Urbanist Platform Contributors

CJ is driven to promote the built environment sector and has a passion for cities and people; developed from studying Urban Planning, Design & Management (BSc) and European Property Development (MSc), both at University College London (UCL).  

City of Birth: London, UK

Favourite place in the world: Manhattan (Lower East Side), New York

Sylvia is passionate about creating climate and flood resilient urban communities, specifically through bottom-up planning and design. She obtained her MA Urban Design & Planning from the University of Sheffield and BSc Geography & Urban Studies from McGill University. 

City of birth: Vancouver, UK

Favourite place in the world: Jardin du Palais Royal, Paris.

 Hayley is driven by her purpose to inspire organisational change and empower more diverse and inclusive future leaders. She is a multi-award winning diversity consultant and campaigner who has been advising some of the worlds largest employers and brands on race equality and wider diversity and inclusion.   

City of birth: London

Favourite place in the world: Marigot Bay, Saint Lucia

Leah has a keen interest in regeneration and economic development in the built environment. She is currently studying Town and Regional Planning at the University of Liverpool and has a strong interest in regeneration and economic development.  

City of Birth: Liverpool, UK 

Favourite place in the world: Park Guell, Barcelona.  

Christian has a committed interest in the development and regeneration of brownfield land in urban centres which has developed in studying a masters degree in Urban Regeneration and Development at the University of Manchester 

City of Birth: Leeds, UK

Favourite place in the world:  Tatra Mountain National Park, Poland 

Having completed her Masters in Cities and Global Development, Amy is now a Planning Consultant in London. She helps to secure planning permission for large-scale residential and commercial schemes across the UK, many of which are in challenging locations such as conservation areas.

City of Birth: Essex, UK

Favourite place in the world:  Sahara Desert.  

 Abigail is currently studying Geography (BA) at the University of Sheffield and has already had experience in various planning companies and authorities. Urban Studies has always been an interest of hers – especially international planning, as she enjoyed spending time researching the place and space of Berlin.

City of Birth: Burton-on-Trent, UK

Favourite place in the world: Jaco Beach, Jaco  

Natasha believes the importance of the built environment lies in its ability to create socially inclusive environments. To her, this means planning cities for those who are often marginalised. She studied Cities and Global Development (MA), at The University of Sheffield.  

City of Birth: Leeds, UK  

Favourite place in the world:  Florida Road, Durban

Poppy is a Geography (BA) student at the University of Leeds. She has a particular interest in social justice and welfare in urban contexts and hopes to one day start social enterprise and NGO projects to make the city a better and fairer place.    

City of birth: London, UK  

Favourite place in the world: The Marin Headlands, California. 

Noah is studying City Design and Social Science (MSc) at the London School of Economics and completed his Bachelor’s in Urban Geography and Psychology at McGill University in Montreal. Noah has a particular interest in new cities and sustainable and equitable planning 

City of Birth: Toronto, Canada. 

Favourite place: Mile End, Montreal. 

Tess is a Geography and Planning student at the University of Birmingham, and is particularly interested in how sustainability can be improved in urban life. She would like to eventually work as a sustainability consultant and help create solutions to manage the growing demand on resources in cities.  

City of birth - London, UK

Favourite place - Guadalajara, Mexico

Sarah studied an MA in Town Planning at the University of the West of England. She has a passion for creative places, with an interest maximising nuerodiverse talent in place making. 

City of Birth: Toronto, Canada

Favourite place: Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

Maria is interested in the intersection of architecture and computer science. She is currently studying Architecture (BSc) at the University of Pittsburgh. She is especially interested in innovative design methods and community engagement.

City of Birth: Minneapolis, Minnesota

Favourite Place in the World:

New York City

Catrin has just completed a BSc (Hons) Geography at Aberystwyth University with a year abroad at McGill University, Canada. She is now pursuing an MSc in International Planning and Development at Cardiff University and hopes to make cities better places for encounter and diversity.   

City of Birth: Shrewsbury, UK 

Favourite place in the world: Sumatra, Indonesia