The dubious belief that there is no housing supply crisis During a chat this morning I was told that a local politician thinks there is no housing supply crisis in Montreal. According to them, there is no hurry to approve large housing developments such as the Hippodrome (or any other housing development that does notContinue reading “Is there a housing supply crisis in Canada? Yes, but…”
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Academic travel to the US – not for me
I have decided, with regret, to pull out of the 7th Global Conference of Economic Geography in Worcester (MA). It is a pointless gesture in the wider scheme of things, but one I can make. It is prompted by the Trump regime’s economic attack on Canada, his disdain for treaties, his utter contempt for humanContinue reading “Academic travel to the US – not for me”
Trump is a mirror to our values
Donald Trump’s dismantling of administration, legal authority, and common decency are the logical end-game of a system of ideas, introduced in the 1940s by Hayek, Friedman and others of the early Mont-Pelerin society, that have become the common-sense baseline for most social interactions today: market-driven, property-oriented, and transactional. Trump is terrifying not because he isContinue reading “Trump is a mirror to our values”
Electronic media and the malleability of facts
There can be no facts in a digital world Over the last few weeks we have witnessed a group of spineless billionnaires bending over backwards at Donald Trump’s request, jumping when he says jump, altering information at his autocratic whim. It isn’t just fake news by AI, bots and individuals that is enabled by social-mediaContinue reading “Electronic media and the malleability of facts”
McGill: mistaking its financial compass for a moral one
McGill is firmly opposed to peaceful economic resistance to Israel’s genocide and ethnic cleansing, and proudly reasserted it today. At what point will McGill admit that something smells? How would today’s McGill have reacted in the face of rising fascism and ethnic violence in European countries in the 1930s? Presumably by continuing to invest inContinue reading “McGill: mistaking its financial compass for a moral one”
Flying cars are yesterday’s future
Flying cars have been around since cars were invented. Trajan Vuia built one in 1903, though only took off in 1906 (for a few meters). Henson and Stringfellow imagined a flying steam carriage as early as 1843. And so on, up until today’s breathless headlines, telling us – for example on 13th January 2025 –Continue reading “Flying cars are yesterday’s future”
General AI – headed towards irrelevance?
Focussed AI is a powerful tool Focussed AI is a useful tool when applied to closed and verified data, information and texts: so, for instance, it is easy to imagine it usefully summarising – and extracting information from – a curated body of legal texts, archives, interview transcripts, maps or programming routines. The key isContinue reading “General AI – headed towards irrelevance?”
A cathedral under ground – St.Denis Pleyel metro station
I was lucky enough to visit the new St.Denis-Pleyel metro station a few weeks ago. It is open, so anyone in Paris who does not feel like queuing for Notre-Dame can get there in a few minutes from central Paris, on line 14. St.Denis-Pleyel is a key connecting station for the Grand Paris Express, 200kmContinue reading “A cathedral under ground – St.Denis Pleyel metro station”
Winter mobility – of ice, bikes and cars
Montreal is making an effort to accommodate winter cycling, which is much appreciated. However, as an urban planner, it is not my personal preferences and choices that matter, but whether winter cycling is a realistic mobility solution for Montreal. I have argued elsewhere that, for many people, winter cycling is not feasible. Here is oneContinue reading “Winter mobility – of ice, bikes and cars”
Why Montreal should think for itself
In a previous blog I argued that Montreal (and, by extension, other non-European cities) should cease to look with envy at European active transport and urban planning solutions. I made similar points a few years ago when I also expressed exasperation at Montreal looking to Copenhagen for ‘solutions’. There have been a few comments onContinue reading “Why Montreal should think for itself”
Richard Shearmur 