May East
May East is an international urbanist and practitioner specialised in nature-positive and gender-sensitive cities. A UNITAR Fellow, she works with intergovernmental agencies, private sector and regional governments in the creation of policy guidelines and activities for accelerating SDGs implementation. Based at the Findhorn Ecovillage for two decades, her expertise spans the development of 20-minute neighbourhoods, eco-communities as well as working with mining cities, and informal settlements. She holds a Master of Science in Spatial Planning with specialization in the rehabilitation of abandoned villages and a PhD in Architecture and Urban Planning on the topic What if Women Designed the City? May was awarded Women of the Decade in Sustainability and Leadership by Women Economic Forum in 2019.
On Edge Work, Migration Flows, and Glocalization
Journal Article
In ecological design, the edge is known as the boundary or interface between two biological communities. It is the region where communities meet and integrate, producing conditions for increased diversity.
What if Women Designed the City?
Journal Article
“The case for cities adopting a beyond-sustainability regenerative approach is profoundly compelling. Pragmatic in their orientation, closely connected to the concerns of their residents, cities also contain the seeds of their own regeneration. However, historically cities have been planned, developed and built primarily through taking the male experience as the reference. As a result, cities tend to function better for men than they do for women.”