Urban studies is sometimes considered a loosely defined interdisciplinary academic domain, lacking the scientific rigour needed to understand cities. In Canada, urban studies is a little more than 50 years old; a young field, by scientific standards. This begs the question: does urban studies provide an introduction to cities in general for university students? Or is it, instead, the basis of a distinctively Canadian way to understand our cities and urbanity? As director of the Villes Régions Monde (VMR) (Cities Regions World) network, a Québec-based network of urban studies researchers, and as director of the Urban Studies Program at Simon Fraser University,

As offices stagger in-person days, peak commuting times have spread out, disrupting the traditional logic behind transit schedules and roadway design. This is particularly significant for cities that invested heavily in infrastructure predicated on dense, predictable flows of workers into and out of downtown cores.

The urban doom loop isn’t inevitable, but it requires leaders willing to make difficult, unpopular decisions to break the cycle.

Newsom’s revised goal for 2030 and his recent executive order to lower building code costs hint at a pivot toward more pragmatic solutions.