Iain Dobson is an internationally recognized expert on city development, urban mobility and transit systems. He advocates for fact-based planning decisions. He currently publishes a bi-monthly report on how many office employees are back in the office. His talk will examine the lasting effects of the COVID pandemic, the new debate about work-from-home and the financial impact it is having on city centres.
Since 2000, when Iain retired from a successful 25-year career in commercial real estate development, he has focused on bringing the principles of evidence-based value planning in the private and public sectors to development and investment decisions. He co-founded the Strategic Regional Research Alliance, a research body which partners with all levels of government and the private sector to provide a better understanding of the components and complexities of making informed infrastructure investment decisions. He also co-founded The Value Planning Group and the Real Estate Search Corporation, which satisfies the ever-growing need for comprehensive, reliable, accurate independently collected data.
He has served on the Board of Metrolinx, the Premier’s Transit Investment Strategy Advisory Panel, and the Expert Panel on the Sheppard Transit Corridor. Iain was a former CivicAction Commercial Building Advisory Panel member, and a former Chair of the University of Toronto Schools Alumni and Jackman Institute of Child Study Daycare Board and the Advisory Board of LIGHTS.
Iain has received numerous industry awards and has spoken at many of North America’s leading industry associations, including the US Commercial Real Estate Development Association, Association of Ontario Land Economists, Canadian Real Estate Forums, and radio and TV programs such as Metro Morning and Cross Canada Check Up, among others. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Trent University.
Join fellow Whiffers on Tuesday, Sept 26th
The reception at the RCYC begins at 6:00 pm.