Browse: Bartlett School of Planning

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Number of items: 132.

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A Difference of Opinion? Assessing the legitimacy of officer recommendations and member decisions.

The paper explores defining legitimacy in the context of the complexities of decision-making in the English planning system, reviewing existing literature on the influences and implications of politics of planning, existing and future monitoring of decision-making as well as examining the relationship between officers and local politicians (members). It is evident from the available literature that few studies have been undertaken in assessing the legitimacy of decision-making of Development Control Committees (DCC) and it is this paucity of information which the research hopes to contribute to. In assessing the legitimacy of decision-making at DCC, a methodology is formulated to determine the legitimacy of decision-making at Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) in Essex, utilising application and appeal outcomes. The broad findings of the aggregate data analyses inter alia demonstrate that members are less likely to make legitimate decisions. In depth case-study analyses carried out for six LPAs provides an increased understanding of the findings, highlighting the implications of the perceived lack of transparency, probity and trust, and the potential impacts on first and third parties involved in the planning system. Potential solutions to resolve the implications of the trends observed in data are offered through improving member-officer relationships, improving member and officer training as well the merits of implementing a third-party right of appeal (TPRA) to secure/restore transparency, probity and trust in the planning system, ultimately improving the legitimacy of decision-making.

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The changing use of e-scooters in London: Stakeholder perspectives and future scenario pathways

This research provides an insight into the views of stakeholders in order to establish conversations that may contribute to the future e-scooter landscape in London. Through a stakeholder survey, alignments and misalignments regarding the expected use and impacts of e-scooters are understood, both in the Covid-19 impacted short-term and post-pandemic long-term. The conversation is extended through a scenario planning and backcasting exercise to understand desirable futures and associated policy pathways. Furthermore, the research discusses a previously simplistic view of uncertainty within futures studies and suggests an alternative view.

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CHILDREN'S INDEPENDENT MOBILITY A child-oriented perspective on walking, playing and socialising in Aguablanca District. Cali, Colombia

Informed by broad social assumptions, transport planning has traditionally obliged to the travel needs of the average (Vasconcellos, 2001; Levy, 2013b). In this process, children’s imaginaries and aspirations have been overlooked and dominated by an adult world were mobility is regarded as going from A to B efficiently. Challenging this view, this research considers children’s mobility as a practice that involves walking, playing and socialising, and the means by which children ‘perceive, feel and act in the world’ (Lester and Russell, 2010). Thus, it recognises that children’s everyday pedestrian practices matter, and that broader independence significantly contributes to their well-being and participation in urban life. Given the lack of attention to children’s independent mobility and play in the global south, this study analyses their impressions in a low-income neighbourhood in Cali, Colombia. Through a socio-ecological framework that incorporates the concepts of attachment and affordance, the study explores independent licence, walking perceptions and experiences, community ties and sociability. Findings suggest that in this context, independence is at constant negotiation between children, parents and household dynamics. In this sense, while children have high levels of independence for essential journeys, their freedom to roam, play and socialise is more restricted. Both road safety and the changing circumstances in the social environment, in terms of high levels crime and violence are crucial determinants in their participation in the neighbourhood. Policies should promote greater freedom and playability through strategies that facilitate rich social and physical affordances, and focus community engagement and appropriation of the street.

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Playing Out: Reclaiming Streets from Car to Child-Friendly

In an era of globalised inter-urban competition, cities are competing internationally for Child Friendly City’ status. A Child Friendly City is one supported by a local governance systemcommitted to fulfilling children’s rights and entrenching their needs into the urban fabric. The design of public realm that is accessible and inclusive of children is a criteria status that has been almost entirely neglected both in practical planning and design policies, and in academic literature. In light of this, through the lens of the community-led movement ;Playing Out;this research project will examine the evolving social and political relationship between the child and their built environment. Highlighting the significant barriers that urban children and the momentum of the Playing Out movement face from both the traditional planning system and common attitudes held by society. Through participant observations at a play street event and semi-structured interviews with professionals whom hold expertise knowledge on children in the City, this research aims to critically examine and contribute towards an evidence base that promotes an important social and cultural shift in ensuring the public realm becomes more welcoming and accessible to all urban citizens, in particular to children.

