The Urban Land Institute (ULI) has appointed Kathryn Firth and William Polisano as co-chairs of the ULI UK Infrastructure and Urban Development Council. They succeed Carlo Castelli as chair and will serve on a voluntary basis for the next two years.

Firth is currently director, cities, planning and design at Arup. Prior to joining the company, she was urban design director at several practices in the UK and the US and chief of design at the London Legacy Development Corporation.

Polisano, who has been an independent development management consultant for the past six years, started his career at Lipton Rogers Developments and has worked on the acquisition, financing and delivery of some of London’s most complex real estate schemes.

Mark Collins, chair of the ULI UK National Council, said: “A very warm welcome to both Kathryn and William as co-chairs of ULI UK’s Infrastructure and Urban Development Council. It is an immense challenge to ensure that the important role that infrastructure plays in shaping our future and maximising social impact is fully understood and not undervalued. I’m thrilled that we have both Kathryn and William at the helm in furthering this important mission and look forward to their leadership. 

“I’d also like to express my thanks to Carlo for his enormous contribution and commitment in leading the Infrastructure and Urban Development Council over the last several years since he assumed the leadership role initially as co-chair in 2020. The role of all of our product councils in the UK are invaluable, and we are fortunate to have some very talented people furthering this important aspect of ULI’s mission.”

Firth added: “I am very happy to build on Carlo Castelli’s work and take on the position of co-chair, with William Polisano, on the ULI UK Infrastructure and Urban Development Council. I believe this is a critical and timely moment for this council as our towns and cities continue to look to regenerate their centres, promote diverse modes of transport and accommodate more housing. I look forward to finding ways to have a productive exchange with other councils, both in the UK and Internationally.”

Polisano said: “I am delighted to continue my ULI journey as the co-chair of the IUPDC, working alongside Kathryn to leverage Carlo’s excellent work in building a strong and productive product council. As well as tackling the wonderful complexities of our urban environments at home, we aim to capitalise on strong links across ULI Europe to broaden our learnings and strengthen our outputs.”