The Globe and Mail

Paul Bedford isn't just a man with a plan — he wrote the plan. And Toronto's former chief planner doesn't blink an eye when I ask if he eats, breathes and sleeps urban planning. Mr. Bedford and his staff were behind the city's new official plan, a blueprint containing many bold initiatives that was unveiled in 2002 and finally approved by the Ontario Municipal Board in 2006 after years of appeals. A few hours before the rhetorical question was posed, the 60-year-old self-described "urban mentor" was seated beside me — a sheaf of maps, schematics and conceptual illustrations on his lap. He was tracing the route of our automobile "architour," which would illustrate how the seeds of his plan have become residential sprouts all over town. They'll fully flower, it's hoped, by 2031 when the city's population is expected to have grown by more than 500,000 people, and perhaps by as many as 800,000.