Meet Ed

Why I chose Newcastle

My interest in cities, architecture, regeneration and urbanism goes back as long as I can remember. I knew for sure that I wanted to study Urban Planning at a city university (e.g. not a campus) because of my passion for cities. You can see and live first-hand the impact planning has on all our lives through the Newcastle microcosm. For example, the Town Moor, a protected stretch of land that's larger than both Hyde Park and Hampstead Heath combined. It restricted growth of the city and kept this undisturbed patch of green space for everyone to enjoy.

Newcastle is dense and walkable, giving you an in-depth supplement to your planning studies even outside the lecture theatre. You're learning even as you're living, breathing, and enjoying the city. It's a priceless aspect of studying Urban Planning here that will give you a strong and robust knowledge to take into your future careers.

Where my degree took me

My urban planning degree helped me get a career in property straight after graduation. Alongside my interest in cities, planning and regeneration, I also have an interest in data and analysis. I quickly found that these two passions complement each other well. I gathered data and built a map showing major development and regeneration projects across northern England. While studying, someone working in property informed me that the dataset could be incredibly useful to the industry. So, I set up a small 'company' (if you could even call it that) selling the data to industry. This led me to my first job working in Land Acquisitions at a company developing student accommodation (PBSA), where I combined my data sourcing abilities with my planning knowledge. That then brought me into a career working in Build to Rent consultancy, where I've worked for the last 8 years across various companies. Here, I work alongside developers, investors, architects and many more sectors planning and designing anything from urban regeneration masterplans to standalone residential-led buildings.

Being able to point at something in the real-world built environment and say "I played a part in making that happen". That's something that only really people who work in built environment professions get to experience, and it's extremely rewarding. We should all seek to leave the world in a better place than we found it. Working in property and real estate, combined with a love and passion for creating well-designed places for humans, is just about one of the best ways you can achieve that. 

My advice if you are thinking of studying Urban Planning

Get in depth knowledge on how the planning system works, why certain things are the way they are, and learning about how the cities and buildings we live in are so inextricably linked to planning decisions. This is all valuable knowledge for anyone pursuing a career in development, architecture, and real estate in general. Knowing the planning process, and understanding the jargon, has helped me immeasurably in my career.