We are excited to announce that our Director, Tara Gbolade, has been chosen as one of 42no. Mayor’s Design Advocates by the Mayor of London!
Mayor appoints experts to shape a better city by promoting quality and inclusion in the built environment
To support the refreshed Good Growth by Design programme, the Mayor, Sadiq Khan has appointed 42 new Mayor’s Design Advocates (MDAs) – including high-profile practitioners Sir David Adjaye OBE, Hanif Kara OBE, Farshid Moussavi OBE and Sir David Chipperfield CBE, alongside rising stars – to support the Mayor’s Good Growth by Design programme and help shape London into a better city by promoting quality and inclusion on the built environment.
MDAs are independent experts who will support the Mayor’s vision of “good growth” and will ensure that new buildings and public spaces will benefit Londoners and are at the heart of the capital's recovery from the pandemic.
In addition to high profile names, the new cohort also includes fresh, emerging talent in the built environment space and those who have relevant expertise in key areas such as zero-carbon and sustainability, the safety of women and girls and housing quality.
The group of 42 MDAs have experience in both the public and private sector, include practitioners, academics, policymakers and those from community-led initiatives. 55 per cent are women and 45 per cent come from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds.
The new cohort will support the updated Good Growth by Design programme which has a new forward programme responding to four years of change. The newly updated programme reflects the importance of an inclusive recovery from a pandemic that has highlighted inequalities in the capital and need to counter racism and other forms of prejudice in the built environment.
The pandemic has also accelerated a change in the way Londoners use the city. The reconfiguration of high streets and other workspaces, as well as the urgent need to meet net zero by 2030 is also reflected in the updated Good Growth programme.
The new cohort will work on three main objectives:
· Quality
Utilising expertise spanning the range of specialisms needed across the Greater London Authority Group to support quality, sustainability and inclusion in the built environment, in line with the Mayor’s Good Growth by Design programme.
· Recovery
Shaping and supporting activities delivered as part of the London Recovery Programme. This could include work undertaken as part of the recovery missions, led by the London Recovery Board, or more general work towards its aims.
· Representation
Being reflective of London’s diverse population and equipped to support the delivery of an inclusive built environment in which a spectrum of experiences and communities are valued and able to play a role in shaping the capital’s future. #GoodGrowthbyDesign
Find out more: https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/regeneration/advice-and-guidance/about-good-growth-design
