Curated Expertise
Selected for the brief. Not assigned by availability.
Every member has a decade or more of delivery on internationally recognised projects. No one is here by availability — each expert was selected for track record.
UMBRA
Beneath one shelter.
Beyond a global alliance.
Senior urbanists, masterplanners and data specialists assembled around each brief.
Our Manifesto
The world's best urban projects are not built by the largest firms.They are built by the right people.
The world's most ambitious urban projects demand the highest level of expertise — senior masterplanners who have navigated complex sites, difficult stakeholders, and diverse geographies.
UMBRA is an alliance of senior urbanists, masterplanners, and data specialists who have collectively shaped cities across five continents.
About UMBRA0+ Ha
Hectares Designed0+
Major Projects0+ Yrs
Combined Experience0
Continents DeliveredThe Alliance ModelWe are not a firm.
01 02 03
We are not a firm.
We are a curated coalition.
We combine global experience, local understanding and data-led intelligence to unlock value, drive better decisions and deliver real impact.
Global Agility
Five continents. No institutional overhead.
Projects across the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and the Americas. No internal politics, no underused capacity to sustain between engagements.
Technology Native
Data woven through every stage.
GIS-led analysis, data-driven masterplanning, and AI-assisted feasibility. Technology is embedded in every stage of our process — not bolted on as a differentiator.
Senior expertise. Flexible structure. Greater impact.
Our Key Experience Covers
Six practice areas, assembled around each brief.
Transit Development
Projects
Transit-oriented development frameworks linking mobility, density and value across station catchments.
Strategic · MasterplanStrategic Regional
Projects
Long-horizon regional plans grounded in demographic, economic and ecological evidence.
Strategic ScaleFeasibility
Studies
Site-level testing of programme, capacity and viability before commitment.
All ScalesUrban Design
Projects
Place-led design from district structure to street-level character and code.
Masterplan · LocalVisionary
Masterplans
Compact, walkable, layered masterplans for new districts and reimagined cores.
Strategic · MasterplanRegeneration
Projects
Recovering value, identity and life in legacy quarters through phased interventions.
Masterplan · LocalMultiscalar Experts
What we do at each scale.
Strategic Scale
Region, nation, system.
We map demographics, economy and ecology at the regional level — testing where growth should land, what infrastructure unlocks it, and which corridors carry it. Our strategic work has shaped national plans, transit visions, and 30-year frameworks for cities across five continents.
- CoverageNational / Regional
- Horizon15 — 30 yrs
- OutputsStrategy · Vision · Brief
We Are
- — 01Multidisciplinary Team
- — 02Strategic Masterplanners
- — 03Data Scientists
- — 04Economists
- — 05Multiscalar Experts
- — 06Global Localists & Client Partners
- — 07Agile Advisors
Multiscalar Experts
From regional satellite to street-level threshold — we move fluently between scales.
Strategic ScaleRegions, nations, systems.
Masterplan ScaleDistricts and quarters.
Local ScaleStreets, blocks, thresholds.
Featured Projects
View more projects Selected work, across continents and scales.
The Operational Model
Why the alliance, instead of the firm?
Large firms win commissions on brand recognition, then staff projects with junior teams. Clients pay for the name on the pitch deck — not the people who actually do the work. UMBRA is built to fix this.
£
You pay for the institution.
Large firm fees include real estate, non-billable staff, business development and internal hierarchy. Clients fund all of it — whether those people touch the project or not.
↘
Senior pitch, junior delivery.
The partner who won the brief moves on. The team that delivers is two grades below. This is not an exception — it is the industry's standard operating model.
UMBRA
Senior expertise. Lower cost.
UMBRA experts have led the same scale of projects at the same global firms — without the overhead. Clients get identical seniority at a structurally lower fee.
A Global Partner Alliance
We work globally.
Across continents and cultures, we turn global experience into locally grounded place-making.
