Tanwani has a deep understanding of the social, cultural, financial, and environmental design elements sought by clients, which will not only provide AECOM with additional opportunities to secure work in the Middle East and beyond, but will also allow the company to collaborate more with its multidisciplinary teams across the region.

Sanjay Tanwani leads the Urbanism + Planning (U+P) studio for AECOM in the Middle East & Africa (MEA). Tanwani has over 19 years of experience working on projects in 25 countries and is instrumental in both building capability within the studio and shaping AECOM’s approach to new international markets. He has an impressive international portfolio of projects ranging from strategic-level planning to heritage and transport-led urban design as a trained architect and urban designer.

Gateway to the new industrial city – ushering in the future of working, living and learning.

As regional director for the U+P studio, Tanwani is responsible for expanding local business. This includes delivering some of the region’s most significant and complex projects, while simultaneously building relationships with clients through targeted front-end advisory. He is currently leading projects such as a concept masterplan for a 20km-long arterial city spine that is facing some of the most urgent urban challenges, and developing a spatial framework for an entire city to accommodate exponential yet sustainable growth – a balancing act that requires a deep understanding of various technical disciplines along with macroeconomics, future trends and urban governance. Some of his more radical and creative projects include reimagining the future of manufacturing and logistics for a stateof-the-art industrial city and rethinking knowledge ecosystems within technology and innovation clusters. These innovative visions not only push the boundaries of city design but are rooted in the fundamentals of placemaking and are climatically sensitive and contextually appropriate.

Tanwani leads a multidisciplinary team of 120 designers, planners, urban analysts and landscape architects. Over the last year, Sanjay has introduced new service lines, focused on front-end advisory and data-driven performance-based masterplanning. This has resulted in stronger collaboration and new partnerships with public and private sector clients identifying new, previously unexplored, opportunities in the region. Under his leadership, the U+P studio has doubled in size in the last twelve months, with several projects and team members receiving multiple industry recognitions. The team is also one of the most gender-balanced teams in AECOM’s Middle Eastern business.

Design and automation lab – global experts collaborate to harness the full potential of Industry 4.0.

Ensuring the regional U+P studio is at the forefront of design innovation and acknowledged for its pioneering design solutions, Tanwani actively seeks to streamline and advance digital capabilities. Most notably, Tanwani leads ‘Vantage’ an R&D team consisting of futurists, economists and built-environment experts, who aspire to unlock new opportunities and streams within the digital sphere. This includes the development of custom machine-learning platforms and the use of AI in analyses, design and monitoring performance of masterplans. Most recently, ‘Vantage’ has been developing and testing AI-Driven Impact Assessment models for running urban design scenarios, optimising urban data and visualising KPIs. He has tremendous plans for the ‘Vantage’ team in 2023, including the expansion of the existing team, collaborating with subject matter experts and developing a digital twin platform for one of the fastest-growing cities in the region.

Tanwani moved to Dubai in 2020 as part of a strategic initiative by AECOM to build on the team’s front-end design capabilities. His extensive exposure across Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Central America gives him a unique perspective on growing teams focussed on tackling the biggest urban challenges in the region. In his previous role, Tanwani was key to the growth and success of the Atkins London urban design and landscape studio which tripled in size during his tenure there.

Tanwani ’s involvement in this 700-hectare project developed around the UNESCO World Heritage Site, helped its ambition to be one of the world’s best cultural destinations. Sanjay’s global, yet targeted, perspective on urban development is also emphasised in projects that he has successfully delivered outside of the region like the Bouregreg masterplan in Rabat, Morocco.

Knowledge and innovation ecosystem – bringing together world-class academic institutions, private sector and Government entities.

In Belgium, Tanwani led the design environmentally challenging site of a disused former coal mine on the edge of Belgium’s only National Park. In Central America, Sanjay has worked on projects ranging from hospitality and mixeduse developments in Panama, to help develop growth strategies for cities in Colombia. Notably, Tanwani contributed to the delivery of Panama Pacifico, a 2000-hectare mixed-use development on the former site of the Howard US Air Force base next to the Panama Canal. As custodian of the original masterplan, he worked closely with the client’s development and investment teams to identify and design unique product offerings for a volatile and challenging economic market.

Outside of work, he has held nonexecutive positions for organisations in the UK, including serving as elected Governor for Goodenough College (one of the Royal Charities). Here, he was part of the real estate committee and was instrumental in overseeing the redevelopment and sale of Byron Court, a historic structure overlooking Mecklenburgh Square in Central London, which was repurposed as a state-of-art residential complex for NYU to house 230 students.

Tanwani is a firm believer that the role of architects and urbanists extends beyond creativity, with a huge responsibility to put people at the centre of our urban design. Looking ahead, he sees an identifiable shift in how cities are being conceived in this region, with increased collaboration across disciplines and environmentally sensitive approaches to deliver strong ambitious visions that are bound to have a positive impact on people’s lives.