WE ADD VALUE TO THE
BUILT ENVIRONMENT

We create alliances & build bridges
We put new places on the cultural map
We create distinct, memorable, marketable identity

FUTURECITY IS A LEADING CULTURAL PLACEMAKING CONSULTANCY

People. Culture. Place.

Futurecity is a cultural placemaking agency that creates cultural strategies, brokers cultural partnerships and delivers major arts projects for clients across the public and private sectors. Founded by Mark Davy in 2007, Futurecity has produced over 125 cultural strategies, brokered over 20 cultural partnerships, and worked on over 100 artist commissions for clients across four continents.

Futurecity believes culture is key to unlocking the power and potential of city space. We encourage architects, engineers, landscape designers, developers and city planners to integrate art and culture at the beginning of any project by collaborating with artists to provide a contemporary narrative for our towns, cities and urban centres. Futurecity devises innovative strategies, which have been sensitively constructed and developed into unique public art commissions across the UK, mainland Europe, North America, Asia and Australia.

Recent prominent projects include a radical new cultural placemaking strategy for Wembley Park; BasildON cultural placemaking strategy that informed a successful £1.2m Arts Council People & Places grant application; Turner Prize nominee Mark Titchner’s Me. How. Now. at London Bridge Station; Infinity Blue by Studio Swine at the Eden Project in Cornwall; and Conrad Shawcross RA’s Optic Cloak at Greenwich Peninsula. Futurecity is the long-standing curator of the Gallery at Foyles, bringing a programme of public exhibitions to the fifth floor of central London’s foremost independent bookseller.

OUR 8-POINT APPROACH

We maximise the value of embedding culture within new places through an 8 point approach.

PRE-PLANNING

Futurecity have written almost 100 placemaking and cultural strategies for the largest brownfield developments and regeneration projects across the UK and mainland Europe including the Nine Elms Opportunity area, White City, Greenwich Peninsula, Earls Court, Canary Wharf and the City of London. Our strategies and plans bring forward authentic and inspiring proposals for bringing the best cultural activity into a new site: a big idea for cities, districts and neighbourhoods as they compete for inward investment, tourism, knowledge workers and businesses.

Cultural partnerships

Great places work with their city’s best arts and cultural partners, bringing brand association of authentic, world leading, sustainable culture to a new place, knitted into the city’s DNA. Recent partnerships on major new schemes include the Royal Academy, Royal College of Art and the University of the Arts.

Working with artists

Futurecity works with the worlds leading artists, crafts specialists, designers, and cultural producers to bring individual bespoke projects to every site, embedded within  architecture and public realm. We collaborate with the best international artists. The result is projects of vision, scale, sensitivity, and client brand awareness.

Public engagement

We deliver integrated community and stakeholder communication into all client projects. This delivers ambitious credible projects that have a broad base of support and engagement.

Project delivery

We deliver projects from inception to completion. We work closely with clients to achieve the best possible project for a site. This can range from bronze sculpture to embedded public realm furniture, to collaborative landscape design or meanwhile programmes. All our projects carefully maximise budgets by dovetailing existing design and build budgets to integrate a cultural DNA throughout a scheme.

PR value

Culture has the depth and power to bring a strong authentic narrative to a new place. From the initial cultural strategy, through selecting projects and artists,and developing the projects, a scheme’s public art can drive and support a unique long term identity for a site. We work with our clients’ marketing teams to develop and deliver this identity.

Legacy

We give our clients the confidence to commission exciting, visionary projects. We support them to understand the opportunities gained from commissioning certain types of art & culture; unique sites, major PR, connection to communities, education initiatives, and the ability to stimulate the culture of the area. We create formal documentation and help all involved to structure and support the right management and maintenance plans into the future.

Local authority liaison

We liaise and advise local authorities on all major client driven projects. We create partnership, positive dialogue and support from across the public sector, building bridges to support and secure planning and delivery.

MEET THE TEAM

We provide expertise across the cultural sector; visual arts, performing arts, design, craft, technology, and creative industries.

