James Parakh

College of Fellows Member

City of Toronto Planning Department, Urban Design Manager | Toronto, Canada

About

James Parakh 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 highly regarded as an international authority in the field of Tall Building Urban Design through his role as Chair of the CTBUH Urban Habitat / Urban Design Committee. A role that he has had since 2014. In his role as CTBUH UH/UD Committee Chair James has written several research papers on tall building urbanism as well as being a principal author of two CTBUH Technical Guides: The Space Between and the Space Within Tall Buildings.

No other city in North America has experienced as much tall building construction as Toronto has over the last decade and a half. During this time, James has lead the urban design studio that has helped guide the review of development in Downtown Toronto and surrounding urban areas. A portfolio that…

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James Parakh

CTBUH Roles

Awards Urban Habitat Jury (Chair 2018; Chair 2019; Chair 2020; Chair 2021; Chair 2022; Chair 2023; Chair 2024)

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)

Height and Data Committee (2014 – 2017)

Videos

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...

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Research

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...

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Research

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...

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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.

20 October 2018

Urban Habitat / Urban Design Committee Meets at 2018 Conference

The CTBUH Urban Habitat / Urban Design Committee met for the first time this year at the 2018 Middle East Conference in Dubai.

20 October 2018

Record Numbers Convene at 2018 Leaders Meeting

CTBUH Leaders convened on Day 1 of the 2018 Middle East Conference for updates on the year's developments and to plan for 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...

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

Public Realm Q&A

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

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...

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...

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...