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James Parakh is a Fellow of the CTBUH and is an award winning architect who is the urban design manager for Toronto & East York District of the City of Toronto's Planning Division.
James is globally respected as a leader in the field of Tall Building Urban Design through his role as Chair of the CTBUH Urban Habitat Assembly as well as for his professional work in the cities of Toronto and Ottawa, Canada. James has chaired the CTBUH UH/UD Assembly since 2014. In that role James has written several research papers on tall building urbanism as well as being a principal author of two CTBUH Books: The Space Between and the Space Within Tall Buildings. James has also spoken at several CTBUH Conferences since 2014 including being on the opening Keynote panels in 2018 (Dubai) 2021 (Chicago) and 2024 (London). James also participated in the CTBUH City Advocacy Forums in London, as well as the inaugural…
Toronto Chapter (2025 – Present)
Urban Habitat / Urban Design Committee, Chair (2014 – Present)
Annual Conference, Presenter (Shanghai 2014; New York 2015; China 2016; Australia 2017; Middle East 2018; Chicago 2019)
Awards Jury (2015; 2016)
Awards Urban Habitat Jury (Chair 2018; Chair 2019; Chair 2020; Chair 2021; Chair 2022; Chair 2023; Chair 2024)
Live Judging of the 2020 CTBUH Student Design Competition
14 October 2020
2019 Global Walking Tour: 50 Forward | 50 Back
27 June–09 August 2019
CTBUH Canada Tours Monde Condominiums
13 March 2019
22 October 2018
Polycentric vs. Monocentric: The Future of Vertical Urbanism?
Numerous cities are now developing along polycentric lines, with several urban “nodes” focused around tall building clusters that often compete for commerce, attention and investment...
You must be a CTBUH Member to view this resource.
28 October 2019
The Future of Sustainable Cities and How Tall Building Urbanism has Evolved
James Parakh, City of Toronto Planning Division
In the past 50 years, tall buildings and their relationship to streets and open spaces has evolved through various scales and typologies. As place-makers, how...
You must be a CTBUH Member to view this resource.
20 October 2018
Polycentric Cities: The Future of Vertical Urbanism
CTBUH 2018 Conference Speakers
As we approach the new normality of cities housing 10 million or more inhabitants, those best positioned for the future are evolving along polycentric, multi-nodal...
You must be a CTBUH Member to view this resource.
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14 October 2020
Live Judging of the 2020 CTBUH Student Design Competition
The CTBUH Student Design Competition will take place through virtual presentations, where the five finalist will present to an esteemed jury of tall building industry leaders.
9 August 2019
2019 Global Walking Tour: 50 Forward | 50 Back
Join the CTBUH Urban Habitat / Urban Design Committee for the sixth annual Global Walking Tour, following the theme <em>50 Forward | 50 Back</em>. Join a walk in your city!
13 March 2019
CTBUH Canada Tours Monde Condominiums
CTBUH Canada hosted a construction tour of Monde Condominiums, a 44-story residential building designed by Safdie Architects and Quadrangle.
8 November 2018
Two New CTBUH Technical Guides Released
The CTBUH has released two new Technical Guides, focused on Façade Access and Maintenance and Skyspaces in Tall Buildings.
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22 October 2018
Polycentric vs. Monocentric: The Future of Vertical Urbanism?
Numerous cities are now developing along polycentric lines, with several urban “nodes” focused around tall building clusters that often compete for commerce, attention and investment...
18 October 2016
The Space Between: Urban Spaces Surrounding Tall Buildings
This presentation was intended to introduce the upcoming CTBUH technical guide titled "The Space Between," which investigates the importance of publicly accessible spaces surrounding tall...
18 October 2016
CTBUH Video Interview – James Parakh
James Parakh of the City of Toronto Planning Department is interviewed by Chris Bentley during the 2016 CTBUH China Conference. James discusses the design elements...
18 October 2016
Tuesday October 18, 2016. Shenzhen, China. Javier Quintana de Una, IDOM; Albert Chan, Shui on Land Limited; James Parakh, City of Toronto Planning Department; Martin...
26 October 2015
The Network of Urban Spaces Surrounding Tall Buildings
This presentation focuses largely on the Toronto context and investigates the network of urban spaces surrounding tall buildings, the tall building as place makers and...
26 October 2015
2015 New York Conference - Session 2c - Q&A
Robert Cotter, Jersey City; James Parakh, City of Toronto Planning Department; and Craig Schwitter, BuroHappold Engineering, answer questions at the end of 2015 New York...
18 September 2014
Measuring Tall Buildings: Has CTBUH got its Height Criteria Correct?
One of the roles of the CTBUH is to be a “voice of reason” as the arbiter of building height claims, and to be consistent...
18 September 2014
Monthly Video: Five Minutes with James Parakh
James Parakh of the City of Toronto is interviewed by Chris Bentley during the 2014 CTBUH Shanghai Conference at the Jin Mao Tower. James talks...
28 October 2019
The Future of Sustainable Cities and How Tall Building Urbanism has Evolved
James Parakh, City of Toronto Planning Division
In the past 50 years, tall buildings and their relationship to streets and open spaces has evolved through various scales and typologies. As place-makers, how...
20 October 2018
Polycentric Cities: The Future of Vertical Urbanism
CTBUH 2018 Conference Speakers
As we approach the new normality of cities housing 10 million or more inhabitants, those best positioned for the future are evolving along polycentric, multi-nodal...
17 October 2016
The Space Between: Urban Spaces Surrounding Tall Buildings
James Parakh, City of Toronto Planning Division
This paper is intended to introduce the upcoming CTBUH technical guide titled “The Space Between,” which investigates the importance of publicly accessible spaces surrounding tall...
16 October 2016
Debating Tall: Regional Governments for Megacities?
James Parakh, City of Toronto Planning Department; Thomas Wright, Regional Plan Association of New York
The 2016 CTBUH Conference, “Cities to Megacities,” explores the phenomenon of already large cities merging together to form megacities, in parallel with many cities and...
26 October 2015
The Network of Urban Spaces Surrounding Tall Buildings
James Parakh, City of Toronto Planning Department
This paper investigates the Network of Urban Spaces Surrounding Tall Buildings, the Tall Building as Place Makers how Tall Buildings meet the street. As contributing...
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