A founding father of UN-HABITAT - for a lifetime of promoting the urban agenda around the world

Awarded posthumously, Peter Oberlander was a keen supporter of UN-HABITAT with a passion for urbanisation and its unstoppable growth. He is one of the founding fathers of the agency and founder of the School of Community and Regional Planning as well as the Centre for Human Settlements at the University of British Columbia. More than 1,200 graduates of the school serve as leaders in communities around the world, carrying with them Peter’s legacy that: “The city is humanity’s greatest achievement.” Peter also helped establish the Community Planning Institute at Kwame Nkrumah University, Ghana.

Through his lobbying, the Canadian government as well as the United Nations executive leadership, the 2006 World Urban Forum was held in Vancouver, to mark the agency’s 30th anniversary.