A shot of Manila, Benjamin’s hometown. Photo by Peter Emmett from Flickr.

The City Fix would like to welcome our newest contributor, Benjamin de la Peña. Benjamin currently serves as the Associate Director for Implementation at the Smart Growth Leadership Institute, assisting cities and towns reap the benefits of smarter growth: more jobs, a broader tax base, reasonably priced housing and a healthy economy.

Benjamin is an urban planner by training, holding a masters degree from Harvard’s Graduate School of Design. Under his nom-de-net “Urbano de la Cruz,” he regularly writes about urban issues in his native Manila at his blog, Another Hundred Years Hence. Benjamin lives and works in the Dupont circle area of Washington, D.C. with his wife, his two-year old son and two cats. Everyday day he enjoys what should be a commonplace luxury: a 10 minute walk to his office. He hopes to return to Metro Manila someday soon to be of service to the city he loves.