James (Jim) Colman is a Sydney-based architect, planner and part-time university lecturer. From an initial intensive period of architectural practice in Sydney, Papua New Guinea, UK and Ghana he later moved into urban design and town planning. Early heritage studies in New South Wales and Victoria led to what became a long-standing commitment to the protection of built heritage and the natural environment.

As a freelancer he has written extensively for the professional and popular press, work for which he was awarded the 1995 George Munster Prize by the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism at the University of Technology, Sydney. He is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Architects and the Planning Institute of Australia. From 2006–2011 he served as a Vice-President of the International Society of City and Regional Planners. Currently he maintains a small consulting practice coupled with teaching assignments at UNSW, University of Sydney and WSU.