Advisory
Turning land and vision into place-led opportunity
Transforming potential into strategic growth through planning and development insight.
Great Places for Life
Urban Dynamics is a strategic advisory consultancy for the built environment.
We help landowners, investors, developers, and public partners shape urban ecosystems that unlock the earning power of land and property.
Our Development Readiness Model aligns feasibility, viability, deliverability, and implementation, creating pathways that deliver value uplift through planning and development. We drive regeneration, masterplanning, and development frameworks that build resilient, sustainable communities and prosperous places.
About Us
Urban Dynamics exists to create places where economic vitality, environmental responsibility, social value, and health outcomes work together; what we call Great Places for Life.
We understand the dynamics of change in the built environment — shifting markets, evolving policy, and rising community expectations. Our role is to anticipate these forces and translate them into strategies that are feasible, viable, deliverable, and implementable.
This structured approach sits at the core of the urban ecosystems we help shape for development and regeneration projects, connecting land, investment, policy, and community outcomes.
Independent, senior-led, and collaborative, we bring financial rigour and placemaking expertise to every stage of the process. From concept to implementation, we guide projects that unlock value, enhance resilience, and deliver lasting impact.
Strategic insight. Proven delivery.
Creating value through place.
“We create places that thrive through insightful development strategy, innovative urban planning, and a focus on social and economic prosperity.”
— Founder & Principal
Ashley Dunseath
Founder & Principal
Ashley Dunseath brings depth, perspective, and a proven track record shaped by more than two decades working across the built environment. His experience spans every stage of the development journey, from land strategy and planning through to delivery and long-term stewardship, helping clients realise value and create enduring places.
He has led major mixed-use, residential, employment, leisure, and public realm projects for landowners, investors, and public partners across the UK and internationally. His work bridges commercial strategy and placemaking, guiding complex regeneration programmes that deliver measurable impact and lasting community value.
At Urban Dynamics, Ashley’s philosophy centres on shaping urban ecosystems that balance prosperity, sustainability, and wellbeing. His approach combines financial rigour, policy alignment, and design intelligence to unlock the full potential of land and property while delivering meaningful social and economic outcomes.
Ashley also plays a national role in advancing sustainable development as Chief Executive of the UK Business Council for Sustainable Development, leading cross-sector collaboration to align industry, policy, and investment in building great places for life.
Our Capabilities
We structure our work around four core capabilities — the pillars of Development Readiness that connect feasibility, viability, deliverability, and implementation. Each defines how Urban Dynamics shapes strategy, planning, and investment to create great places for life.
City Scale Development Framework
Masterplan Scale Planning
Site Scale Massing Models
Development Scale Delivery
Our Approach
A structured methodology for transforming opportunity into place value.
Urban Dynamics applies a Development Readiness Model to move projects from land to legacy, aligning feasibility, viability, deliverability, and implementation within a unified development strategy.
01
Place Insight
Building a robust baseline of place, integrating property, policy, socio-economic and environmental drivers, so that strategy is evidence-led and grounded in context.
02
Strategic Assessment & Pathway
Testing scenarios, shaping masterplans, and developing frameworks that chart a clear course from opportunity to delivery, aligning ambition with practical feasibility.
03
Impact Framework
Defining measurable outcomes for asset earning power, environmental performance, and community prosperity, creating transparent benchmarks for long-term success.
04
Implementation
Guiding planning submissions, structuring partnerships, and securing investment so that regeneration strategies are not only approved but delivered with impact.
“Our approach is evidence-led and outcome-driven, always focused on making development feasible, viable, deliverable, and implementable. We leave a clear legacy of places that perform economically, socially, environmentally, and for community wellbeing.”
Why Choose Urban Dynamics?
Our philosophy is simple: every development must strengthen the wider urban ecosystem and enhance quality of life — what we call Great Places for Life.
Urban Dynamics combines strategic insight with enviro-economic thinking, aligning prosperity, sustainability, and resilience so that economic growth, environmental responsibility, and social value move forward together.
We focus on maximising the asset earning power of land and property through planning-led uplift, development frameworks, and investment strategies that deliver measurable, long-term performance.
