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18 M a p : i S t o c k / F r a n k R a m s p o t t ; J o s h W h i t e : G r e g D e b i c k i B C B U S I N E S S . C A S E P T E M B E R 2 0 24 demolish buildings—unlike in Vancouver, where downtown, in spite of its rising vacancy, remains the least stressed in Canada. And a place that has a very different city hall culture from Vancouver's. In Calgary, development approvals are made through what's called a "corporate decision" model, where key bureaucrats meet and jointly agree on required changes. A world away from Vancouver, where applica- tions get passed around from department to department and everyone insists on get- ting 100-percent compliance with each group's particular mandate. Calgary is a city that gives out customer-service awards to planners—a mind- bending idea for Vancouver. But the Calgary-born, University of Toronto-trained planner does seem like he's going to be able to bring something different from any- one else who's taken on the role over the last half century in Vancouver. Josh White's face remains scrupulously expressionless when I ask how he'll deal with a city where the last two heads of planning left, um, abruptly after they were perceived by Vancouver's influential developer cabal and, ultimately, their political masters as not getting things done fast enough. "People have been welcom- ing, but I know that comes with expectations. People want action, they want change. That's why I'm here," says White in a resolutely can-do tone. The 42-year-old started his job as Vancouver's "general manager, planning, urban de- sign and sustainability" on May 1, after the previous director, Theresa O'Donnell, departed last September following a little more than two years on the job. Her predecessor, Gil Kelley, exited in May 2021 after about five years. (To round out the picture, Brian Jackson, be- fore him, quit after three years amid much criticism from former planners about his work. And Brent Toderian, the city's last hire from Calgary, was fired by Vision Vancouver six years into his tenure.) White knows he's been hired to work a few small mi- racles. Boost housing produc- tion, even though builders are putting projects on hold be- cause everything from interest rates to the cost of materials is working against them. Fix the planning department's dysfunction, even though it ap- pears intractable to many, with its lack of any unified strategy on how to get things done: a place where junior planners in particular struggle to figure out where the ship is headed. Cre- ate new urban villages around 26 commercial high streets in Vancouver, a massive job that will require piles of staff work at a time when the city is struggling with budgets and tax increases. Densify around the city's ridiculously sparse SkyTrain stations, such as at Nanaimo and Renfrew, while figuring out how to get a billion dollars' worth of required sewer and water lines. Coordi- nate city policies with the new directives on housing coming from the province at a rate of one approximately every 10 minutes. Try to keep everyone in this perpetually malcontent city happy. And do it all imme- diately, if not yesterday. And he's coming from... Calgary. The land of endless spreading suburbia. The place where it took years to come up with a policy to allow basement suites anywhere without having to go through an individual rezoning for each one. A city with a down- town that has the country's most serious office vacancy problem, to the point that it is paying owners to convert or GIDDY UP The City of Vancouver's new head planner has a massive job in front of him L A N D V A L U E S by Frances Bula Frances Bula is a long-time Vancouver journalist and the 2023 recipient of the Bruce Hutchison Lifetime Achievement Award from the Jack Webster Foundation.

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