The recent death of Harold Spence-Sales at the age of 96 provides a fitting opportunity to reflect upon the scope of his planning legacy. He is well known for having founded the first university planning program in Canada, at McGill in 1947. As a person, he is fondly remembered for his mordant wit, his amazing command of the English language, and his extraordinary ability to persuade bankers, functionaries, politicians and developers of his visions for a better urban Canada.

Born in India, educated in architecture in New Zealand and planning at the Architectural Association in London, Spence-Sales arrived in Canada in 1946. The country was in the throes of post-war recovery. Housing shortages were critical, cities having suffered both the penuries of the great depression and the rigours of the war. Returning military personnel were marrying and starting families; it was the beginning of the baby boom.

It was common in those days that faculty of professional departments practiced their trade, and Harold was no exception. At McGill, in addition to teaching at the School of Architecture and setting up the planning program, he plunged into practice. His experience in Britain during the war, first in the siting, design and building of munitions factories, and later on, in the reconstruction of bomb-damaged cities and the rewriting of building...