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“People-powered regeneration”: The emergence of civic crowdfunding in a post-political era

Civic crowdfunding, a practice through which citizens contribute to funding community infrastructure, has been expanding rapidly but remains under researched. Within the UK, the growth of crowdfunded community projects has been attributed to the emphasis on localism, and in London—where the GLA and local councils have partnered with the crowdfunding platform Spacehive—the Mayor has praised it as “people-powered regeneration”. Those in support of localism claim that it deepens democracy by expanding participation, while others have argued that localism can be ‘anti-political’. Paralleling these debates, many theorists have suggested that new areas for participation in urban regeneration are underpinned by a post-political agenda, which aims to build consensus while leaving out debate. This research seeks to narrow down these varied arguments and explore if civic crowdfunding tends to depoliticise the urban sphere. The research involved a critical discourse analysis of the policies and debates governing civic crowdfunding in London, and a comparative analysis of six projects on Spacehive; including interviews with project founders, members of the GLA and local authorities. The findings reveal that while there is a notable emphasis on localism and associated anti-political ideas in the discourse, such conclusions remain largely abstract, highlighting the need for an empirically focussed discussion. Here, this dissertation provides a framework for analysing the shifting relationship between civic and state actors, throughout the lifecycle of crowdfunding campaigns and the post-political tactics that may come into play. By focussing on the role of both grassroots and state actors, the research argues that depoliticization is not limited to top-down governance agents and that multiple forms of depoliticization can come into effect at a particular stage. Furthermore, civic crowdfunding itself serves as a conduit for the depoliticization of the urban sphere, by producing a type of politics which prioritises pragmatism, delivery and consensus building.

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To what extent might the National Infrastructure Commission support sustainable economic growth, improve competitiveness and improve quality of life? A case study on Transport for a World City

This research explores the changing dynamics of major infrastructure planning and appraisal in the United Kingdom (UK). It follows the establishment of the UK’s first National Infrastructure Commission (NIC), an independent arms-length body with a mandate to provide impartial advice to government on long term infrastructure policy and strategy. This advice must support sustainable economic growth, enhance national competitiveness and improve quality of life. To ascertain the performance of the NIC to date, I am undertaking an audit of the commission. The audit will assess their progress against the abovementioned core objectives by examining their work across transport and energy. Specifically, the standalone reports, Transport for a World City, and Smart Power, have been analysed along with a suite of relevant literature. Ten interviews were conducted with key informants with links to the NIC and major infrastructure policy and strategy in the UK. Through Thatcherism and the proliferation of neoliberalism in the UK during the 1980s, the role of the state has become more faciliatory. This shift has created a new asset class and enabled global market forces to be embedded at the core of multiple infrastructure sectors

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Urban prescription: Spatial interventions for under-used public spaces in shrinking cities

The project explores how public spaces in shrinking cities can be re-purposed by informed strategies and design interventions. This approach has the potential to increase place attachment, inspire citizen participation and encourage flexibility in the interpretation of urban futures of these places.

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Public Participation and Urban Transport Planning in Developing Countries. The Case of the Amman Bus Rapid Transit (BRT).

Public infrastructure developments are designed to improve the well-being of society. As they affect the public, the processes of planning and delivering large-scale infrastructure projects are now expected to enable public participation. Due to pressures by international and development bodies, expanding opportunities for public participation is now also being encouraged in developing countries - although, there is little research available on how to effectively implement such participatory strategies. This dissertation aims to fill in those gaps by developing a practical framework that evaluates the implementation of public participation strategies in developing countries. Specifically, the framework is used to assess the appropriateness of the strategy employed in the planning, appraisal, and delivery of the Amman Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project in Amman, Jordan. The research methods used consist of a wide review of relevant literature and current policies, coupled with the collection of empirical data. The latter is based on semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders who are directly involved in the projects, and an online questionnaire - which aimed to assess the public’s perceptions on the strategy implemented. Based on these methods, research concludes that the public participation strategy implemented for Amman BRT is rudimentary and fails to address the public’s concerns with regards to the project. This dissertation provides recommendations to strengthen public participation policies and practices in Jordan in order to improve trusting relationships between the public and governments allowing for the future delivery of further public transport projects in Jordan.

