Why we struggle to get things built and an urbanist anthology: PPF Reads

We asked PPF team members and Fellows for recommendations on what they’re reading. Here’s what they said:

Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson underscores the need for governments to shift their focus to long-term economic growth by getting things built more effectively, specifically in the areas of housing and energy. So, very relevant in current day context with ambitions of new PM and his mandate letter, as well as PPF’s Build Big Things report. The authors explain that rules and regulations designed in the 1970s to solve problems have now become major impediments to making economic and environmental progress because they focus on risk and not opportunity. — Jay Khosla, Executive Director, Economic and Energy Policy

I just read Death on the Island by Eliza Reid. The author’s first novel, it’s a murder mystery set in Iceland with a terrific twist at the end. A real page-turner and a great summer read! Eliza Reid is a gender equality advocate, cofounder of the acclaimed Iceland Writers Retreat and former first lady of Iceland. She was born and raised in Canada but has lived in Iceland for over 20 years. — Heather Anderson, Board Secretary and Executive Assistant, Corporate Services

The editors of the city-inspired anthology Messy Cities: Why We Can’t Plan Everything have wonderfully curated 43 essays from the most thoughtful urbanists in the country and globally. The collection answers these questions: What’s possible when we harness creativity, resourcefulness and innovation in our city building? How can we get out of the way and let cities do what they do best and be vibrant? — Anjum Sultana, PPF Fellow

In her autobiography My Country, Africa: Autobiography of the Black Pasionaria by Andrée Blouin, the human rights activist shares her journey to becoming a leader in post-colonial movements across Africa. The reader is lead through Blouin’s life with vivid description, including her experience growing up under colonial rule. Blouin’s activism and work with Sékou Touré and the Guinean Democratic Party led to her exile from Guinea by the French colonial government, making a name for herself in pan-African movements and charting her path to becoming an insider in Patrice Lumumba’s government in the Democratic Republic of Congo following independence from Belgium. Blouin’s story is one often left untold, that of the role of women in resistance movements and their fight for liberation. — Chelsea Berry, Membership Lead

I’m currently reading The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt. It’s a fascinating exploration of how human morality is shaped primarily by intuitive, emotional responses rather than rational thought, and explains why people have varying moral foundations such as care, fairness, loyalty, authority, sanctity and liberty. — Anne Matio, Program Lead, PPF Academy and Action Canada Fellowship

In Toward Prosperity by Don Mills and David Campbell, two of Atlantic Canada’s leading voices on economic growth, look at the economic transformation of a region that has traditionally lagged the rest of the country and the road ahead. — Carole Lee Reinhardt, Director, Atlantic