Office hub Project city
EQUIRECTANGULAR · 1:65M
UMBRA.STUDIO · 2026
5 REGIONS · 4 HUBS · 63 CITIES
N 51.5° / E 114.2°
UK / Europe
- London
- Manchester
- Birmingham
- Liverpool
- Bristol
- Leeds
- Edinburgh
- Madrid
- Barcelona
- Seville
- Lisbon
- Porto
- Milan
- Bratislava
- Berlin
- Frankfurt
- Copenhagen
- Oslo
- Istanbul
Gulf
- Riyadh
- Jeddah
- Dammam
- Abu Dhabi
- Dubai
- Sharjah
- Muscat
- Doha
- Bahrain
- Qatif
- Hofuf
- Al-Wajh
- Yanbu
Africa
- Cairo
- Casablanca
- Damascus
- Lagos
- Luanda
- Dar es Salaam
- Nairobi
- Cape Town
- Maputo
- Port Louis
Asia
- New Delhi
- Mumbai
- Kolkata
- Bangalore
- Shanghai
- Beijing
- Hong Kong
- Singapore
Americas
- Toronto
- Calgary
- Edmonton
- Vancouver
- Washington
- Los Angeles
- Miami
- São Paulo
- Salvador
- Santiago
- Buenos Aires
- Lima
- Bogotá
Our Clients
Our team has extensive experience with major clients on key strategic portfolio developments and masterplanned communities across the World.
Team & Advisors
An all-star team from planning, design, data & senior advisory.
Urban Designer & Masterplanner
Carmen Martinez
CityKindUrban Designer & Masterplanner
LinkedIn ↗Carmen Martinez
Founder of CityKind. Specialises in integrated masterplanning, urban design and sustainability strategies.
Urban Designer & Masterplanner
Jesus Garate
JGAUUrban Designer & Masterplanner
LinkedIn ↗Jesus Garate
Strategic masterplanner with a track record on PIF, Aldar and Eagle Hills commissions.
Data Specialist & Economist
Kevin Fenning
Evidence FirstData Specialist & Economist
LinkedIn ↗Kevin Fenning
GIS-led land intelligence, economic analysis and capacity studies for sovereign-scale developers.
Senior Advisor
Jonathan Mitchell
IndependentSenior Advisor
LinkedIn ↗Jonathan Mitchell
Former Broadway Malyan partner, now independent advisor on sovereign-scale masterplans.
Strategy Advisor
Jack Sallabank
Future Places StudioStrategy Advisor
LinkedIn ↗Jack Sallabank
Strategic advisor on cultural-led regeneration; previously headline writer at Estates Gazette.
Mobility Planner
Forhad Ullah
Urban ProjectsMobility Planner
LinkedIn ↗Forhad Ullah
Transit-oriented development specialist with delivery experience across South Asia and the Middle East.
Urban Designer & Masterplanner
James Rayner
Urban Place NetworkUrban Designer & Masterplanner
LinkedIn ↗James Rayner
Director at Urban Place Network. Twenty-five years across UK, US and Gulf masterplans.
Urban Designer & Masterplanner
Jeremy Salmon
Urban Place NetworkUrban Designer & Masterplanner
LinkedIn ↗Jeremy Salmon
Director and co-founder at Urban Place Network; specialises in TOD and station precincts.
Urban Designer & Masterplanner
Alejandro Quinto
JGAUUrban Designer & Masterplanner
LinkedIn ↗Alejandro Quinto
Twenty years across MENA, Europe and the Americas; specialises in city-centre regeneration and station-led intensification.
Urban Designer & Masterplanner
Alex Patel
IndependentUrban Designer & Masterplanner
LinkedIn ↗Alex Patel
Senior practitioner specialising in Gulf masterplans and waterfront regeneration.
How We Work
A four-step process, run by the people you hired.
01
Brief
You tell us what the project is, what it isn't, and what success looks like. We test it back to you in a working session.
02
Curate Team
We assemble the right alliance — the senior practitioners with direct experience of your scale, geography, and brief.
03
Co-Design
A single integrated team works alongside yours — strategy, design and data woven together, not handed between silos.
04
Deliver & Hand-Over
A defensible, deliverable plan with the evidence to support it, and the relationships to carry it forward.
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