As an independent, senior-led consultancy, we bring both agility and authority. Our network of trusted collaborators allows us to mobilise expertise quickly, providing clients with tailored, high-quality support from feasibility through to implementation.
Above all, we understand how policy, investment, and community expectations evolve and we help clients anticipate, adapt, and succeed in this shifting landscape. Our structured Development Readiness Model ensures that every project moves confidently from opportunity to outcome.
We believe great places are created when economic purpose, environmental responsibility, and social value work together as one system.
Our Work
Cogentis works with decision-makers at every level — from founders and entrepreneurs driving growth to boards and leadership teams guiding established organisations. Our expertise combines first-hand leadership and boardroom experience with trusted strategic advisory, delivered across:
Ashley Dunseath brings over two decades of experience in consultancy leadership, governance, and business strategy. As a Chartered Management Consultant, his expertise combines board-level insight with practical advisory, helping organisations navigate growth, change, and succession.
Cogentis works with discretion, tailoring support to the ambitions and challenges unique to each client. Further examples of our work can be shared on request.
Client Sectors
Trusted by leaders across diverse industries and organisational structures
Enterprise and Family Business
Privately held and family-owned organisations, from early-stage ventures to multi-generational enterprises, where clarity of leadership and succession planning are critical.
Professional and Public Services
Professional service firms, public bodies, and not-for-profit organisations, where governance, accountability, and leadership resilience drive long-term performance.
Investment-backed and Growth Companies
Private equity and venture-backed businesses, scale-ups, and growth-stage enterprises that need strong governance and operational capability to sustain expansion.
Development, Infrastructure, and Community
Organisations operating across real estate, regeneration, infrastructure, and community investment, where business success and social outcomes must be delivered in tandem.
Case Studies
Real results from real partnerships
Each project demonstrates our Development Readiness Model in action, moving from feasibility and strategy through to delivery and measurable impact.
Mixed-Use Development Framework
Transforming land from agricultural baseline to community-focused growth.
We guided a large estate through the transformation from agricultural land to a mixed-use community. By aligning planning strategy with market demand, we created a framework that balanced new housing, leisure, and community infrastructure.
Impact: A deliverable outline strategy that unlocked significant land value uplift while ensuring long-term community benefit.
Innovation & Employment Gateway
Reframing strategic land as a sustainable hub for jobs and investment.
We repositioned a strategic landholding as a future-focused employment hub. Balancing environmental considerations, heritage sensitivities, and transport challenges, we developed an enviro-economic strategy that attracted strong developer and investor interest.
Impact: A compelling vision for sustainable employment-led regeneration, ready for allocation and planning progression.
Community Stadium & Regeneration
Reimagining a sports ground as the catalyst for city-wide renewal.
We re-imagined a city-centre sports ground as the heart of a wider regeneration programme. The approach integrated a new community stadium with housing, transport improvements, and public realm investment to maximise social and economic value.
Impact: A regeneration framework capable of delivering civic pride, community assets, and city-wide growth.
Estate Transformation & Legacy Strategy
Designing long-term pathways for growth, succession, and stewardship.
We developed a long-term strategy for a rural estate anchored by a motorsport venue. Our approach considered succession planning, environmental stewardship, and mixed-use growth potential, framing options for land release and investment.
Impact: A clear estate strategy aligning legacy objectives with development value and future opportunity.
City-Wide Development Framework
Shaping a unified vision for sustainable growth at urban scale.
We supported the creation of a long-term vision for urban growth at city scale. By aligning land use, regeneration opportunities, and infrastructure investment, we developed a framework that provided clarity for both public and private partners.
Impact: A strategic roadmap that guided investment priorities, shaped planning policy, and created a unified vision for sustainable city-wide development.
Contact
Let’s shape Great Places for Life.
Urban Dynamics is a strategic advisory consultancy for the built environment, delivering enviro-economic development, regeneration, and masterplanning.
Founded by Ashley Dunseath, Urban Dynamics partners with landowners, developers, investors, and public agencies to unlock the earning power of land, enhance community value, and create resilient, sustainable places.
