Michael Crilly

Michael is an urban designer, town planner, and partner of a design and environmental consultancy based in Newcastle upon Tyne. He has a varied planning background within the public, voluntary, and private sectors, with over 30 years’ professional experience. Prior to establishing his practice, he was CABE’s Regional Programme Director in the Tees Valley and the Head of the Urban Design team at Newcastle City Council. Michael has specific expertise in urban design (place-making, policy coding, evaluation), sustainability (strategic energy assessment, environmental strategy, carbon-free development, retrofitting/adaptive reuse), levelling up/regeneration (masterplanning, community engagement, public art), and more pragmatic aspects like effective project management to support collaboration between the different professional disciplines within the built environment.

Michael also works as a part-time assistant professor in Architecture and Built Environment at Northumbria University, as well as an associate lecturer at both Newcastle and Teesside Universities. He has a PhD in Sustainable Cities and a deep understanding of sustainable design principles, theory, and practice. Michael undertakes applied-research projects that span academia and practice, looking at viability, digital planning, sensory design, and experimental urbanism. Outside of the built environment, Michael is a director of an arts-based community interest company (CIC) running a gallery (and bar) in Newcastle City Centre.