Canadian Cities Lead on Planning for Climate Impacts
Canadian cities are world leaders in preparing for the impacts of climate
cities
Canadian Cities Lead on Planning for Climate Impacts
Canadian cities are world leaders in preparing for the impacts of climate
Rising oil prices will end urban sprawl … or not?
A popular assumption about rising oil prices is that people will have to drive a lot less and use public transit a lot more. This, in turn, will lead to…
SK Budget: Where’s the Inter-governmental Love?
A hallmark of Brad Wall’s premiership has been cosy relations with municipal governments and the two westernmost provincial governments. Since taking office, the Sask. Party has been throwing money at…
Green Urban Innovation: Solarize Portland and the Power of Communities
I was in New York earlier this month to present at the Association of American Geographers big annual conference. As well as an excellent stroll along the High Line (thanks…
Farming in the City: Make environmental legislation flexible!
Cities are blanketed by a mesh of rules. Some of them are well known and clearly signaled (think traffic lights). Others only become visible when you start asking questions about…
Chicago Kills Coal
Great news out of Chicago yesterday. After a two-and-a-half year campaign, a well networked citizens campaign has managed to secure the closure of two outdated and heavily polluting coal-fired power…
Rivers Forgotten – The Underground World Beneath City Streets
I was in Toronto last week and finally had a chance to get my hands on Rivers Forgotten, Jeremy Kai’s stunning book of underground photos (Koyama Press, 2011). Kai has…
The Universal Student Transit Pass
I have an opinion piece out on the City of Ottawa’s universal, student transit pass–also known as “the U-Pass.” Points raised in the op-ed include the following: -U-Pass programs exist…
Adapting KUALI financials for cities: Marin County is looking for Partners
Readers of my blog will be familiar Kuali – the coalition of universities that co-create a suite software core to their operations – as I’ve blogged about several times and…
Republicans and Democrats Together on Climate Change…in Florida
It’s easy to forget that climate change hasn’t always been such a partisan issue. This is Mitt Romney, current Republican front-runner, in 2003: “I think the global warming debate is…
New Sustainable Cities Research Program – New Job, Exciting Prospects
Vancouver-based NGO Sustainable Cities International is an excellent outfit that runs a network of cities focused on green urbanism that spans the globe. The research that I’ve been able to…
Montreal’s Collective Push for Urban Agriculture
We are all still trying to figure out what a sustainable city is. Yes, we’ve got some good ideas. But to go beyond marginal changes and begin retrofitting, or building,…
Is Toronto Lost?
Has Toronto lost its way? That's been the word on the street, and pretty much everywhere else, since Mayor Ford took office a little less than a year ago.But as…
The Privatization of Social Housing
Last weekend, I spoke on a panel at the Annual Conference of the Ontario Non-Profit Housing Association. The panel was inspired in large part by the recent debate in Toronto…
Open Access Research: Cities and Climate Change
It may be an urban legend, by they say that the average academic article is read by a grand total of 6 people. That's not an inspiring thought, especially for…
Cities—the provincial option
The possibility of Toronto becoming a province has popped up in the news again. The idea has floated around for years, supported by a variety of civic thinkers including the…