Charles Montgomery (born 1968 in North Vancouver, British Columbia) is a Canadian writer and

urbanist Urbanism is the study of how inhabitants of urban areas, such as towns and cities, interact with the built environment. It is a direct component of disciplines such as urban planning, which is the profession focusing on the physical design and m ...

. Primarily known for his books '' The Last Heathen'' (2004) and '' Happy City'' (2013), Montgomery has advised and lectured planners, students, and decision-makers across Canada, the US and England. Using insights from psychology, behavioral economics, architecture and city planning, Montgomery has worked with the

BMW Guggenheim Lab The BMW Guggenheim Lab was a collaboration between the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and the BMW Group between 2011 and 2013. Part urban think tank, part community center and part gathering space, the Interdisciplinarity, interdisciplinary mobile ...

and the

Museum of Vancouver The Museum of Vancouver (MOV) (formerly the Vancouver Museum and prior to that the Centennial Museum) is a civic history museum located in Vanier Park, Vancouver, British Columbia. The MOV is the largest civic museum in Canada and the oldest museum ...

on social experiments that help citizens transform their relationships with each other and their cities. Montgomery graduated from the

University of Victoria The University of Victoria (UVic or Victoria) is a public research university located in the municipalities of Oak Bay and Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. The university traces its roots to Victoria College, the first post-secondary insti ...

in 1991 with a degree in

geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, an ...

. Montgomery's writing has appeared in magazines and newspapers including '' dwell Magazine'', ''

Outside Magazine ''Outside'' is an American company and magazine focused on the outdoors. The first issue of ''Outside'' was published in September 1977. History Outside founders were Jann Wenner (the first editor in chief), William Randolph Hearst III (its first ...

'', ''

Canadian Geographic ''Canadian Geographic'' is a magazine published by the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, (RCGS) based in Ottawa, Ontario. History and profile After the Society was founded in 1929, the magazine was established the next year in May 1930 unde ...

'', '' enRoute magazine'', the ''

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper available in several cities in central and western Canada. The paper is the flagship publication of Postmedia Network and is published Mondays through Saturdays, with ...

'', ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', ''

The Walrus ''The Walrus'' is an independent, non-profit Canadian media organization. It is multi-platform and produces an 8-issue-per-year magazine and online editorial content that includes current affairs, fiction, poetry, and podcasts, a national s ...

'', ''

Reader's Digest ''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wif ...

'' and '' The South China Morning Post''. His magazine writing has won four Western Canada Magazine Awards, a 2004 silver National Magazine award and the 2003 American Society of Travel Writers' Lowell Thomas Silver Award for best North American travel story. In 2007 the Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society awarded him a Citation of Merit for his outstanding contribution towards public awareness of climate change science. His first book, '' The Last Heathen'' (2004), later republished in the United States as ''The Shark God'', is a narrative description of Montgomery's search for the legacy of Victorian missionaries, among them his great-grandfather bishop Henry Montgomery, in the South Pacific archipelago of

Melanesia Melanesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It extends from Indonesia's New Guinea in the west to Fiji in the east, and includes the Arafura Sea. The region includes the four independent countries of Fiji, Va ...

."Far west of Polynesia"
''

Xtra! ''Xtra Magazine'' (formerly ''DailyXtra'' and ''Xtra!'') is an LGBTQ-focused digital publication and former print newspaper published by Pink Triangle Press in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The publication is a continuation of the company's former ...

'', October 13, 2004. It includes encounters with

cargo cult A cargo cult is an indigenist millenarian belief system, in which adherents perform rituals which they believe will cause a more technologically advanced society to deliver goods. Causes, beliefs, and practices Cargo cults are marked by a ...

s, pagan ancestor-worshippers and militants in

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (french: link=no, République de Vanuatu; bi, Ripablik blong Vanuatu), is an island country located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of no ...

and the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capit ...

. The book won the Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction in 2005. Prize jurors called it "an irresistible adventure in discovery, a journey into rough terrain and a revelation of the power of ancestral stories across cultural divides." The book also won the

Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize The Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize, established in 1985, is awarded annually as the BC Book Prize for the best non-fiction book by a resident of British Columbia, Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three ...

and was shortlisted for the Writers' Trust of Canada Prize for Non-Fiction. ''Happy City'' (2013) examines the intersection between urban design and the emerging science of happiness. Incorporating recent findings from the fields of psychology, neuroscience, urban planning, and social experimentation, the book makes the case that by retrofitting our cities for happiness we can tackle the urgent challenges of a rapidly urbanizing and environmentally challenged world. "Green space in cities shouldn't be considered an optional luxury," Montgomery writes. "It is a crucial part of a healthy human habitat." The book was a shortlisted nominee for the 2014 Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction."Hilary Weston Prize 2014: The shortlist revealed!"

CBC Books CBC Arts (french: Radio-Canada Arts) is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that creates and curates written articles, short documentaries, non-fiction series and interactive projects that represent the excellence of Canada's div ...

, September 17, 2014.

Bibliography

* '' The Last Heathen'', 2004 (U.S. title: ''The Shark God''), 2006 * '' Happy City: Transforming Our Lives Through Urban Design'', 2013

References

External links

charlesmontgomery.ca
{{DEFAULTSORT:Montgomery, Charles 1968 births Canadian photojournalists Canadian travel writers Living people People from North Vancouver Canadian gay writers Writers from British Columbia University of Victoria alumni 21st-century Canadian LGBT people