In this episode of The Missing Middle, Sabrina Maddeaux and Mike Moffatt are joined by urban planner Alex Beheshti for a deep dive into one of the most overlooked barriers to solving Canada’s housing crisis: zoning data. Alex makes the case for a Canadian Zoning Atlas—an ambitious but essential tool to bring clarity, consistency, and transparency to the country’s fragmented planning systems. They explore why zoning laws are so confusing, how the lack of machine-readable data cripples good policy, and what Canada can learn from international best practices. If we can map census data, why not zoning? From obscure codes to wedding vows about development charges (really!) this is a conversation about why better data might just be the key to better housing.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction
01:00 Canada needs a housing crisis map
01:29 Alex shares his wedding vows
02:48 Previous Alex B episode
02:53 Mike’s philosophy of experimentation and failure
04:05 Understanding zoning: definitions and complexities
07:01 The need for centralized zoning data
09:19 The massive gap in urban planning data
10:30 Envisioning a Canadian zoning atlas
12:16 Canada should emulate the US and Australia
13:49 Future planning tools for Canada
Research/links:
Canada’s Housing Crisis Needs a Map
Guest: Alex Beheshti https://twitter.com/beheshtialex
Hosted by Mike Moffatt & Cara Stern & Sabrina Maddeaux
Produced by Meredith Martin
This podcast is funded by the Neptis Foundation and brought to you by the Smart Prosperity Institute.
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