Q1. What is the next big innovation or development in the built environment that you are most looking forward to?
The innovation in the built environment that most excites me falls into two closely connected areas. These are sustainability and the adaptation of existing assets.
The first is the transformation of how we design and construct buildings so that they are genuinely more sustainable. This is a critical challenge for cities like Southampton, where future growth must be balanced with environmental responsibility. Advances in materials, construction methods and the use of artificial intelligence in buildings have the potential to improve efficiency and reduce construction costs. These changes are essential if we are to deliver the scale of development cities need while also reducing carbon impact. For a coastal city, sustainability is not optional. In Southampton, our relationship with our two rivers and the sea makes resilience, efficiency and long-term environmental adaptation central to the future of the built environment.
The second area is about how we make better use of the buildings and spaces we already have. Innovation is not only about creating new places. It is also about reimagining what already exists. Southampton has an extraordinary built heritage, from the city walls through to more recent twentieth-century architecture. There is significant potential in how these assets are adapted and brought back into active use. Places such as God’s House Tower in Southampton show how historic and modern elements can be combined and repurposed to support culture, creativity and public life, giving buildings renewed relevance while respecting their history.
Ultimately, what excites me most is the long-term evolution and adaptation of Southampton’s waterfront. This is a defining feature of the city and central to its Renaissance Vision. Fully embracing the waterfront will take decades, but it has the potential to reshape how the city grows, how people experience it, and how the built environment responds to its setting. Seeing that transformation unfold is something I am genuinely excited about.
Q2. What have younger team members pushed you to rethink?
What younger members of the organization most strongly emphasize is pace and delivery. Many live in Southampton and experience the city every day through its neighborhoods, transport networks and public spaces. This gives them a clear and immediate sense of what works and what does not.
This creates a strong focus on action. Long-term strategies and visions remain important, but there is a clear expectation that ambition must translate into visible change. Alongside thinking strategically about the future of the city, there is a consistent push to ask what can be done now and what practical, short-term interventions can improve people’s lived experience of the built environment.
This perspective offers a fresh way of thinking. It reinforces the importance of balancing long term planning with timely delivery and reminds us that we are shaping a city for their present and their future. As those who will live with the outcomes of today’s decisions, their views are particularly important in ensuring that strategic intent is matched by action on the ground.
Q3. What has changed in how you recruit compared to five years ago?
Over the past five years, expectations around how we work have changed significantly, with flexibility becoming a defining characteristic of recruitment. While many aspects of working life have returned to pre-pandemic norms, hybrid working is now firmly established and has shaped how people expect to engage with their roles.
For a local authority, this has created new opportunities. While it remains important to have a workforce connected to the communities we serve, flexible working allows us to recruit across a much wider geographic area. This means we can attract people with the right skills without being constrained by commuting distance. To get the best out of people, we also need to respond to expectations around flexibility and worklife balance.
This shift has also supported greater diversity and inclusion. Flexible roles make it possible for people to join and remain in the workforce who may not previously have been able to do so, particularly those balancing work with family or caring responsibilities.
In the built environment, recruitment has also evolved in response to the increasing complexity of placemaking and regeneration. Delivery now requires broader skillsets and the ability to work across specialisms. Urban design, digital and IT capability, consultation, communication and project delivery all play an essential role alongside traditional technical expertise. As regeneration programs have expanded in scope, roles have become more adaptable and multidisciplinary. A diversity of perspectives is essential to shaping successful and inclusive places.
Q4. From your experience, what makes regeneration genuinely transformative for the communities that need it most, rather than just physically changing a place?
Regeneration is genuinely transformative when it is shaped by local communities and reflects how people actually live and use places, rather than focusing only on physical change. In cities like Southampton, regeneration often takes place in neighborhoods with strong identities and long histories. Meaningful change requires patience, trust and a real commitment to listening.
In the early stages, communities may not yet be clear about what they want or need. They need time to come together, talk things through and shape a shared view of the future. Without this, there is a real risk that regeneration is driven by external ideas rather than the everyday experience of residents.
This is something I saw clearly in a previous national role, where I worked closely with a local authority on the recovery following the Grenfell Tower fire in the UK. While there was no shortage of ambitious design ideas from consultants, residents were focused on more immediate priorities. These included safe and well-functioning homes, reliable services and accessible green space. Above all, they wanted to remain together as a community. It was only through sustained commitment and patience that those priorities were properly understood.
This experience is highly relevant to regeneration in Southampton. Each neighborhood and district center is different, and successful regeneration depends on hearing a wide range of voices, not just the loudest. Regeneration works best when it is locally informed, inclusive and shaped with communities rather than for them.
Ultimately, regeneration must look beyond physical renewal to consider long-term outcomes. The most successful programs are those that improve everyday lived experiences now, while also creating places where future generations in Southampton can see opportunity, choose to stay, and build their lives over time.
