Kathryn Firth

Kathryn Firth is a Director in Cities Planning and Design at Arup. She is an architect and urban designer whose passion for creating thriving places spans some 30 years. She leads master planning and urban design projects across the UK, US, Europe, and the Middle East, ranging from public realm improvements to large-scale regeneration projects.

Prior to joining Arup, Kathryn was Urban Design Director at several practices in the UK and the US. She was the Chief of Design at the London Legacy Development Corporation, where she directed teams of architects, landscape architects, planners, and engineers to realize the Olympic Legacy. Kathryn served on the BusinessLDN Place Commission, sits on and chairs several Design Review Panels, and is a Mayor’s Design Advocate alum.

Kathryn is the co-chair for the UK Infrastructure & Urban Development Council for the Urban Land Institute. She holds a Master's in Architecture and Urban Design from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, where she has been teaching over the past five years. She currently teaches at the Bartlett, UCL. Kathryn is committed to the exchange between practice and academia and, as Global Skills Network Leader at Arup, she leads research focusing on the spatial implications of socio-economic and environmental resiliency.