DAISY NARAYANAN
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JOHN GLENDAY
Daisy Narayanan carries responsibility for marrying mobility and placemaking on her shoulders
THE CITY OF EDINBURGH COUNCIL HAS FOUND A FIGUREHEAD IN THE SOFTLY SPOKEN FORM OF DAISY NARAYANAN TO GUIDE THE CITY TOWARD THE PROMISED LAND OF A CARBON NEUTRAL FUTURE BY 2030. AS SENIOR MANAGER FOR MOBILITY AND PLACEMAKING NARAYANAN WILL FUSE LANDSCAPE AND TRANSPORT TO BRING PEOPLE CLOSER DURING AN ERA OF SOCIAL DISTANCING. Charged with fusing the City of Edinburgh’s placemaking and transport strategies, as Senior Manager for Mobility and Placemaking, urbanist Daisy Narayanan is at the forefront of efforts to meet the city’s ambitious carbon neutrality targets by 2030, and ensuring that the capital emerges from the pandemic as a greener and a healthier place. With a lifetime’s passion for architecture and urban design, Narayanan is also experienced, having worked across the UK and Asia. She first arrived in Britain in 2004 as a student, quickly establishing herself as a potent force for change through high-profile stints as director of urbanism at Sustrans, as well as serving the Edinburgh Climate Commission and the Climate Assembly Evidence Group.
Now, in her biggest role to date, Narayanan will put her passion and experience into practice on behalf of The City of Edinburgh Council. Having previously been seconded to the authority in 2018 and 2019 to lead Edinburgh’s ten-year city centre transformation plan, when she championed the introduction of a monthly carfree event in the Old Town, Narayanan is acutely aware of the responsibility she bears to all residents from the city centre World Heritage sites to the furthest flung residents in Sighthill. Her initiatives such as the City Mobility Plan for introducing carbon-neutral transport options and the 20-minute neighbourhood programme have helped to further her aims. Speaking to Urban Realm following her appointment Narayanan said: “I brought a lot of my learning from >
