Incorporated in 1886, Vancouver is a young city, even by New World standards. And to author Lance Berelowitz, the city is full of youthful potential. “If Paris is a movable feast,” writes the architect and planner, “then Vancouver is a dream in motion.”

It’s a telling comparison, since the British-born Berelowitz moved there from the Radiant City. In this erudite history of Vancouver’s architecture and planning, he never hesitates to put Lotusland in a global context. That’s to the benefit of this lively and challenging book, though the city doesn’t always fare well.

Vancouver has always been an ever-changing place, as Dream City makes clear. The book’s most valuable feature is its concise overview of the city’s history, from its beginnings as a chit in massive land speculation through the accelerating development of the late 20th century.

Though this story is more or less chronological, there are substantial gaps, especially in the modern period that Berelowitz praises so highly. He is far more attentive when dealing with the blur of development that continues to reshape downtown. Indeed, Berelowitz is so focused on the city’s future that he never pins down some aspects of its past. This vagueness might be an occupational hazard for city planners – and city boosters like Berelowitz, who was closely involved in the 2010 Olympic bid – but it makes for a deeply ambivalent portrait. Berelowitz praises Vancouver’s civic energy in rapturous tones, yet concludes that its public spaces lack energy, variety, and authenticity.

Still, the city’s architectural past has left so few traces, and Vancouverites – real and spiritual – should be fascinated to read this hidden history, with its Albert Speer-esque master plans and streetcar lines cutting into virgin forest. The scattershot development of the city makes for some comical juxtapositions: one architect, Ross Lort, could build a fine Art Moderne house in 1939 and ersatz thatch-roofed English cottages two years later. Full of fascinating detail and thoughtful visions of Vancouver’s future, Dream City is just as engaging, and maddeningly contingent, as the city it portrays