The Norway-born, Australian-educated planner first moved to the ACT in 1992.

''[I was in] Perth for a couple of years until 2006 and then in Sydney for a couple of years. I'm only recently back in Canberra permanently after several years in Sydney,'' Ekelund said.

It's Ekelund's second tour of duty at the department. She was deputy chief planner from 2003 to 2006, when she was responsible for planning and development in Gungahlin.

The idea of finishing what she started and a deep love for the capital led to her applying for the top planning job.

Comments about her circular career path being perfectly illustrated by the roundabouts in the nation's capital make her laugh.

When quizzed on her favourite city, her answer is Canberra. However, she also admits some variations made to the Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony design have been a mistake. ''I very much admire Walter and Marion's plan and I think they did an amazing job planning this city, but I think its implementation at times departed from the plan which hasn't always been terrific,'' she said.

Labelling the territory a ''work in progress'' Ekelund says changing demographics are the biggest planning challenge facing her office.

''We are going from a dominance of nuclear families. We're ageing so part of our challenge is how do we deal with changing demographics. People don't like change, people are tribal, territorial creatures. We only generally like change if we sort of elect to do the change ourselves.''

She said an important part of making Canberra ready for urban infill in city centres was consultation.

''One of the big challenges is that as a community we are changing yet we will be very sensitive to how the built environment changes over time,'' Ekelund said.

''Everyone universally loves that it's the bush capital and when you fly into Canberra you don't see a sea of roofs.''

With 730,000 trees in the urban forest and more plantings set with each new development it's a title Ekelund is keen to keep.

''Some of the new suburbs are pretty raw still but you see the canopy of the trees, so flying into Canberra is quiet different to flying into a lot of other different cities,'' she said. ''There has been a long-term commitment to the bush capital but [now] we have to retain it.''

But she warns the capital is a very low-density city, unsustainably so.

''Increasingly young people and older people are choosing not to live in a suburban house but can see the convenience of an apartment and a small home and there is a trade-off that happens, living close to amenities, close to transport as opposed to living in the suburbs.''

It's a transition Ekelund and her husband Jeremy Lasek have made, moving from the suburbs into an apartment near Glebe Park.

As a keen gardener Ekelund said the change surprised her friends who predicted she would not be able to live without a bit of earth. She's proven them wrong and is now an expert balcony gardener, growing herbs and fruit including blueberries and lemons in pots.

One of the upsides of the move is the distance between her Civic home and Northbourne Avenue office. It's a brisk 30-minute walk and Ekelund tries to do it at least once a week while imagining what the new light rail track will look like.

Construction of the Capital Metro light rail network, beginning with a 13-kilometre stretch from Civic to Gungahlin, is part of the agreement ACT Labor reached with the ACT Greens to form minority government in October.

The 2013-14 budget included $18.7 million of funding to progress the light rail project. Ekelund sits on the project board though she has attended only one meeting so far.

In December, the government commissioned more research into the much-studied project, this time to see how the line would integrate with existing public transport.

The government's model for the project is similar to the GoldLinQ light rail development on the Gold Coast which was funded through a mix of public-private partnerships.

The project is at the heart of Ekelund's dream for Canberra and her time as the capital's top planner. Canberra lost the mantle of the nations's most car-dependent capital city to Adelaide in 2012 and in her previous job as director of the major cities unit at the Department of Infrastructure and Transport Ekelund oversaw the preparation of three state of Australian Cities reports.

''Smart phones are a substitute for mobility so that Canberrans are driving less,'' she said.

That was particularly the case with younger Australians who are getting their licences later and use public transport so they can ''still be connected''.

Balancing competing interests such as transport, nature and construction keep Ekelund interested in the job. And she has former speaker of the House of Representatives Stephen Martin to thank for it.

''I became interested in planning as a career when an urban planner came to give a guest class on planning and urban geography in year 12 at high school. It seemed so diverse and interesting.''

That planner was Dr Martin.