The Journey of Place: Leeds
Join us for this half day event experiencing Leeds' urbanism past, present, and future through walking tours and and evening reception
Date: Tuesday 11 June 2024
Time: Tours from 14:00 / Evening reception from 17:00
Location: Various city centre locations (tours) / Arup, Wellington Place (reception)
Tickets on sale here or via Eventbrite portal at the bottom of this page. Early Bird rates available until Friday 10 May with additional AoU Member discounts available here.
Over the course of 16 years of the Urbanism Awards, many cities across the UK and Ireland have had the opportunity to showcase a range of examples of great urbanism, and Leeds is one of them. One of the biggest cities in the UK, Leeds is home to five past Urbanism Awards finalists, including two winners.
This event aims to revisit some of the learning from the original nominations, reflecting as far back as 2011, when the Victoria Quarter won the Great Place award. Most recently Solar Avenue was shortlisted for Great Street in 2022.
Afternoon walking tours - or 'study trips down memory lane' - led by local stakeholders will run to a selection of past finalists, followed by an evening reception at Arup's new city centre office. There we'll enjoy drinks + nibbles with fellow urbanists, reveal the 2024 Urbanism Awards shortlist, and hear from Martin Farrington, the Director of City Development, who steps down later this year after 30 years in the role.
Programme overview:
14:00 - 17:00
Walking Tours: Study trips down Memory Lane
Choose from*:
- Holbeck and South Bank: Regeneration and inner-city neighbourhoods
- Kirkgate: Heritage and the future
- Solar Avenue: New neighbourhoods
- Victoria Quarter: Restoration and town centres
*Please be aware that each tour will have a different starting point. Attendees must select their preferred tour at the time of booking, and will be sent confirmation of their meeting point via email closer to the event.
17:00 - 20:00
Evening Reception
With:
- Speaker Martin Farrington
- Announcement of 2024 Urbanism Awards finalists
- Drinks and canapés (soft and dietary options available)
Evening speaker:
Martin Farrington
Martin has worked in local government for more than 30 years and is the Director of City Development at Leeds City Council with responsibility for the physical, economic and cultural development of the city. In 2014 he was awarded Property Personality of the Year at the Yorkshire Property Awards and is a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors.
His work includes leading the £170m Leeds Flood Alleviation schemes 1 & 2, the delivery of the First Direct Arena, the redevelopment of Headingley Stadium, taking Leeds Bradford Airport from public to private ownership. Martin has led the proposals for regenerating the South Bank of Leeds City Centre, which includes working with Network Rail on the redevelopment of Leeds Station, the restoration of Temple Mill for the British Library North and the delivery of a new city-centre park.
Martin also led the development of the £136m East Leeds Orbital Road which opened in 2022 and facilitates an urban extension of some 4,500 new homes and supported the growth of the city’s retail core through £500m of investment in the development of Trinity Leeds and the Victoria Gate John Lewis scheme.
Early Bird rates are available until Friday 10 May
AoU Members: Click here for additional discount codes
Thumbnail photo by Tim Lumley via Unsplash and additional photo by Jonny Gios via Unsplash.
