The Urban Land Institute (ULI) has appointed Kathryn Firth, Director, Cities, Planning and Design at Arup, and William Polisano, an independent Development Management Consultant, as Co-Chairs of the ULI UK Infrastructure and Urban Development Council. Kathryn and William succeed Carlo Castelli as Chair and will serve on a voluntary basis for the next two years.

Committed to creating thriving places, and a proponent of a multi-disciplinary approach, Kathryn Firth is an architect and urban designer who has led masterplanning and urban design projects across the UK, US, Europe and Middle East, ranging from public realm improvements to large scale urban development and regeneration projects. Prior to joining Arup, Kathryn was Urban Design Director at several practices in the UK and the US, and Chief of Design at the London Legacy Development Corporation where she directed teams of architects, landscape architects, planners, and engineers to realise the Olympic Legacy. She currently teaches at the Bartlett, UCL.

With multi-sector experience and a career that started with Lipton Rogers Developments, William Polisano has been an independent development management consultant for the last six years. He has worked on the acquisition, financing and delivery of some of London’s most complex real estate schemes, including the masterplanning of two of the capital’s largest regeneration zones, leading projects through the development cycle for clients that are principally institutional investors. Additionally, he was a co-founder of Drum London, a platform focused on improving the quality of temporary accommodation available to homeless Londoners.

The ULI UK Infrastructure and Urban Development Council’s mission is to better understand the relationship between infrastructure and urban development to create and enhance the value of places.

Mark Collins, Chair, ULI UK National Council, said, “A very warm welcome to both Kathryn and William as Co-Chairs of ULI UK’s Infrastructure & Urban Development Council. It is an immense challenge to ensure that the important role that infrastructure plays in shaping our future and maximising social impact is fully understood and not undervalued. I’m thrilled that we have both Kathryn and William at the helm in furthering this important mission and look forward to their leadership. I’d also like to express my thanks to Carlo for his enormous contribution and commitment in leading the Infrastructure & Urban Development Council over the last several years since he assumed the leadership role initially as co-chair in 2020. The role of all of our Product Councils in the UK are invaluable, and we are fortunate to have some very talented people furthering this important aspect of ULI’s mission.”

Kathryn Firth comments “I am very happy to build on Carlo Castelli’s work and take on the position of co-chair, with William Polisano, on the ULI UK Infrastructure and Urban Development Product Council. I believe this is a critical and timely moment for this Council as our towns and cities continue to look to regenerate their centres, promote diverse modes of transport and accommodate more housing. I look forward to finding ways to have a productive exchange with other Councils, both in the UK and Internationally.”

William Polisano comments, “I am delighted to continue my ULI journey as the Co-Chair of the IUPDC, working alongside Kathryn to leverage Carlo’s excellent work in building a strong and productive Product Council. As well as tackling the wonderful complexities of our urban environments at home, we aim to capitalise on strong links across ULI Europe to broaden our learnings and strengthen our outputs.”

ULI Product Councils play a key role in ULI’s mission to shape the future of the built environment for transformative impact in communities worldwide. They are forums for industry leaders to meet, exchange ideas, share best practices and foster thought leadership in their specific sector of the real estate market. ULI UK has councils focusing on Innovation, Residential, Sustainable Development and Infrastructure and Urban Development.

For further information about the ULI UK Infrastructure and Urban Development Council, contact [email protected] or visit https://uk.uli.org/get-involved/councils-and-forums/

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For further information, contact [email protected]

Notes to Editors:

The Urban Land Institute is a non-profit education and research institute supported by its members. Its mission is to shape the future of the built environment for transformative impact in communities worldwide. Established in 1936, the institute has over 48,000 members worldwide representing all aspects of land use and development disciplines. In Europe ULI has almost 5,500 members across 15 National Council country networks.

ULI UK is the largest ULI National Council in Europe with over 1,300 members from the private and public sectors representing all disciplines within the UK commercial and residential property market.