Mark Davy

Founder

Mark Davy founded Futurecity in 2007 (with offices in London and Cambridge) as a culture and placemaking consultancy and a platform for predominantly private sector involvement in culture-driven development of our urban centres. Under his leadership Futurecity has written over 50 cultural and arts strategies for large brownfield developments, regeneration areas and urban projects across the UK.
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Andy Robinson

Director of Placemaking

Andy creates and leads a diverse portfolio of culture and placemaking programmes in Cambridge, working closely between clients and the local authorities vision for innovation and growth in the city. He transforms strategic thinking into deliverable programmes of public art commissions and cultural partnerships, building and integrating new communities across the city.

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Anna Pearson

Director of HR

Anna develops and enhances Futurecity’s human resources by planning, implementing, and evaluating all HR and employee relations strategies, policies and practices. She works closely with the team to plan resources and ensure all HR practices are legally sound. Anna is a fully qualified HR professional with over 20 years’ HR experience with 17 of those post-qualification (CIPD Advanced Level 7 Postgraduate Diploma in Human Resource Management).

Rachel de Cesaro

Business Director

Rachel provides the coordination of Futurecity’s business operations with an extensive management background within the architectural industry. She has a passion for delivering results and values the importance of integrating art and culture into all our projects. Rachel is a proponent of finding continual incremental improvement within the creative environment.

Fabienne Nicholas

International Curatorial Director

Fabienne has over 25 yrs of senior leadership, curatorial & producing experience delivering creative arts programmes and public art projects. In London, she established the Contemporary Art Society’s Consultancy, leading a team delivering major scale strategies, public art commissions and curatorial projects, including the first statue of a woman in Parliament Square and long-term public art programmes for LSE, Cambridge and Bristol universities.

Vestalia Chilton

Director of Arts

Vestalia focuses on Urban Planning and Cultural Strategy. Formerly at Sotheby’s, with a degree in Valuation and Auctioning of Fine Art and Chattels, she consults on significant permanent public art commissions in London. She leads the Kensington and Chelsea Art Week and Public Art Trail she co-founded in 2017, which brings together over 150 cultural public and private sector organisations guided by a 15-strong advisory board. Vestalia is currently pursuing a RTPI-accredited MA in Urban Planning and Resilience at the University of Kent.

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Sinéad McCarthy

Curatorial Director

Sinéad plans and manages the delivery across the public arts commissions, strategies and exhibitions, providing a curatorial perspective. With over 15 years contemporary arts experience, curating, commissioning and producing projects with Artangel, Barbican, Liverpool Biennial and Museum of the Home, she has worked with many artists, organisations and stakeholders initiating and shaping new partnerships and programming opportunities. She holds an MFA in Curating from Goldsmiths College.

George Kekatos

Senior Cultural Strategist

George develops Futurecity’s activity in the arts and cultural sector and its network of cultural partners. He devises business structures and processes for cultural brokering and develops new business models for cultural collaborations. He has delivered several flagship cultural placemaking strategies and public artworks on a global scale and holds an MA in Arts Administration and Cultural Policy from Goldsmiths University of London.

Maheer Khan

Researcher

Maheer provides support to both the arts and strategy teams and helps generates project content. She holds a BA in Architecture and has significant experience in community engagement, design, and management. Previously working as design assistant for a social enterprise, she is committed to demonstrating the complex and powerful role culture plays in cities, exploring the role of spirituality, cartography, sports, design and animation.

Madison Gough

Project Coordinator

Madison previously worked in the education sector across policy, governance and projects, working on a variety of projects across the arts and green programmes in schools. She holds an MSc in International Development and a BA in Geography, with a particular interest in sustainable development and a passion for improving accessibility to the arts. Madison provides support to both the strategy and arts team and supports the business function at Futurecity.

Alessandra Grignaschi

Associate, Curator

Alessandra is a highly skilled Curator who commissions and produces diverse projects within the creative, arts and media industries. Since 2010, she has worked with curator and exhibition-maker Judith Clark in the delivery and management of exhibitions of dress in museums, galleries and retail spaces worldwide. She previously worked in the film industry managing events to promote UK film culture and talent within the international marketplace.

Alice Strazzeri

Associate, Craft & Design Specialist

Alice is Futurecity’s strategic advisor for craft and design. Prior to this she was a design curator at the British Council, publishing The New English Dandy with Thames & Hudson, and curating a series of international touring exhibitions. As Director Arts & Culture India, she commissioned Tim Supple’s seminal Midsummer Nights Dream, managed 13 staff across the continent and budgets up to 1 million.

