This week we chat with my old line manager and now the Acting Assistant Director of Planning at Birmingham City Council, a true brummie, born and raised in Birmingham and now taking the City to 2040 with its new plan. Simon is a a real character and enthusiast within the urban design world and someone who truly has a passion for promoting a completely holistic approach to urban design and place making, which is designed and developed to provide many multifunctional purposes. So welcome to Simon Delahunty-Forrest

We could talk about so many things, this is all about how we make Birmingham a true destination again and achieve its 2040 plan Our Future City Plan – Central Birmingham 2040 to deliver six key themes:

1. City of centres
2. Growth for all
3. City of nature
4. City of layers
5. City of connections
6. City of knowledge and innovation

We will try to cover a wide topic base including:

• how Simon got into masterplanning and urban design, 
• the impact of Covid and peoples need for good well designed and local places
• how urban design works in practice and how masterplanners contribute to the delivery of a better place?
• what resinates with him and why he wanted to lead from the front at the City Council

We will end with:

• what does great look like in relation to urban design and the future of the natural environment look like to you... 

Find out more about we can help you secure the relationship between the natural and built environments and ultimately increase the value of your site at https://www.wnic.co.uk/.

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Thank you for tuning in to Nature's Architects, where we bring together the threads of the natural and the man-made, exploring the natural environment in passionate and dynamic fashion to positively disrupt how it is viewed. If today’s conversation has planted a seed of curiosity or if there’s a specific environmental topic you’re burning to hear more about, we’re all ears. Reach out to us at hello@wnic.co.uk – your insights and questions are the soil from which our discussions grow.

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From all of us at Nature's Architects, thank you for listening, for engaging, and for being the change our planet needs. Until next time, keep building bridges between the natural and built environments.