With the Christmas countdown in full swing, I thought I’d give a shout out to some of my favourite (not “favorite”) Canadian books about cities that urbanists on either side of the border ought to appreciate.
As a Canadian living in the United States, it’s shocking sometimes what doesn’t make it south of the border. National headlines don’t even register, even when they affect Americans. Bookstores don’t stock #1 Canadian bestsellers. Of course, this works both ways, but America’s prolific media production ensures that Canadians get a healthy dose of American culture (hence can-con).
So without further ado, here are some hidden Canadian gems for that American urbanist in your life.
Cities and the Wealth of Nations, by Jane Jacobs (1984)
Of course, as many of my friends know, the work of Jane Jacobs has had a big impact on my life. Best known for The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Jacobs actually moved to Canada in 1968 where she lived until her death in 2006. In those latter years, Jacobs wrote another eight books, many of which became bestsellers in Canada but did not make the same lasting impact in America as her first tour de force.
Jacobs wrote Cities and the Wealth of Nations as a follow-up to her second book, The Economy of Cities. Here she extends her earlier ideas about how cities grow and decline to a larger scale. She deals with regional economies, how the economies of cities reach into the world beyond their regions, and the fraught relationships between cities and national government.
The book has a uniquely Canadian flavour, since some of the book takes its inspiration from her earlier research on Quebec separatism. However, she illustrates her case with a global palette—Japan to Uruguay to the Soviet Union to America—and I believe her ideas will have resonance no matter where you’re from.
Concrete Toronto, edited by Michael McClelland and Graeme Stewart (2004)
Brutalism is not for everyone, but I love it. And living in Toronto for several years, I got to enjoy a lot of it. Instead of presenting a rigorous historical or theoretical account of the development of this movement in the city, Concrete Toronto is a deliciously illustrated collection of paeans to local buildings articulated by a wide range of voices: architects, planners, professors, journalists, etc. Interspersed between these stories, archival and newly taken photographs capture the bold textures and geometries of these buildings with dramatic, black-and-white flare.
While it focuses on only one Canadian city, it’s really more about an ethos that you can see in many cities across North America and beyond. For my money, Concrete Toronto remains one of the most engaging and persuasive books arguing for the appreciation of this still controversial architectural movement.
Walking Home, by Ken Greenberg (2012)
Ken Greenberg is one of the world’s foremost urban designers. Walking Home: The Life and Lessons of a City Builder is part autobiography, detailing Greenberg’s acclaimed international career, and part urbanist playbook, arguing his vision for rejuvenating cities.
Its bestseller status north of the border speaks to its accessibility. Greenberg writes in friendly personal prose, but never dumbs down the topics at hand. He deftly walks us through his experiences setting up the first municipal urban design departments in Boston and in Toronto, designing affordable housing solutions, reviving urban waterfronts, and more.
Although Greenberg operates out of Toronto, his book discusses projects in Amsterdam, Boston, and Saint Paul among others, so there’s plenty of great content for readers in America and elsewhere.
Arrival City, by Doug Saunders (2012)
Now, I can’t claim to have read Arrival City: How the Largest Migration in History is Reshaping Our World, but there’s a reason I added it to this list. This January, City Builder Book Club will host an online, global reading of Arrival City. Last year, I had a great experience participating in their reading of Jane Jacobs’ The Death and Life of Great American Cities. Each week, the CBBC site offered blog posts by renowned urbanists unpacking the current chapter, and round-up posts of responses from other bloggers reading along. I can’t wait for this next instalment!
In Arrival City, Canadian-British journalist Doug Saunders argues that the mass migration of workers to urban areas will become one of the most important trends in the coming century. How will our cities cope with this explosive force of urbanization? I hope you’ll buy the book, so we can find out together.