Rajesh Punj

Associate

Based between Antwerp and London, Rajesh Punj is a freelance art critic, correspondent and collector, with an academic background in Art History and Curating from Warwick University (UK) and Goldsmiths (UK) respectively. Well versed in European and American modern and contemporary art, with an appreciation of the newer markets in India and the Middle East, having traveled extensively, and interviewed leading artists, philanthropists, scholars and sculptors, for a wider worldview.

Dr Anna Marazuela Kim

Associate, Senior Cultural Researcher

Anna is an adviser and scholar at the intersection of the arts and built environment with institutes of advanced study, industry and universities internationally, advancing insight on placemaking, civic agency and human thriving; culture, conflict and urban futures. Anna brings academic expertise to broader publics and practice, recently as Associate at Foster + Partners, and is an Associate of Thriving Cities Lab (US) and King’s College, London.

Don Porter

Associate, Advisor on Saudi Projects

Don assists with the development of projects in Saudi Arabia for Future City. He brings unique experience to the role having served as Programme Director of the largest public art program in the world, Riyadh Art, implementing the masterplan developed by Future City. In this role he oversaw direct artist awards, artist competitions and architect/artist collaborative commissions for large scale pieces. He is very familiar with contracting, commissioning and procurement of public art in KSA. Prior to this role, he acted as Project Director for several museums and cultural projects in the Middle East, Egypt and India.

Karolina Slup

Associate, Researcher

Karolina is a creative producer working at the intersection of art and design. Her extensive experience collaborating with both public and private institutions spans multidisciplinary cultural initiatives ranging from exhibitions and publications to research-based projects and marketing campaigns. Through her practice, she cultivates creative partnerships and explores the intersections of culture, design, and ecology.

Ali Hossaini

Associate, Digital Scholar & Curator

Ali Hossaini works at the cutting edge of art, technology and business. His productions have been shown in museums, performing arts centers, galleries and festivals globally. An active consultant to museums, theatres and arts districts, he develops technology, design and strategic plans in cities around the world. He lectures regularly and is lead author of The Manual of Digital Museum Planning, released in 2017 by Rowman & Littlefield.

Rachel Hutchison

Associate, Senior Strategist

Rachel is an experienced cultural strategist and has developed place narratives and strategic frameworks for varied scales of mixed-use developments and cultural districts across the UK and internationally. She leads a social innovation lab at the University of the Arts London, focussing on co-design and placemaking.

Marek Wolynski

Associate, Curator & Strategist

Marek develops and directs large-scale projects and cross-sector partnerships that connect, transform, and inspire. He has orchestrated creative commissions, steered public art initiatives, and curated multifaceted projects with major institutions and public entities, including Riyadh Art, British Council, United Nations, Mayor of London, Misk Art Institute, Luma Foundation, Art Rotterdam, and European Parliament, among others. Operating at the intersection of art, design, and architecture, Marek shapes ecosystems where heritage and innovation synergise.

David Barrie

Associate, Social Impact Entrepreneur

David is a producer of urban projects and advisor on entrepreneurship, social impact and the involvement of communities in development. David has founded pioneering ventures, including The People’s Supermarket, Castleford Project and venture investor Wild Blue Cohort and worked in the UK, Canada, Russia and China. He was named recently in the Maserati 100/Sunday Times list of “game changing entrepreneurs”.

Ben Stephenson

Associate, Strategist

Ben has 20 years’ experience in economic development and placemaking roles, including most recently as Chief Executive of the Waterloo Business Improvement District. With wide-ranging experience in programme development, policymaking and delivery, Ben’s work for clients focuses on place development through cultural activation, retail and street markets, neighbourhood planning and place branding.

Cara Courage

Associate, Placemaker

Cara is an arts and placemaking expert. Her passion for and dedication to people and place has led her to specialise in practices that are socially-engaged, community-led, and in embedded in place, whether that place be a team, a city park, a national museum or a rural town high street, doing this as a consultant, practitioner, researcher and writer.

David Micklem

Associate, Performing Arts Specialist

David is an experienced producer, cultural leader, writer and trainer with a demonstrable track record in supporting artists, delivering significant arts projects and influencing policy. From 2007 until 2012 he was Joint Artistic Director and Chief Executive of Battersea Arts Centre, a ground-breaking theatre in South London. He currently works independently for a range of clients including Futurecity.

