Ran Chen

Background

About Ran Chen

I am an urban designer and urban planner with extensive working experience in North America, Latin America and Asia. Prior to my current position with the City of Toronto, I have worked with international organizations and award-winning private sector firms in design guidelines, built form studies, and masterplanning for various cities such as New York, Los Angeles, Shanghai, Beijing, New Delhi and Panama. The scale of these projects ranges from single or multiple city blocks to regional planning with complex interconnected issues. During my time in New York and Latin America, I worked mainly for non-for-profit Planning organizations aiming to produce sustainable, community-friendly urban developments. This includes working as a Planning Consultant for international organizations such as the Lincoln Institute for Land Policies and the United Nations Development Programme. I also worked later in China and was actively involved in the planning and design of various Eco-Cities in Asia. For the past seven years, I worked as an Urban Planner at the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing and later as an Urban Designer with the City of Toronto, Downtown section. With the province, I contributed to the preparation and delivery of research papers, guidance materials, and presentations on planning tools that support urban design and a healthy built environment. At the municipal level, I am responsible of reviewing development proposals, developing urban design guidelines / built form studies and providing advice to Council in matters of Urban Design. Specialties- Eco-Cities Design - Advanced GIS for Urban Planning - Sustainable Design - Urban Design Guidelines - Built Form Studies