PAUL Consulting offers a new strategic perspective that expands the opportunities for great urban projects.

The LIVE - WORK - PLAY city building model is changing:

  1. Today’s affordable housing crisis is systemic to our economic reality and not within full control of cities. This means cities will continue to struggle to offer an appealing definition of LIVE to citizens.

  2. WORK is less of a determining factor in how people choose where they live due to new post pandemic flexible work models.

  3. We are in a Social Recession in which loneliness and isolation are at epidemic levels. The social infrastructure that once supported human interaction has been stripped away in favour of efficiency. Society is now divisive and distrustful, which threatens the societal resilience of cities and efforts at collaborative city building.

In this context, PLAY now represents the opportunity to reframe a relevant city/citizen relationship.

Cities that facilitate social interaction and collective joy between citizens can become the destination of choice and improve social and economic prosperity.  Best of all, a strategy that prioritizes PLAY is completely within their control.

PLAY means understanding and prioritizing how a city:

  • Acts like a community.

  • Connects citizens and make them feel they belong.

  • Creates moments of collective joy as a strategy for social resiliency.

  • Celebrates its uniqueness and identity.

  • Supports an innovative entrepreneurial ecosystem that can deliver social and economic prosperity.

  • Fosters trust and compassion.

PLAY + LIVE + WORK = Great and joyful cities that thrive.

Services

Here’s how PAUL Consulting can help:

Consulting

PAUL Consulting works with cities, city builders, planners and designers to grow their opportunities to create great urban environments.

This form of consulting involves developing “societal mission” strategies that expand the scope of urban projects beyond traditional quality of life measures to include the social and economic benefits of the collective human spirit.

This work also includes activities that provide an optimistic framework for the public to express their values and desires for better urban environments.

The JOY Experiments Book

The JOY Experiments offers a timely perspective for creating great urban projects and great cites. 

It articulates a new narrative that underscores the societal urgency for thoughtful urban planning and speaks directly to those who care about cities: planners, citizens, politicians, designers, and developers. 

The book can be purchased from www.thejoyexperiments.com.

Public Speaking

Paul Kalbfleisch is an urbanist and co-author of The JOY Experiments.

His keynote speeches bring the importance of the book to life and build momentum for the idea that changing cities can change the world.

Inspire your team to think differently or invite your community to imagine an optimistic and collaborative city.  

Paul spoke at the United Nation’s 2024 World Urban Forum. Watch his speech.

CLIENTS

Projects

Here is a sample of previous PAUL Consulting projects:

  • Garment Street

    Paul articulated a vision for an urban project involving three condo towers, an office building and a new pedestrian-friendly retail streetscape in the heart of Kitchener’s Innovation District. Garment Street pays tribute to the way industry shapes life, both in the past and today. The vision manifests itself through an ever-changing visual design pattern.

  • CHORUS

    Paul created a public art installation for the Garment Street development. CHORUS draws inspiration from the foot pedal of sewing machines, which powered much of Waterloo Region’s industrial reputation. Its 12 panels reinterpret that artifact and celebrate the collaborative efforts of everyone who made the community an industrial powerhouse.

  • Creative Intersections

    Paul created a strategic planning report outlining how Waterloo Region could use public art and public space design to shape its brand and bring a community identity to life. The Creative Intersections strategy focused on four key elements: space and place, engaging productions, curated content, and public and private partnerships.

  • Meander

    In the City of Cambridge, Paul developed a vision of cultural storytelling focused on the Grand River for HIP Developments. Meander was part of that vision: the largest permanent living architecture sculpture in the world. It was inspired by the community’s river and teaches how we can learn about diversity and sustainability from nature.

  • Serendipity

    U2 wrote a song called The Streets Have No Name and in Kitchener-Waterloo, one could say the streets have no sense of direction. Rather than a song, the Zehr Group invited Lucy Bilson and Paul to create art reflecting the abstract nature of KW's streets - turn it into a story and celebrate the city's uniqueness. Serendipity now lives in Belmont Village in Kitchener.

  • Guelph, Gather Here

    Paul facilitated a workshop with the City of Guelph inspired by The JOY Experiments. Within that work they uncovered the unique way the community comes together, or "gathers", to tackle problems, have fun, and celebrate itself. That community attribute, and the way it manifests itself in events, became the basis for the city's destinations brand "Guelph, Gather Here".

  • River Lines

    In partnership with Montreal art and design studio Daily tous les jours, Paul consulted on River Lines, an award-winning permanent interactive art installation at The Gaslight District in Cambridge, Ontario. Designed to foster community through public play, River Lines tells a story of the city using the Grand River and and the historic 100-year flood of 1974.

Media

For press inquiries, or to receive a copy of the book for review purposes, please contact Lori Blahey at lori@loriblahey.com.

Convened by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat)

What’s JOY got to do with it?

Paul spoke at the United Nation's 2024 World Urban Forum in the “Heartbeat of the City” special session, themed around health and well-being in urban design and planning. His talk focused on prioritizing collective joy as a tool to increase our societal resilience in cities.

FEATURED IN

Paul is an urbanist who writes, speaks, and consults on the role of urban space in healing societal divisions and building creatively collaborative environments for social and economic prosperity.

He also co-wrote, along with real estate developer Scott Higgins, The JOY Experiments: Reimagining Mid-Sized Cities to Heal Our Divided Society, which was published globally by Dundurn Press in May 2024.

Prior to his work in cities, Paul was a senior executive focused on understanding how trends, social change, and culture work. He took that knowledge and used it to shape brands—some of which such as BlackBerry, helped shape the world and society we live in today.

In 2013, Paul went out on his own, merging his old love of pop culture, art, and strategic thinking, with his new love of cities. Today, he continues to help city builders become society builders.

About

Contact

519-497-9844

linkedin.com/in/pkalbfleisch/

Paul regularly shares insights and ideas, poses questions and encourages debate on LinkedIn. Join him so we can advance the conversation about a new model for city building.