Professor: Good Planning Starts with Good Judgment

The University of Calgary’s inaugural Richard Parker Professor in Metropolitan Growth and Change, Greg Morrow, grew up in a 70-person town in Ontario. He now serves as a volunteer member of Calgary's Planning Commission in addition to his five-year professorship.

Morrow gives the Calgary Herald his take on a wide range of issues, including granny flats, sustainable development, placemaking, and more. He also cites examples of best practices from New York, Seattle, Toronto, and Pasadena.

On overly prescriptive planning:

I think I depart from most planners when I say the path to good planning lies more in good negotiation and judgment than in more regulations and rules. We should not be slaves to process, policy and technical details. These are important but not a substitute for good judgment.

On NIMBYism:

We need to better explain the rationale for change — reduce congestion, lower water/energy use, improve health outcomes, create communities rich in amenities close to home and lower infrastructure costs to name a few. NIMBYism is a symptom of the disconnect between City policy and what people personally know and value.