The Planner Behind London's Mayor

The planning adviser on London Mayor Boris Johnson's staff has his eyes on the future of the city, and the architectural legacy he hopes to establish.

1 minute read

February 25, 2009, 6:00 AM PST

By Nate Berg


"Johnson's closest adviser and chief of staff, Milton is also particularly responsible for planning and policy decisions. He covers everything from the mayor's policies on tall buildings to the funding for Crossrail to the regeneration of the suburbs – essentially Johnson's vision for the built environment. His number one priority is design quality – that the London of the future should physically and architecturally benefit from the development decisions of today. No matter what the economic climate."

"'Boris' legacy will be the creation of a distinctive architecture for London,' says Milton. 'A kind of architectural vernacular, especially for housing, that is definitely London." To this end, he is planning a new programme to fund design advice for developers to make sure they build better public areas, replacing former mayor Ken Livingstone's 100 public spaces programme."

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