I'm Geoff Ghitter, a mild mannered instructor in the Urban Studies Program at the University of Calgary. I received a PhD in Urban Geography in the spring 2010 and in this blog I'm going to be writing about cities.
In my fantasy life I'm Geoff Ghitter urban photographer. In this secret identity I travel to cities around the world documenting the urban fabric of foreign places through the medium of photography. I'm a big believer in the idea that we are visual creatures and a visual image always enhances the understandings conveyed in text. I illustrate and enliven all my posts with relevant photography from Calgary and the other places I've visited. Many of my photographs are linked to a GPS coordinate so viewers can see exactly where in the world they were taken.
Now, the "city" is an immense topic that can be approached from many varied perspectives. In this forum I address many different kinds of urban issues, but the overriding focus will be on urban sustainability as our global society moves forward into an uncertain, and perhaps unstable future. The small ambition for this blog is to initiate a conversation about urban sustainability, including a rational way to understand that overused term.
So I will leave this short welcome at that and hope that, as you get to know me, and I you, that a fruitful dialogue will ensue.
Here I will post my thoughts about current urban issues in Calgary with a mind towards how other cities have coped with the same or similar problems.
Follow my series on "Resilient Cities" -- being written with my colleague Noel Keogh -- being published in FFWD every second week or so.
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