68
%of the world population is projected to live in urban areas by 2050 - United Nations
80
%of global greenhouse gases are linked to cities and urban inhabitants - UN Habitat
40
%of carbon emissions in the UK are linked to the built environment - GOV.UK
80
%of the UK’s buildings in 2050 are estimated to already be standing today - GOV.UK
PREVIOUS COLLABORATIONS AND FEATURES
let's talk
Who is the urbanist?
Meet Mahsa Ige, an urbanist on a mission to motivate the creation of sustainable places through town planning, public speaking and social media.
Mahsa is a CPD accredited Chartered Town Planner, previously the Head of Planning & Sustainability at a nationwide property franchise and the first Climate Emergency Engagement Officer at the London Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Council.
Now Sub-Committee Lead for the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) and the first Ambassador for the Let's Build network, Mahsa is spotlighting places and projects for sustainable development with Urbanist on a Mission.
The Planner RTPI
January 2025Chartered planner Mahsa Ige uses Instagram to explore the world of UK planning through visits to projects, reports of events and interviews with the planners shaping our built environment. These are smartly made reels and short videos, slickly presented by Mahsa, an engaging presence whose feed demonstrates just how accessible content creation can be and how well video works as a medium for exploring planning.
HMO Summit and Awards
July 2025We’re seriously excited to announce that Mahsa Ige @urbanistonamission will be taking the stage at the HMO Summit 2025. A powerhouse in urban planning and an essential voice in the HMO space.
RTPI Event Attendee
July 2025Hi Mahsa! Thank you for chairing the meeting. I was actually quite nervous going to the event but I found it really interesting and everyone was really welcoming. Thank you so much for hosting such an insightful and interesting event. It was my first ever RTPI event and I’ll definitely go to more. Thank you so much for your support on the project; it has made a massive difference. Hope to learn more about the amazing work you do.
Dr Louise Edgington
November 2023Mahsa is fantastic to work with, she is proactive, friendly and passionate about climate change mitigation. She expertly handled and promoted our event for London Climate Action week - it really smoothly and was well attended. One of those rare people that know how to ‘gets things done’.
PREACH Inclusion
September 2022Also known as ‘Urbanist on a mission’ on Instagram, Mahsa uses her platform to educate others about town planning in an interesting way, helping to break down the jargon, commonly used in the sector. It’s time to move away from ‘bricks and mortar’ and treat urban planning as the holistic area that it is – from climate change to health inequalities, Mahsa is on a mission to change perceptions about town planning, one Instagram post at a time.
SERVICES
a joined-up approach
Why the mission?
We know that more and more people are living in towns and cities. These urban areas are made up of our built environment, human-made creations we rely upon like roads and buildings that are:
- Hungry for energy and resources, creating unsustainable levels of greenhouse gas emissions, pollution and waste.
- Massively influential for our quality of physical and mental health, sense of belonging and cultural heritage.
- Vulnerable to climate change impacts like flooding and overheating that threaten the ecosystems and infrastructure supporting our lives, safety and economies.
This makes urban areas a problem, but also a potential solution if we can re-shape how we build and use them together.