Francois Vienne

Francois Vienne leads Dunecrest's Urban Development Practice. He brings over 12 years of international experience turning urban complexity into investable clarity; bridging urban design, financial feasibility, and ESG-driven governance to enhance the long-term value and resilience of city-scale assets; and supporting investors and developers in structuring places as performing real assets which are culturally anchored, financially robust, and policy-aligned.

Francois’ approach positions design as due diligence, translating spatial strategy into risk-managed, bankable outcomes.

He holds a Masters in Urban Planning, Town Planning, and Urban Design from the University of Paris I: Panthéon-Sorbonne, and a Certification in Commercial Real Estate Analysis and Investment from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

He has served as Senior Urbanist and Project Leader at Assystem (France), Associate in the Masterplanning and Development Advisory Unit at WSP (UK), and Senior Urban Planner at Meinhardt Group (Singapore). He also held roles at AECOM, CPG Corporation, and ENGIE Lab Singapore, and lectured on Masterplanning and Smart Cities at the University of Architecture in Ho Chi Minh City.

François has led and advised numerous masterplanning and urban design projects across Europe and Asia, providing development advisory and programming for public and private clients, including new urban districts, public facilities, and sustainable city strategies.

Global investment track record:

• Led masterplans now integrated into sovereign and institutional portfolios: Hai Phong 2025 Masterplan (Vietnam) and Smart Urban Habitat (HDB, Singapore)

• Directed feasibility and regeneration portfolios for Homes England, WSP, and Assystem, aligning redevelopment pipelines with market demand, ESG performance, and government frameworks

• Supervised Dubai Silicon Oasis Masterplan (UAE), Advised on Jeddah Vision 2030-aligned urban resort and hospitality strategies, linking real estate development to tourism infrastructure capital flows

Recent awards:

• URA SG60 International Urban Design 2nd Prize Award (Singapore, 2025)

• HIID Innovation Award (Vietnam, 2019)

• ISOCARP Mention (Dubai, 2017)