Author: Tjbamonte

Effective Urban Densification—A Guide for Professionals and the Housing Industry: A Book Review

My review of Barry John’s latest book has been published in the October issue of Canadian Architect:

“It is a relief to read a book containing genuine fresh thinking on housing—just what the Canadian housing sector desperately needs right now. In Effective Urban Densification: A Guide for Professionals and the Housing Industry, Alberta architect Barry Johns models for one form of new housing—infill—the kind of analysis and new directions that we would do well to undertake to address the delivery of all forms of housing in our country. This is a must-read for developers and architects, but it may be even more eye-opening for homeowners holding a lot of equity, government officials and planners sponsoring new zoning, and neighbours who fret about the loss of their lovely communities.”

Click here to read the full article.

The full October issue can also be found here.

Housing Families at High Density – City of Vancouver Guidelines

Accommodating families with children in high density environments is a key tenet of Vancouverism. Upon their adoption in 1992, these guidelines helped enable the design and construction of residential units with this idea in mind. Read the full document here.

Interview With Councillor Hardwick Regarding “Vancouverism”

I recently sat down for an interview with Vancouver City Councillor Colleen Hardwick. We had a very productive discussion, and covered topics ranging from public consultation in the city to the upcoming elections. Listen to our full conversation here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvcB6KES2Rg

Last week I had the privilege of giving a virtual keynote address at the Moscow Urban Forum. Renowned urbanists from all over the world participated in the event, which you can watch in full here – skip to 9:42:00 for the beginning of my speech.

Smart City-Building In The Pandemic Era

The COVID-19 pandemic has stretched cities around the globe to their limits. In a virtual lecture hosted by AIR Rotterdam, I discussed how the principles of smart and equitable city-building have been relevant throughout this global crisis – as well as how they can be used to create more livable cities post-pandemic. Listen to the full lecture here: https://youtu.be/wVp62ANyYhw

The Benefits of 15-Minute Cities: How Canada’s Urban Areas Stack Up

Vancouver may not totally be the “paradise city” that the Globe called us, but it is true to say that almost three-quarters of residents enjoy the benefits of the 15-minute neighbourhood – that is absolutely the result of aggressive civic planning. Now if we could only find a way to offer this to people of all incomes in secure housing – this is the current challenge! Read more here.

What’s With All The Condos? – My Latest With Peter Edmonds of Rennie

Vancouver’s transformation into a model for urban planning around the world did not happen by accident. Rather, it is the culmination of decades of careful and innovative policy decisions. I discussed the process with Peter Edmonds-the host of the Rennie podcast, which you can listen to here.