernist curves of City Hall are fixtures in the city’s visual...
By Dorsa Jalalian, Kristina Reinders, Rong Yu -
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