UWPAT 34th Annual Planning Alumni Dinner

Howard Tam, urban planner, placemaker, storyteller, and the “Foodie-in-Chief” behind Eat More Scarborough

We are delighted to announce that Howard Tam, internationally trained urban planner, strategic designer, and host of the widely viewed Destination Scarborough YouTube series featured by CBC News, will headline UWPAT’s Annual Toronto Planning Dinner. Howard’s keynote, “Tastemaking in Placemaking: What’s Driving the Growth of Food Clusters in GTA’s Suburbs?”, will explore how food, culture, entrepreneurship, and migration are reshaping suburban places across the GTA.

Howard brings a dynamic, multidisciplinary lens to city building, connecting planning, strategic design, technology, policy, teaching, and community storytelling. He is the founder of ThinkFresh Group, a strategic planning and design consultancy, and Founder and Foodie-in-Chief of Eat More Scarborough, a culinary tourism company dedicated to sharing the diverse food stories that live in Toronto’s suburbs. His work includes Destination Scarborough, a collaboration with Scarborough Arts that uses videos, a curated map, and local storytelling to spotlight Scarborough’s food and arts scene.

Howard has taught strategic design through the CityLab Fellowship at the Rotman School of Management, teaches urban planning studio courses at TMU, and served as a Policy Advisor and Business Analyst with the Government of Ontario. Howard’s keynote will challenge guests to think differently about suburban vitality, cultural identity, economic development, and the future of placemaking in the GTA.