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Bringing Together
Foresight.
And Insight.
Kick off 2026 Program with Tim Keane, City of Baltimore Department of Planning & Photos
January 28, 2026
LAI Baltimore had a great start to our 2026 programming. Thank you to Tim Keane, City of Baltimore, Department of Planning for sharing your insights with our members and all of our attendees for making it a success! Hearing about all of the amazing things that Tim has accomplished during his career and how lessons learned from those cities could be applied here in Baltimore was a very encouraging way to start the year!
LAI welcomed the new Director of the Department of Planning, Tim Keane, to Baltimore. Mr. Keane brings fresh insights and leadership experience to the position following previous stops in Charleston, Atlanta, Boise, and Calgary. Learn how Mr. Keane’s experiences at these previous stops can inform a new direction for development and growth in the City and larger region.
As Baltimore’s Planning Director, Mr. Keane will oversee urban planning and design, land use and zoning, development, and capital budgeting, as well as the City’s sustainability, food policy, and historic preservation offices. He will lead the department in its mission to build Baltimore as a diverse, sustainable, and thriving city of neighborhoods and as the economic and cultural driver for the region.
His approach to urban planning, which emphasizes focusing on people to design cities effectively, was briefly outlined in a 2024 piece published by Scientific American.
Bio
Tim Keane, Acting Director, Department of Planning
Over his career, Tim Keane has led the planning departments of four significant cities: Charleston, South Carolina; Atlanta, Georgia; Boise, Idaho; and Calgary, Canada. As the General Manager of Development Services for Calgary, Keane helped guide a rezoning that increased affordable housing opportunities citywide. Prior to Calgary, Keane was the Director of Planning and Development Services for Boise, Idaho, where he led passage of the first new zoning ordinance for the city since 1966.
For nearly seven years, Keane was the Commissioner of City Planning for Atlanta, Georgia, where he led Atlanta City Design, a citywide design concept centering equitable development that was incorporated into the city’s charter. He also rebuilt Atlanta’s permitting operations with a new business plan, implemented in advance of the busiest construction period in the city’s history. In Atlanta, he also invented an Anti-Displacement Tax Fund to help protect low-income homeowners from displacement.
Before Atlanta, Keane worked for the city of Charleston for over 16 years, including as Director of Planning, Preservation & Sustainability. In Charleston, he led economic development in the city’s downtown. In 2024, Keane returned to Charleston, helping lead the first reorganization of city government since the 1970s. tim kean