A Day in the Life of... an Assistant Urban Design Consultant

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Assistant Urban Design Consultant - Neha Patil

As an Assistant Urban Design Consultant, most of my days start early, usually with a long walk from the kitchen to my pink desk, tea in hand. The first task is always a quick scan of the Urban design mailbox to check what has come in overnight. This might include new schemes to review, design code comments, follow ups, or fresh EQRP requests. From there, I map out priorities for the day and update the team planner, ready for discussion in our Monday catch ups. This helps set the tone for the wider team workload and ensures that nothing important quietly slips through the cracks.

Mornings are often dedicated to design code work. This typically involves opening AutoCAD and working through maps and drawings. Tasks might include converting GIS mapping into CAD, overlaying Area Types and Identity Areas, or responding to feedback on previous submissions. It is detailed and technical work, where small adjustments can have significant knock-on effects, so there is plenty of checking, refining, and zooming in far closer than anyone would ever admit.

Alongside this, I sketch and test ideas to explore how layouts, streets, and character areas might work on the ground. This is where strategic thinking meets practical problem solving, and where plans begin to feel less abstract and more like real places.

In the afternoon, I often move on to reviewing incoming design submissions. These can range from large residential schemes of 500 homes to mixed use developments or new school projects. This part of the day involves stepping back from the drawings and thinking about everyday life. How people arrive, move through spaces, and use streets, open areas, and connections. I then bring this together into clear and constructive urban design responses, focusing on access, layout, landscape structure, and overall experience.

By the end of the day, I am finalising comments, updating my planner, and lining up tasks for the next morning. No two days are ever exactly the same, which is part of what makes the role so engaging. It is fast paced, collaborative, and focused on shaping places that people will actually live in, not just look at on a plan.

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