Toderian’s 10 Lessons in More Engaging Citizen Engagement”: A confused response

“Engagement Done Well” In a few days, Vancouver planner Brent Toderian will be speaking in Sydney, where last year he was training planning bureaucrats in the NSW State Government in community engagement. His conference topic is “Density Done Well”.  My topic in the preceding session was “Engagement Done Well”, making the point that density done… Continue reading Toderian’s 10 Lessons in More Engaging Citizen Engagement”: A confused response

Vancouver’s EcoDensity Policy: Reflections on Australian Planning’s Cultural Cringe and Cultural Imperialism

Australia‘s “cultural cringe”   One of the challenges of being a “migrant” in Australia is understanding the “cultural cringe” that infects so much of Australian life. I’ve lived and worked here for 45 years and it still puzzles me. For those not familiar with it, it is an internalised inferiority complex that causes us to… Continue reading Vancouver’s EcoDensity Policy: Reflections on Australian Planning’s Cultural Cringe and Cultural Imperialism

Please Spare Manitoba!

  Manitoba in the early days   What now?   I never thought I’d see the day! One of the best examples of medium-density housing in Australia is up for redevelopment! How can this be?   Where is our memory?   Is new always better?   Don’t we know what’s good when we see it?… Continue reading Please Spare Manitoba!

Wendy Sarkissian on Nimby Psychology at The Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre, Adelaide, 29 May 2013

                  NIMBY psychology is coming to Adelaide!   On 29th May at 6 pm, I will be presenting on NIMBY psychology at a free public lecture at the Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre at the University of South Australia. The lecture is free but seating is lmited… Continue reading Wendy Sarkissian on Nimby Psychology at The Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre, Adelaide, 29 May 2013

Local Wisdom about Apartment Storage

  When I lived in Vancouver in 2007, teaching and managing a housing research project at the University of British Columbia, I had several interesting accommodation experiences.   The first one was terrible: a chronically ill middle-aged couple with a dog who was dying of cancer. They slept with the dog and spent all day… Continue reading Local Wisdom about Apartment Storage