Larry Beasley, BA, MA, LLD (Hon), is the retired Co-Director of Planning for the City of Vancouver. He is now the “Distinguished Practice Professor of Planning” at the University of British Columbia and the founding principal of Beasley and Associates, an international planning consultancy. In his 30 years of civic service, Mr. Beasley was a neighbourhood planner, manager for transformation of Vancouver’s inner city and the approval authority for private development. Since leaving government, among his special commitments, he is the Senior Advisor on Urban Design for Dallas, Texas (where he founded the City Design Studio within the City government), Special Advisor on Planning for the Emirate of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates (where he founded the planning agency called the Urban Planning Council) and a Member of the International Economic Development Advisory Board of Rotterdam in The Netherlands.  He has long been Chair of the Advisory Committee on Planning, Design and Reality for the National Capital Commission in Ottawa.  He lectures extensively and advises governments and the private sector in Canada and around the world – recent work includes new city plans and design of a new national capital in Abu Dhabi, an award-winning plan for the expansion of Moscow, a strategic organizational plan for the Planning Division in Toronto, an influential scheme for the removal of obsolete highways infrastructure in Vancouver, and curation of a competition to connect Downtown Dallas to the Trinity River.  He has been awarded several honorary degrees and many awards, including the Kevin Lynch Prize from M.I.T. and the Advocate for Architecture Award from the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada.  He is a Member of the Order of Canada and has received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Metal.