Hans Blumenfeld

Blumenfeld, Hans

Hans Blumenfeld, urban and regional planner, educator, author, consultant (b at Osnabrück, Ger 18 Oct 1892; d at Toronto, Ont 30 Jan 1988). Appointed to the Russian State City Planning Institute from 1930 to 1933, Blumenfeld left the USSR in 1937 for the US where he worked primarily for the Philadelphia Planning Commission. He came to Canada in 1955 as assistant director of the Metropolitan Toronto Planning Board and was instrumental in shaping Toronto and its hinterland.

In 1961 he became a private consultant and in 1964 a professor at University of Toronto. He was the author of numerous acclaimed articles and books, including The Modern Metropolis (1967) and Metropolis and Beyond (1979). His most significant contribution was his vision of the "metropolis" as a new urban organism whose unique scale and structure require diagnosis and treatment.

Acknowledged as one of the leading figures in 20th-century URBAN AND REGIONAL PLANNING, he was a fellow of the Canadian Institute of Planners and was a recipient of the American Institute of Planners' Distinguished Service Award. He had a lifelong involvement in the world peace movement. His autobiography, Life Begins at 65 ..., was published in 1986.