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Participatory Backcasting for Sustainable Transport Policy in Lima and Callao

The backcasting approach is gaining prominence in the field of transport planning as a way of exploring scenarios to achieve desirable visions. Embracing a collaborative approach, participatory backcasting includes a broad variety of actors to explore ways of achieving goals in situations of high uncertainty. This approach is suitable to address the complex challenges of transport planning in cities in the Global South where disorganized growth and periods of socio-political instability have led to conflicting city structures and severe mobility issues. This dissertation presents an innovative bottom-up, participation-oriented, backcasting approach for sustainable transport policy in Lima and Callao, in Peru. For this purpose, a methodology was developed from other existing participatory backcasting approaches. It conducted a series of semi-structured interviews with a wide range of stakeholders in the transport sector and consisted of five distinctive phases: (i) context setting; (ii) visioning; (iii) Policies and initial packaging; (iv) policy packaging and pathways; and (v) validation. The results outline the drivers and trends affecting transport in Lima and Callao and illustrates a desirable vision common to all participants. It also does a process of policy packaging and explores two scenarios based in institutions as a source of uncertainty. This document discusses the related literature, describes the methodology, outlines the results of the process, and then it reflects in its usefulness.

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Heritage Trishaw (“Beca”) as The Main Mode of Public Transport to Commute Within George Town World Heritage Site (GTWHS)

Heritage trishaw in GTWHS used to be the main mode of public transport among local people for over 80 years, historically carrying children to and from school, women to the market, men to their work and families to their favourite restaurant. Nowadays, trishaw is no longer used by the local but mainly used by tourists, due to several factors. One of them is because of the transition of the city in terms of the title of World Heritage Site, it changed to more commercialise city and more tourists from day to day. Furthermore, people would prefer to choose another mode of transportations such as a car, taxi or motorcycle which is more comfortable, convenient, faster and sometimes even cheaper.

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RECLAIMING PUBLIC LIFE in Hot Arid Climate: Towards a more responsive urban configuration, the case of Kuwait

Urban open spaces play a vital role in supporting the social, cultural and economic life of cities while enhancing the health and wellbeing of its inhabitants. Attractive open spaces bring people to the streets and life to the city. Unfortunately, with the rapid urbanization and the introduction of automobiles, a lot of cities have adopted global paradigms that are insensitive to their climatic conditions, creating unsustainable and inhospitable environments for its inhabitants. Within hot-dry regions, precisely the case of Kuwait, the radical transformation from traditional compact urban fabric to fragmented urban sprawl, has formed a negative impact on the social coherence and public life of the city. This literature review highlights the fundamental determinants to the provision of active and vibrant open-spaces in hot-dry regions, to reclaim public life. The study of traditional urban settlements highlighted the basic understanding of climate-sensitive open spaces and social engagement. Urban morphology, spatial configuration, social and mixed uses play a vital role in the movement patterns and vitality of urban spaces. This research attempts to merge these findings to create a comprehensive study on vibrant open spaces within hot-arid climates. Case studies are selected within the global-north and the Middle-East to draw wider perspective while seeking climate-responsive and innovative approaches. The result of this research is a practical design toolkit which assists urban designers and planners in the provision of liveable open-spaces in hot-dry regions. The toolkit includes physical design principles supporting the provision of climatically tolerable open spaces, along with management guidelines to encourage and maintain regular use of open public spaces and pedestrian routes. The toolkit is then applied to configure/reconfigure a site in the centre of Kuwait City to test and evaluate its practicality. The result demonstrates a new approach to the sustainable provision of open public spaces while highlighting its limitation. This research aims to pave the way for healthier and more sustainable living for people and cities within hot-arid climates.

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The impact of transport infrastructure on property prices: a case study of crossrail

Assessing the impact of Crossrail, specifically looking at the effect it has had on property values. Using an unbalanced panel dataset, evaluating the change in property prices for houses that are located within close proximity to new Crossrail stations.

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Analysing the social externalities of transport projects- The case of the Metro de Lima

Recently the planning field has been questioning about gentrification and displacement processes due to transport investments. Making efforts to measure gentrification and displacement, authors have tried many tools to find correlations between the new transport project and its potential impacts in the urban space. Rather than finding a relationship, this study focuses on identifying the potential externalities of the first Metro line in Lima in three different socioeconomic areas, and its results when transport and development are not well articulated.

