Jun 5 2007
Kevin McGeough, Policy Manager at English Partnerships, the national regeneration agency, has been appointed a Fellow of the RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, www.theRSA.org), in recognition of his contribution to urban design and the work he has undertaken on behalf of English Partnerships in this discipline.
The accolade is offered by invitation to individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to improving the quality of society through their chosen field. As an architect and urban designer, Kevin's role is to ensure that development on English Partnerships’ land reflects the government's Urban Renaissance agenda and supports the delivery of the Sustainable Communities Plan. He has published “Car parking; what works where” and is currently working on the successor document to the Urban Design Compendium, due in September 2007.
Kevin is also involved in putting policy into practice. The urban summit house which he delivered for the Urban Summit in Manchester in 2005 has now been developed into a housing scheme at Allerton Bywater Millennium Community, near Leeds, illustrating how English Partnerships’ Quality Standards can be transformed into exciting and sustainable places to live.
On accepting his Fellowship, Kevin said, “I am extremely proud to represent English Partnerships as a Fellow of the RSA, and an ambassador for high quality urban design. This recognition confirms what English Partnerships strongly believes – that exceptional placemaking is only achieved through collaboration with an inspired approach to planning and design. After all, as we are demonstrating through the Design for Manufacture competition, creating successful communities is about making high quality places that people want and can afford to live in.”
Stephen Farrant, Fellowship & Marketing Director, RSA said, “Good urban design lies at the heart of our society as an integral part of our cultural fabric. As such, we welcome the work English Partnerships is doing, and recognise Kevin’s significant contribution to meeting this challenge.”