These are urban times

We citizens of the world are increasingly citizens of cities. The places that concern us, that interest us, that engage us on a daily basis are our urban places - our streets and neighbourhoods.

For many people, urban planning is a distant and irrelevant activity until it begins to change - or prevent change - in one's own neighbourhood.

People who do get engaged in helping guide the future of their cities are often dismayed to find out that the "vision" they created in upbeat workshops fails to get implemented after professionals have had their go.

I take a shot at explaining this phenomenon in a new post on The Urban Times blog. Let me know what you think.