Three new Young Urbanist members have joined the Young Urbanists Steering Committee. The committee meets monthly to help shape the direction of the network and plan activities.
Meet the new Young Urbanist Steering Committee members
Savini Rajapakse, Architectural Assistant, The Prince’s Foundation.
I’m an aspiring urban designer, with several years of architectural training behind me. I’m passionate about designing safe and inclusive public spaces that add vibrancy to communities of all kinds. In my professional and academic career, I’ve visited a number of international contexts to study a diverse range of vernacular urban forms, and as a designer, I’m committed to addressing the pervasive problems of sprawl, car-dependency and urban homogeneity that jeopardise the quality of many emerging cities today. In my work, I advocate for high-quality, people-centred urban design on a variety of town planning projects in the UK and internationally.
Marketa Nosalova, Development Manager, TOWN.
My first foray into the world of Young Urbanists was as inspirational as it gets – a cycling tour of Belgium and the Netherlands which included cycling on the Hovenring – the world’s first floating cycle roundabout, sleeping on a boat, and learning how the Dutch judge the ideal height of a curb. Working as a development manager at TOWN, I constantly draw on the inspiration and lessons learnt from the work that the Young Urbanists do and I look forward to more to come. Cycling is definitely one of my priorities – whether it’s mountain biking in Wales in my free time or working as a cycling instructor supporting children and adults in gaining the skills and confidence to cycle on London’s roads. The sweet spot is when passion for healthy and happy places meets with money and action. That’s when purpose-driven development can thrive. And I look forward to being part of the Young Urbanist Steering Committee which supports and inspires us all to make better places.
Jaffer Muljiani, Sustainability Consultant, BDP.
Jaffer joined the Sustainability team at BDP in 2018, towards the end of an MSc in Sustainable Cities at King’s College London. Over the past three years he has provided holistic sustainable design consultancy on a range of diverse projects, from the redevelopment of the Palace of Westminster and AstraZeneca’s new global headquarters to a masterplan in Galway and Great Ormond Street Hospital’s new Cancer Centre.
Jaffer sees urbanism as a means to tackling the climate crisis and social inequity – the two greatest challenges of our time, and is looking forward to get involved with finding solutions to these through the Young Urbanists platform. Jaffer also sits on the New London Architecture’s NextGen Sounding Board, was recently selected to be one of fifty Young Leaders from around the world at the Urban Futures Global Conference, Europe’s largest platform on sustainable cities; and has been appointed to the fourth cohort of the UN SDSN-Youth Local Pathways Fellowship. When not stuck indoors due to a pandemic, he enjoys (attempts) bouldering and performance art.