Urbis has announced the appointment of Kate Meyrick, formerly CEO of The Hornery Institute, to the role of director in their newly-launched service offering, Future State. A passionate urbanist and place maker, Meyrick joins Urbis Group director James Tuma in leading this new strategic advisory unit. 

Australian cities rank highly on a global stage and are growing faster than ever before, however, thinking behind them has arguably stagnated meaning they are ill-equipped to face the remainder of this century.

“Tomorrow’s great cities are born out of bold thinking today. Cities such as Singapore and London are successful because they made brave decisions ten years ago and have delivered on a long-term vision - something which Australia is yet to do, consistently,” says Tuma.

“The recent environmental crisis facing the country should act as a lightning rod for new thinking to build resilient, competitive and thriving cities. Australia needs to look beyond political cycles and risk adverse approaches to ensure our future success.” 

Drawing together visionary strategists, planners, business, government and communities –supported by the breadth of Urbis’ network - Future State is a strategic advisory unit designed to bring fresh ideas to the most complex urban challenges. 

“There is growing tension in Australian cities caused by short-term planning and leadership decisions. We need bold and purposeful approaches to tackle the macro-challenges facing our cities such as climate change, technological progress and density,” says Meyrick.

“Applying learnings from our work around the world, we’ll take an optimistic view on how our cities can evolve and adapt to the issues that face them.”

Meyrick brings over 25 years of international experience to Urbis, having worked on complex city shaping, urban regeneration and large-scale greenfield community projects across seventeen cities in four continents – working regularly in London, Singapore and the San Francisco-Bay Area.

Image:  Kate Meyrick & James Tuma / Supplied.