Hassan Saleem

Landscape Designer, Urban Planner

Originally from the Maldives, Landscape Designer and Urban Planner Hassan Saleem is passionate about preparing urban communities for climate change through an approach that interweaves resilient open space design, urban realm rejuvenation, and innovative community engagement. Prior to Starr Whitehouse, Hassan worked at ONE Architecture and Urbanism, where he played a critical role in the team as a lead designer, planner, and project manager for various technical assistance (TA) efforts under the Climate Strong Communities program, led by the Mayor’s Office of Climate and Environmental Justice. Through this experience, Hassan has facilitated conversations with agency representatives; coordinated work between various subconsultants; and completed high-level planning and design studies across all five boroughs of New York City. Hassan has also developed groundbreaking tools for community engagement, such as the graphic novella Finding Ground, which aims to build community capacity by fostering conversations around managed retreat and voluntary buyouts. This project was the culmination of Hassan’s graduate research, developed for and in collaboration with Rebuild by Design, along with the Weitzman School of Design and ONE Architecture and Urbanism.