Strutt & Parker, one of the UK’s leading property consultants, has become the founding partner of the Urban Land Institute’s (ULI) UK initiative, Urban Plan.

This charity was set up in USA in 1936 as a non-profit research and education organisationwhich now supports over 27,000 members around the world.  It provides leadership in the responsible use of land and in creating and sustaining thriving communities worldwide. 

Following 12 months of preparation UrbanPlan UK, was launched at the beginning of November with S&P making a substantial commitment both financially and with volunteers. For the next month the team of 50 volunteers will be working with A level pupils in schools in Birmingham, Chester, Edinburgh, Glasgow and London – reaching well over 300 pupils.

John McLarty, National Head of Planning at Strutt & Parker says; “Strutt & Parker has made a significant financial commitment to set up the project and support the production of workshop materials as well as over 40 members of our Development and Planning team committing to volunteering in schools and providing advice. The volunteers are involved from across the property industry, including planners, architects, surveyors and lawyers – the young people will get a wonderful insight into how their towns and cities are shaped through a team work challenge to regenerate an urban site.”

UrbanPlan UK delivers targeted free one-day workshops for year 12 ‘A’ level students (Geography & Business Studies) to bring real estate to life in a way designed to be relevant to the syllabus and compelling for young people. The workshop focuses on the redevelopment of a site in a hypothetical town and students are grouped into teams to form property companies responding to a call for proposals from a fictional local council. Each team member assumes a role within the company enabling them to develop an understanding of the various market and non-market forces and stakeholders in the development process. Teams address challenging financial, market, social, political, and design issues; develop a 3D model of their plan. They must reconcile these often-competing agendas to create a well-designed, market-responsive, and sustainable project which is then presented to the “City Council” (made up of industry volunteers). Industry experts work closely in this process, providing advice on scheme formation, giving guidance on presentation techniques and reviewing each teams urban vision through awarding the development contract to the winning team.

The Urban Plan workshop represents the first stage of engagement as part of a wider commitment to promoting opportunities for young people in the UK. It is intended that Urban Plan will go on to provide:

• An annual celebration event for winning teams.

• Opportunities to engage further through follow-up activities (e.g. site visits, work experience) to support learning.

• Clear signposting on career choices (apprenticeships, internships, summer schools, work experience, university and other courses) in association with professional bodies & other key initiatives such as ‘’Property Needs You’’ and ‘’Pathways to Property’’. ULI plans to work up a directory of next steps introducing students to all these initiatives.

• Mechanisms to measure outcomes so successes can be monitored and ongoing improvements made.

• To seek appropriate accreditation after the first year.

John McLarty concludes “We hope this year’s launch of UrbanPlan UK represents the first stage in a long term relationship between Strutt and Parker and the Urban land Institute as part of the firms wider commitment to supporting charitable organisations within the UK.”