In 2020, political hopeful Michael Pratt turned to 91ĹÝܽ’s Urban Studies Program to help him develop a deeper understanding of how to build better cities. Two years later, he was elected as the youngest councillor in the history of the Township of Langley. Now a Master of Urban Studies’ (MURB) graduate, Pratt credits the program for giving him the necessary knowledge to change and shape his community’s future.
Pratt discovered his passion for building better cities while he was still an undergraduate student. He swapped his accounting major for one in real estate development and urban land economics and stood for council for the first time at age 21, losing by only a few a few hundred votes.
Professor Perl also became Pratt’s supervisor for his master’s thesis, “The Best Laid Plans: Walkability and the Pedestrian Realm in the Willoughby Town Centre.” In his thesis, Pratt looked at the plans for the centre from 20 years ago and compared them to how the centre is being used today.
“The biggest takeaway for me from the program is that when you’ve built a space or you’ve designed a space you really have to sit down and see how people are using it,” he says. “You can’t just consider it a finished product.”
Professor Perl speaks highly of Pratt’s ability to apply the knowledge he gained in the program to his work in the Township of Langley.
“Michael walks the talk of sustainable cities by putting in the hard yards most Monday nights, when Langley’s Council meets to decide on concrete choices about how that community will develop,” says Perl. “He leads by applying the knowledge acquired from the great urban thinkers, and doers, in our Master of Urban Studies curriculum.”
Pratt also appreciated having discussions with his classmates about topics ranging from the housing crisis to decolonization, especially as many of them came from different backgrounds than he did. For example, he grew up in a Langley suburb that was not on the SkyTrain line, whereas others in his cohort were international students, lived downtown, or could easily access downtown. Also, he found that other students had a social sciences background, whereas he had a Bachelor of Commerce.
“One thing I got out of the program was exposure to people who thought very differently to me in an urban planning context because I came from a business school,” says Pratt.
During class discussions, I learned how to sharpen my ideas, properly communicate them, and get feedback and not be defensive about it. This helped me when I went door to door leading up to the election.
“The program really does a great job of bringing people from different backgrounds together, and that is how the best ideas for our communities will be shaped.”
