By Erick Villagomez
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Memo to Carney and Robertson on Fixing Housing
[Editor’s note: This letter, signed by 27 prominent B.C. experts in urban planning and architecture, was sent last week to Prime Minister Mark Carney and...
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The Singapore Chronicles: The Politics of Preservation
Singapore’s skyline is constantly in motion. Construction cranes and hoardings are as much part of the visual identity of the city as its heritage...
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The Singapore Chronicles: City of Intentions
To understand contemporary Singapore, we have to understand key aspects of its history—divided here into “Four Acts.” This will be our starting point...
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The Singapore Chronicles: Introduction
Singapore often appears as a paradox—both widely admired and deeply critiqued. It is a city-state that epitomizes precision and planning, where efficiency...
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On Taxes, Exemptions, Loopholes, and Reversals: A System Built for Speculation
In British Columbia, ordinary homeowners pay annual property taxes—and when they buy a home, they pay Property Transfer Tax. In recent years, the Province...
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The Slow Emergency
The crisis in Vancouver’s housing system isn’t explosive—it’s quiet, procedural, and often disguised as progress. Recently made public, the Broadway...
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Entitled to Flip
In Vancouver today, rezoning doesn’t necessarily mean building. Increasingly, it means something else: securing entitlements — legal permissions that...
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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...
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Book Review: A House Deconstructed
Authors: Mark Jarzombek and Vikramaditya Prakash (Actar, 2023) In an era of mounting ecological urgency and deepening social inequity, it has never been...
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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...
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When Local Planning Becomes Provincial Command: On Bill 13, Bill 15, and the End of Urban Democracy
In British Columbia, democracy is being redefined—not through elections or referendums, but through legislation with quiet names and sweeping...
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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...