Our Honorary Academicians are recognised for their significant contribution to urbanism and placemaking

John Thompson AoU
Honorary President
In the 1980s he pioneered the introduction in the UK of community planning as a tool for bringing about collaborative, interdisciplinary, community-based planning and for promoting more sustainable development processes. Since then he has helped develop a range of participatory processes that can deliver integrated programmes for physical, social and economic change whilst respecting and enhancing the environment. He has undertaken masterplanning and urban design projects in towns and cities throughout the UK and Europe, including Belfast, Newcastle, Manchester, Birmingham and London, as well as Berlin, Dublin, Prague, Paris, Lubeck, Istanbul and many projects in the Moscow City region and eastern China.

Alan Baxter CBE BSc FIStructE MICE MCONSE Hon. FRIBA AoU
Founder of Alan Baxter Ltd
In addition to his involvement in urban design and masterplanning projects, he and the firm are responsible for the engineering of new buildings of architectural significance as well as the sensitive repair and adaptation of a vast range of historic buildings. He and his colleagues have written Conservation Plans for many nationally important buildings.
He served on Historic England’s national Urban Panel and was for many years a member of English Heritage’s London Advisory Committee.

Prof Wulf Daseking AoU
Former Director of Development, City of Freiburg-im-Breisgau
From 1973-76 he was assistant in the office of Prof Deilmann in Münster. During that time he was successful in winning Planning Competitions. From 1978-84, at the age of 31, Daseking was the Director of City Planning Office in Mülheim/Ruhr – a City of 185,000 inhabitants. Between 1984-2012 he was Head of the City Planning Office in Freiburg. During that time the City was transferred into a Green City. Since 2010, he has been a Professor at the University of Freiburg ( Sociology ) and also Assistant Professor at University College London / Bartlett School. He has over 30 years of experience in City Planning and Urban Development. For his successful and consequent work on Planning and Regional Concepts, the City of Freiburg was awarded The European City of the Year 2010 by the Academy. In the ‘Charter of Freiburg – Requirements on Urban Development and Planning for the Future’, he wrote down those principals which were important for his planning. This Charter is published together with the Academy and is widespread and well known.
Besides that he has worked as Jury Member in more than 130 Planning and Design Competitions as well as being a speaker at numerous Congresses and Universities – at home and abroad – among others, in New York, Washington, Boston, San Francisco, Chicago, Tokyo, Istanbul, Rome, Singapore, Brisbane, Helsinki, Oslo, Malmö, Graz, London, Edinburgh, Bristol, Oxford, Cambridge, Dundee, Cardiff and more. Since 2012, Prof Daseking has been a Nominating Member of the Lee Kuan Yew – World City Price (Singapore), awarded every 2nd year. Prof Daseking is a strong advocate for the development of dense, heterogeneous cities, urban development that is oriented towards public transportation, decentralised urban development and ‘Cities of the Short Way’ – that enjoy social equilibrium and differentiated citizen participation!

Mayor of Bristol, 2012-2016
Image: Chris Bahn

Jan Gehl AoU
Founding Partner, Gehl

Jennifer Keesmaat
CEO, Keesmaat Group
Facilitating a period of high growth, Jennifer oversaw billions of dollars in reinvestment in the city, and introduced the city’s first comprehensive transit network plan advancing LRT’s, subways, BRT and enhanced streetcar service.
Today, she leads The Keesmaat Group, launching this spring.
In 2018, Jennifer ran for Mayor in the City of Toronto on a progressive, visionary platform that included addressing the housing crisis by building at scale on city-owned land and implementing a Rent-to-Own program; neighbourhood-based crime prevention through the development of Community Wellbeing Plans for each neighbourhood in the city; redesigning city streets to prioritise vulnerable users such as children, seniors, pedestrian and cyclists; the development of five Cultural Hubs to instigate renewal outside of the core; and the tearing down of the Gardiner Expressway to build a new walkable, transit-oriented waterfront neighbourhood community.
Her widely acclaimed podcast can be found at invisiblecitypodcast.com. Jennifer’s TED talks include Walk to School, Own Your City, and Taxes, Democracy and our Shared Interest

Director of City Planning, City of Malmö

Tina Saaby AoU
Chief City Architect of Copenhagen

Manuel Salgado AoU
Deputy Mayor for Urban Planning, Urban Rehabilitation and Public Areas, Municipality of Lisbon

John Worthington MBE
Founding Partner, DEGW
Professor of Architecture, The University of York
Collaborative Urbanist
With Frank Duffy he was a Founding Partner of DEGW (1973-2002). In 2003 he became an independent consultant and Collaborative Urbanist (2006- present) focussed on working with the community interest, not for profit sector. For the Academy of Urbanism he was responsible for; the Learning from Place programme (UniverCities 2007), the European Learning Cities Platform (Places of Connection, Utrecht 2012) and on the Board of the AoU (2009-2015). He was a Commissioner of the Independent Transport Commission (2011-17) leading the ITC review on the spatial impact of High Speed Rail. In 2016 John was awarded the MBE for his work with civil society.
His urban planning and design work spans public and private projects, with a recent emphasis on co-production with civil society. Cities worked with include Helsinki, Gothenburg, Copenhagen, Malmo, Berlin, Rotterdam, Utrecht, Birmingham, Glasgow. Specific area concept briefing and design projects; Stockley Park (1983-2008) Heathrow airport (1989-96) Carl Zeiss Jena (1991-04) San Sebastian de los Reyes Parque Empresarial Madrid (1990-91) and High Rise strategies for Rotterdam (1999-2005) and Dublin (2000-05).
John is internationally recognised for his role in briefing, change management and as on urban strategist integrating improved ways of operating within existing urban landscapes. Since co-founding DEGW, he has advised city governments, developers and academic insJohn has consulted and lectured internationally with visiting Professorships at University of Technology, Sydney, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg and the Universities of Sheffield, Melbourne and Kyushu (Japan). In 2016 he was made an Honorary DSc by the University of Reading, where the DEGW Archive is now located.
Publications include Industrial Rehabilitation: The Use of Redundant Buildings for Small Enterprises (1984) co-authored with Peter Eley, Managing the Brief for Better Design (2nd Edition 2010) co-authored with Alistair Blyth and Reinventing the Workplace (2nd Edition 2006)