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International planning leader joins Arup’s Sydney team

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Trish Sunga Trish Sunga Australasia Press Office,Sydney
16 October 2019

International planning leader Joanne Carmichael has been appointed Arup’s Leader of Advisory, Planning and Design NSW/ACT.

Jo has been at the forefront of some of the largest city-shaping projects in the United Kingdom, India, Middle East and Africa (UKIMEA) region. She has worked across all areas of infrastructure development and more recently, advised on people-centric movement and place strategies.

She joins from Arup’s Dubai office where, for more than nine years, she led city-scale transport planning projects as Director, Middle East Planning.

Joanne Carmichael Joanne Carmichael

“Sydney is on the cusp of something special. It is a global city with great ambitions and I believe there is a real opportunity to shape a positive trajectory for generations to come,” said Jo.

“It’s clear that there is a real curiosity about how things are done in the rest of the world, a hunger for best practice and a genuine desire to engage local communities around planning the future state of the city – it’s an exciting time.”

A civil engineer, Jo has been recognised for her contribution to the industry as a Fellow of the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation and until her move to Australia, was a Board Member of the UK Transport Planning Society and Transport Planning Skills Network Lead for Arup’s UKIMEA region.

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Her wealth of knowledge and experience will enhance our ability to offer creative and sustainable solutions for the complex challenges facing growing cities and centres. I’m delighted that Jo has joined our team in Sydney and looking forward to seeing our Advisory, Planning and Design team grow under her direction, enthusiasm and influence.
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Jonathan Kinghorn Jonathan Kinghorn Principal | Cities, Planning and Design – Australasia Leader

Jo is a mentor to Arup’s younger engineers and actively encourages young women to pursue careers in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) and is passionate about encouraging lifelong learning and development in the team.

“At Arup we’re encouraged to think differently – this enables us to develop innovative, integrated and scalable solutions for our clients, cities and importantly for the people who call these cities home,” she said.