Fay Cannings

Associate, Cultural Strategist

Fay is a social impact leader having established Seekd.co.uk, a platform for ethical jewellery brands, with a background in CSR and sustainability teams. Previous experience as Community Investment Manager for the London 2012 Olympics Village, on large scale mixed use developments for property developer Lend Lease, ran a youth enterprise charity, led local business partnerships and is a long-term trustee of the Newham New Deal Partnership (NDP).

Imran Hussain

Associate, Hospitality Forecaster

Imran is a Director at THC/ Endeavour – a collaborative marketing communications agency. Previous work within the boutique hotel sector has included being Marketing Director for brands including My Hotels Group and the Great Northern Hotel. Clients such as The Pilgrm, The Zetter Group, Central Working, Gotham, citizenM, Bespoke Hotels and Shinola. Over the years Imran has worked with brands Somerset House, Coco de Mer, Film4, Tiffany & Co etc.

Jez Collins

Associate, Cultural Researcher

With over thirty years’ experience in the creative and cultural sector, Jez provides strategic advice across a broad spectrum of industries and sectors including music, culture, development, place-making and tourism. Founder of the Birmingham Music Archive, Co-Director of Un-convention and member of the Bearwood Promoters collective, Jez has spent a lifetime working and writing about popular music and its history, heritage and culture.

Rob Bowman

Associate, Curator

Producer and curator with twenty years’ experience of collaborating with artists to create and deliver ambitious artistic projects both within cultural institutions and in the public realm, often through complex partnerships with cultural, educational and third sector organisations. From 2007-2015, Rob was Head of Programmes and Production at Artangel, London before joining Arnolfini where he was Director of Programmes for two years.

Livia Alexander

Associate, Cultural Strategist

Livia is a leading curator, scholar and serial creative entrepreneur with a 20-year career dedicated to setting up pioneering institutional frameworks and dynamic knowledge bases to nourish and sustain artistic practice. She has founded, led and advised numerous arts initiatives globally. Her current research and curatorial practice is centered on the built environment at the nexus of urban peacemaking and social practice.

Sophie Forbat

Associate – Senior Curator, Sydney

Sophie Forbat is a leading curator and project manager in Sydney. Working with Kaldor Arts Projects for eight years, Sophie has undertaken a wealth of ambitious art projects across the city including 13 Rooms and Marina Abramovic in residence. She is a strategic thinker bringing fresh ideas and approaches to the development and implementation of Futurecity’s strategies and offers considerable experience in the delivery of complex projects.
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Tessa Marchington

Associate, Cultural Strategist

Tessa is a musician and entrepreneur working at the intersect of arts, health & business. She founded the award- winning company ‘Music in Offices’ in 2007 to bring people & businesses together through music, and increase the role that music can play. Tessa co- founded her own Festival bringing world class music to intimate venues in Surrey, and has been a consultant/producer on numerous projects and festivals globally.

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OUR CLIENTS

We have worked with over 100 clients in the property sector.

DIVERSITY & INCLUSION STATEMENT

As a key part of our work, Futurecity commits to creating a diverse and inclusive working environment, promoting equity, and addressing under-representation.

We recruit talent based on capability and performance — regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, lifestyle, age, educational background, national origin, religion or physical ability. In doing so, we want every employee, associate and client to recognise a shared commitment to a culture supporting open collaboration and communication. Each of us contributes to creating an inclusive and diverse workplace—we all have a role to play.

Futurecity commits to use its voice and platforms such as cultural strategies, cultural partnerships, thought leadership, social media, website, mailers to encourage participation of a range of people, backgrounds and ideas to address socio-economic challenges.

We create measurable actions to commit to diversity and inclusion through our policies, employee handbook, job descriptions, performance reviews and by ongoing third-party facilitation. This is a constant process for full-team engagement to continually challenge our commitment and work practices.

We believe inclusive culture inspires us to try new things, speak openly, and be bold. It brings us together in ways that help us stand out which empowers all of us to connect, learn, adapt and grow.

DEFINITIONS

Diversity: The representation of different and unique identities, characteristics, experiences and perspectives.

Inclusion: A welcoming culture in which differences are celebrated and everyone is valued, respected, and able to reach their full potential.

Equity: In tandem with celebrating and valuing differences, a commitment to ensure everyone is offered the resources they uniquely need to succeed and to breaking down barriers where they may appear. Inclusion is enabled by equity.