Brent is President of TODERIAN UrbanWORKS in Vancouver, Canada, and has over 20 years experience in advanced and innovative urbanism, city-planning and design.
Brent recently left the role of Chief Planner for Vancouver after 6 years (2006-2012), with accomplishments that included 2010 Winter Olympics-related planning and design; the internationally regarded EcoDensity Initiative; the Greenest City Initiative; new skyline-shaping and public view corridor strategies; new visions for the city's viaducts and active transport/public use of streets approaches; the Cambie Corridor Plan and other next-generation TOD actions; the transformative Laneway Housing Initiative; city leadership on the new Regional Plan; and many other ground-breaking initiatives. He led all visioning, planning, and urban design for Vancouver during a challenging era of significant change, and earned an international reputation as a successful city-changer. He also oversaw all architectural and design approvals, where he brought in leading-edge approaches for green design and architectural diversity.
Brent played peer mentoring roles and established strong mutual-learning relationships with many global cities, from Copenhagen and Rotterdam, to Singapore and Shanghai.
Brent is past Manager of Centre City Planning + Design in Calgary Canada, where he pioneered innovative approaches to visioning, design and architectural review, and created/led the award-winning Centre City Plan.
His career started as an award-winning planning and design consultant based in Ontario Canada, with projects from Toronto to Yellowknife.
A passionate practitioner + advocate for creative city-building, Brent is the founding President of the Council for Canadian Urbanism (CanU); a regular columnist on CBC Radio on "city-making"; an Advisory Board member of ULI BC; a contributing blogger on Planetizen and SPACING; and an active participant in many global organizations related to cities. He is a sought-after international speaker, writer, teacher and collaborator on issues of advanced urbanism.
He can be reached at brent@toderianurbanworks.com, on twitter @BrentToderian, and on-line at www.toderianurbanworks.com.