Manuel Díez Garrido will speak on the topic of Gentle Cities. He will draw on his urban design, planning and transportation work in Continental Europe and closer to home to explore what is meant by the concept of ‘gentle cities’. This talk will be go beyond discussions of making cities bicycle friendly and will be interest to anyone who imagines that cities ought to be - and can be - much more convivial places.

Manuel is an urbanist with a Degree in Civil Engineering, a Masters in Urban Design and a Postgraduate Diploma in Mobility Engineering with eighteen (18) years experience in the design and development of urbanism and engineering projects within multidisciplinary groups. He is committed to contributing to the challenging process of restoring the essence of our towns and cities and ensuring successful urban environments for future generations. He has a strong understanding of the critical relationships between urban form, land use and movement in today’s complex and challenging urban environments. Manuel enjoys participating in public debates about urbanism and town centre initiatives; and, in the past, he has contributed in summer workshops for architectural students. More recently, in association with a team of Spanish architects and urbanists, he was chosen by Santander City Council as the winner in the open competition for the design of a new 400 Ha Coastal Park in Santander.