James Parakh is an award winning architect who is the urban design manager for Toronto & East York District of the City of Toronto's Planning Division.

James is highly regarded as an international authority in the field of Tall Building Urban Design through his role as Chair of the CTBUH Urban Habitat / Urban Design Committee. A role that he has had since 2014. In his role as CTBUH UH/UD Committee Chair James has written several research papers on tall building urbanism as well as being a principal author of two CTBUH Technical Guides: The Space Between and the Space Within Tall Buildings.

No other city in North America has experienced as much tall building construction as Toronto has over the last decade and a half. During this time, James has lead the urban design studio that has helped guide the review of development in Downtown Toronto and surrounding urban areas. A portfolio that includes well over 300 tall buildings ranging in height from 15 stories to over 95 storeys.

James is also Vice-Chair of the Design Review Panel for Canada's Capital City of Ottawa and also serves on design panels for the National Capital Commission (N.C.C.). James is also frequently invited to participate on or chair international design juries for Tall Building Design for both the CTBUH as well as for WAN (World Architecture News) Awards.

Prior to joining the City, James was a lead designer with WZMH Architects, Toronto where he oversaw the designs for projects in Canada, China and the United Arab Emirates. Among the projects he was the lead designer of, included the ING Bank headquarters in Toronto, Parc Island in the Dubai Marina, U.A.E., Etisalat Headquarters in Sharjah and Fujairah, U.A.E and The Shaghai Pudong Development Bank Tower in Pudong, P.R.C. 

James main interests are in how Tall Buildings fit within their urban context including a greater understanding of the role of a tall building on a City Skyline as well as how Tall Building's meet the streetscape. James is also very much interested in quality of life issues and how tall buildings affect the quality of life of people that live or work within them. Issues such as how Tall Buildings affect the public realm and the spaces created in between Tall Building's. 

James holds a Bachelor of Technology in Architecture Degree from Ryerson University in Toronto, A Masters of Architecture Degree from the Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture at the University of Houston and a Master of Science in Urban Design Degree from Columbia University in New York.