Canada's first professor of city planning, he also founded the first School of Community and Regional Planning, and the Centre for Human Settlements at the University of British Columbia. His vision of planning which strengthens the social and economic stability of communities and cities has been evident in all his work, whether teaching or advising the federal government and the UN.
Officer of the Order of Canada
Awarded on: 2002-05-01
Invested on: 2003-02-21
He is an important advocate of sustainable urbanization - the process of improving the quality of our cities while promoting their sustainable growth. Widely respected by governments and international organizations, he served in the mid-1990s as a senior advisor for the United Nations Commission on Human Settlements and for the Environment Ministerial Meeting of the 1997 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference in Toronto. Professor Emeritus at the University of British Columbia and adjunct professor at Simon Fraser University, he continues to teach and raise awareness of the necessity of maintaining the quality and integrity of the environment we live in. This is a promotion within the Order.