SURP News 2025-26

MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR

Dear SURP alumni, donors, supporters and students,

It is a pleasure to share this year’s SURP newsletter with our students, alumni, professional associates and friends. This has been a strong and productive year for the School of Urban and Regional Planning. Our undergraduate and graduate programs continue to enjoy strong enrolment, and one of our most important milestones this year was the successful reaccreditation of our planning programs. The Professional Standards Board now lists SURP’s BA/BSc (Planning) and MSc (Urban and Regional Planning) as accredited through August 31, 2031. That renewal reflects the quality of our students, the dedication of our faculty and instructional team and the strength of the professional culture we work hard to sustain at SURP.

It has also been a year of important transitions. I want to offer sincere thanks to Kyle Whitfield on the occasion of her retirement. Kyle has made lasting contributions to SURP through her work in community planning, social planning, community development, citizen engagement and planning with and for older adults. We are deeply grateful for her many contributions to the School and wish her all the very best in retirement. We also send our warmest wishes to Emily Grisé during her maternity leave and subsequent sabbatical. Emily’s work in transportation and land use planning, public transit, micromobility and active transportation has helped strengthen SURP’s capacity in one of the most important areas of contemporary planning, and we look forward to welcoming her back in January 2028.

As you will see in the individual faculty highlights, SURP faculty are advancing work in housing justice and equitable development, climate resilience and adaptation, transportation and mobility and governance and systems thinking. This breadth is one of the School’s great strengths. It is reflected not only in faculty research, but also in the learning opportunities we are able to offer students through studio teaching, co-op experiences, scholarship success, public events and strong ties to the planning profession. Faculty and students alike continue to engage urgent questions around housing, infrastructure, climate, community development and the future of cities and regions.

This issue highlights the energy and diversity of work across the School. From student studio projects such as the Old Strathcona Improvement Framework and the West240 Urban Village, to new curriculum such as PLAN 485: Climate Adaptation for Municipalities, to events on campus planning and housing, SURP continues to connect academic learning with real-world planning challenges. I want to thank our faculty, staff, students, alumni and professional associates for helping make SURP such a vibrant, thoughtful and outward-looking community. I hope you enjoy this newsletter and share in my excitement about where the School is headed next.

Sincerely,

BOB SUMMERS
Director, School of Urban and Regional Planning
Academic Director, Sustainability Council