Our mission is to drive the positive behaviour change that enables people to lead healthier and more balanced lives in cities.

Tranquil City is a collective of environmental, built-environment, psychological and data-science practitioners and researchers with the common aim of using their knowledge for human and environmental benefit.

Team

Grant Waters

CEO & Acoustician

Grant Waters

Grant Waters is the CEO and has a background in acoustic consultancy with specific expertise in urban soundscapes, GIS techniques and inter-disciplinary collaboration and innovation. He has led projects for governmental bodies, including Defra, Natural England, Transport for London, European Commission funding bodies, architectural and urban planning practices, local authorities, NGOs, business improvement districts and technology companies.

Ben Warren

COO & Air Quality Expert

Ben Warren

Ben is an experienced Air Quality Consultant with nearly 14 years of experience in professional air quality consultancy, including technical and policy support for national, regional and local government. He is a Director at Tranquil City. He has led the air quality approach and modelling for Tranquil City since 2016, disseminating practical and helpful information for people to better understand the quality of the air they’re breathing and how to reduce exposure to pollution. He has also worked on the air quality assessments for numerous planning applications in London and reviewed other such assessments on behalf of the Greater London Authority, giving him an excellent understanding of air quality issues and policies in London.

Chloe Mcfarlane

Engagement Lead

Chloe Mcfarlane

Chloe is the Engagement Lead at Tranquil City, with an extensive background in urban regeneration, community engagement and interdisciplinary research. Formally joining Tranquil City in 2022, she is responsible for establishing new partnerships with diverse stakeholders including local authorities, urban design practitioners and public beneficiaries, executing various community events including the Rewilding Barking and South London’s Green Spaces Tranquil Walks, project archiving procedures and conducting research exploring the significance of green infrastructure in design of healthier cities. Having recently graduated with a Masters from the UCL Bartlett School of Planning, Chloe continuously strives for finding innovative and creative methods to meaningfully engage communities in environmental data and the concept of urban tranquillity.

Ben Piper

API & Modelling Lead

Ben Piper

Dr Ben Piper has a background as a research scientist at the National Physical Laboratory working on the development of noise sensing hardware as well as experiments in new optical sensing methods for sound. He has developed the machine learning predictive model and technology behind the current implementations as well as the API infrastructure and integrations.

Matt Megarry

Machine Learning & Product Engineer

Matt Megarry

Matt is a Software Engineer with experience in Web Development and Machine Learning. He is responsible for architecting and building out our data systems, as well as developing new machine learning models and pipelines.

Advisors and Experts

Umesh Pandya

Strategic Advisor

Umesh Pandya

Umesh is a digital designer who is passionate about making inclusive, humanity centred, digital products. He co-founded Wayfindr, a multi-award-winning, social tech, not-for-profit that empowers vision-impaired people to navigate the world independently. He continues to provide invaluable mentorship and strategic advice to Tranquil City following their participation in the Bethnal Green Venture Accelerator in 2019.

Eleanor Ratcliffe

Environmental Psychologist (Independent)

Eleanor Ratcliffe

Eleanor is an independent academic advisor working with Tranquil City as a consultant on specific projects. Ellie is an experienced researcher and academic in Environmental Psychology, with expertise in the design and experience of environments that support psychological wellbeing, especially places in nature. She examines how these places can improve mood and reduce stress, improve cognitive performance, and enhance community connectedness. She is a lecturer at the University of Surrey and is part of the Tranquil City collective team. She completed her PhD in Environmental Psychology at the University of Surrey in 2015 and continued to complete two postdoctoral research positions, the first in the Department of Psychology, University of Tampere (Finland), funded by the Leverhulme Trust, and second at the Dyson School of Design Engineering, Imperial College London (UK).

Alberto Calzada

Data Scientist

Alberto Calzada

Freelance Data Scientist, Data Engineer and Machine Learning researcher with experience in academia and industry. He has contributed significantly to Tranquil City since he was part of the initial OrganiCity Phase 1 project in 2016, continuing to develop our data work including the production of the Tranquil City and Healthy Streets Indices.

Diana Sanchez

Innovation Strategist

Diana Sanchez

Diana provides experience on sustainable urban economics, and the quantification and monetisation of externalities. She is an economist, with a Master studies in Philosophy and MBA with a focus on sustainability and has 10 years of experience developing innovative approaches for integrating, managing and measuring social and environmental impacts.

Dr. Julie Godefroy

Sustainability Expert

Dr. Julie Godefroy

Sustainability Consultant with experience in environmental, health and wellbeing strategies. Julie has been the sustainability advisor on the National Trusts Historic Environment Group for several years and is particularly interested in engaging urban audiences with our environment and architectural heritage, including public spaces.

Floriane Ortega

Urban Planner

Floriane Ortega

Urban planner with experience in both developed and developing countries. She has experience in climate change adaptation and mitigation in Colombia, worked in Sub-Saharan Africa in urban water supply and sanitation infrastructure and was involved in the metro project in Hanoi.

Supporters & Collaborators