Presenting at the ULI Charitable Trust Dinner our Urban Plan project to introduce state school sixth formers to urban regeneration, bringing one of London’s most innovative social entrepreneurs to our regular ULI UK Executive Committee meeting and the honour of introducing legendary architect, and past ULI Trustee, Gene Kohn at a free-to-members breakfast made my last pre-Xmas week of ULI engagements a busy but satisfying one.

Gene took us on a tour of the evolution of mixed use buildings, from the John Hancock Centre in Chicago in 1969 to New York’s project of the moment, Hudson Yards via Japan, Hong Kong and Shanghai, focusing on common factors but also recognising the cultural differences and nuances – the 17 floors of retail in Nagoya, Japan would not work in North America….Prompted by Van Stults, Founding Partner of Orion Capital Managers LLP and Chair of ULI Europe’s Office and Mixed Use Council a wide-ranging audience discussion ensued as Gene lived up to the ULI tradition of sharing experiences, both good and bad.

The day beforehand, Sara Turnbull, CEO of The Bootstrap Company had attended the UK Executive Committee meeting. Sara is a long-standing ULI member and contributor to the UK Sustainability Council. But she was invited to share the background to Bootstrap’s success as a social enterprise hub attracting 500 businesses to shared workspace in Dalston. She’s looking to build out more of her site and the meeting also focused on ways in which ULI or its members could help her with the project expertise she will need.

Amanda Keane explains where we have got to in the first academic year of the UrbanPlan project. My role at the Charitable Trust Dinner was to thank the Trust and its supporters for the grants which had enabled us to build and test the project to a point at which we could successfully fund raise from the property industry. I was aided by our new film, truly painting in “ a thousand words” the excitement, engagement and impact of the project in the 15 schools we took it to this autumn. Our ambition for next academic year is 40 state schools across the UK, and we will soon be seeking the funds and the volunteers to do so…..”

Simon Clark, ULI UK Chair

Partner Consultant, Linklaters