On Wednesday 9 May, Grosvenor will host an event titled the ‘International Urbanism Studio’, which brings together Young Urbanists to share their experiences in both research and practice outside of the UK.

This event builds on previous well-received events of the same name hosted by AECOM in February 2015 and at the Prince’s Foundation for Building Community in January 2017. A write up from last year’s studio can be found here.

The theme for this upcoming event will be Connectivity and looks to draw upon a broad coverage of world regions – as well as different built environment sectors. By learning from others global experience, we will look to raise some important questions such as:

• • When considering Connectivity, what are some of the challenges faced when working internationally?
  • What are some of the most pressing issues presented by Connectivity today?
  • What are some of the responses to Connectivity that are being applied?
  • What responses to Connectivity are universal, and what are site specific?

• And lastly, what can UK practitioners bring to the context of international projects?

Confirmed speakers include:

– Floriane Ortega, AECOM 

An urban planner specialised in economic development, Floriane has been working in a wide range of contexts in South, Central America, Sub-Saharan Africa and South East Asia. She is now channelling her passion towards London’s strategic regeneration projects, in the Economic Development and Regeneration team at Aecom. Floriane will reflect on public transport provision in Vietnamese cities, through the case study of its capital city Hanoi.

– Matthew Carreau, ARUP

– Alisha Fisher, 3°09

– Simon Hicks, Foster and Partners

Simon is cross-disciplinary urbanist with a diverse background covering architecture, public design guidance, community engagement, urban planning, data analytics and local economic development strategies. He will reflect upon the crisis of connectivity that urban millennials have inherited, and consider international approaches to designing productive cities that put user experience first.

– Gregorio Maya, Space Syntax 

Greg studied Architecture at the Universidad de Los Andes in Bogota (BArch – Summa Cum Laude) and later achieved his MSc at The Bartlett in Space Syntax. His particular interests involve interdisciplinary approaches to analysing complex buildings and the relation of urban interventions in socio-economic scenarios. Greg has design experience working in the private, public and academic sectors. He has developed a creative use of Space Syntax theories and methods, where he works since 2016. Since then he has built network models of London and the UK as well as for international cities like Jilin (China), Astana (Kazakhstan) and Bogota (Colombia). For the talk, Greg will be presenting personal research done in Bogota, Colombia.

Programme for the evening will be as follows, and we do hope you can join us!

18.30 Registration

18.45 Welcome from Julie Plichon, The Academy of Urbanism Young Urbanist Co-ordinator

18.50 Welcome by Grosvenor

19.00 Quick-fire presentations from our panel

20.00 Question and Answer Period

20.30 Drinks / Snacks Reception

RSVP or email jp@academyofurbanism.org.uk