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Transforming together, adopting railway viaduct by using the Commons knowledge

In this age of rapid urbanisation and the continuous pressure for new developments, cities are facing more and more complex issues. Lack of public money leads central Governments to cut funding and privatise public services and spaces. This affects the ability to deliver civic and community services and leads to a state of “austerity urbanism” (Tonkiss, 2013).The growing trend of privatisation was expressed in 2018 when the railway network sold its railway arches to a private operator (“Network Rail sells railway arches”, 2018). This privatisation of the arches and local authorities cuts led to the appearance of new uses type under the railway arches. Most of them are commercial and retail uses that aim to maximise private interests and financial profit. Those types of uses do not necessarily enhance the needs of local communities; it increases rent prices, pushes out the current business, accelerates gentrification and displacement.This project aims to explore the use of the Commons (community-managed resources) and bottom-up approaches to provide a new community civic infrastructure under the railway arches that create social and economic value for the area and promotes a socially inclusive regeneration process. The project first reviews the current trends regarding adaptation and uses under the railway arches, followed by a theoretical review about a partnership, bottom-up approaches and civic engagement in addition to value creation and value capture. The theoretical aspects will be explored in the literature review and used to analyse case-studies from London and around the world. Those will shape the proposed toolkit, which then will be applied to a chosen site.

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Dynamics across multi-level planning systems and non-governmental participation groups: A case study of Greater Toronto’s Don River Valley

This research utilizes a socio-institutionalist approach, adapted for ecologically complex systems, to develop a framework for evaluating: how and to what extent have the characteristics of multi-level planning regimes and non-governmental initiatives operating within the Don River Valley (DRV) and watershed, reflected and transformed one another? The framework developed utilizes the visual metaphor of a river system, exploring the literature, contexts and contemporary characteristics of three ‘tributaries’: regional planning structures, the Don watershed as an independent agent, and non-governmental advocacy groups. Then, changes across the tributaries are examined during collaborative episodes, within the main body of the ‘river,’ where the tributaries merge. By adding these key characteristics to a consideration of the form and impacts of collaborative episodes, the question, examining the reflections and transformations of regional planning structures and non-governmental groups as a result of their collaboration, is addressed. key findings are presented: firstly, non-governmental participant groups deeply internalize the fragmented, asymmetrical regional structures which frame governance of the Don watershed. Groups which are able to participate on strategic levels, must be integrated into official governance structures, becoming vulnerable to the constraints inherent in both governmental protocols, and non-governmental organizing. Secondly, environmental ‘stewardship’ has been actively appropriated by all planning jurisdictions operating within the watershed, taken from its original usage within the context of non-governmental protection of the Don, a tactic for filling gaps in planning and governance abilities. By making public stewardship an articulated policy item, planning jurisdictions ignore the necessity of strategic coordination of stewardship initiatives towards wider, ecologically-minded goals. Finally, active restoration projects initiated by non-governmental groups have been recognized and incorporated into official planning policy, not through appropriation, but intentional inclusion and recognition of strengths and abilities. Non-governmental partners are actively sought by staff to lead site-based restoration projects, creating genuine partnerships.

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Streets to wellbeing?: Investigating the relationship between Transport for London Healthy Streets projects, walking journey experience and associated wellbeing

Despite increasing interest in health and wellbeing in transport policy, there is no policy monitoring tools to measure the effects of street projects on the mental wellbeing of those who walk. After establishing the two types of wellbeing (subjective and eudaimonic), a review of the literature suggested four main ways streetscape environments can affect wellbeing: traffic domination, safety, pollution and street greenery. These were combined with urban design and journey satisfaction approaches to create 16 streetscape factors which were integrated into a theoretical framework conceptualising how streetscape experience influences wellbeing. Given its progressive Healthy Streets Approach to streetscape projects, London was the case study location chosen to test the framework. A comparative approach was taken, comparing wellbeing associated with streetscape factors at Archway, where a Healthy Streets project has been completed, and Stoke Newington where a project is planned. The results found that whilst there is broad agreement with the most and least important streetscape factors, there were differences in the exact ranking which comes out more significantly when these importance ratings were used together with actual experience to plot ‘disgruntlement’. Although no relationship was found with eudaimonic wellbeing, subjective wellbeing was positively related to journey experience with the subjective wellbeing element positive deactivation-negative deactivation most influenced by journey experience in both locations. The most significant journey experience factor was found to be ‘Easy to cross’. No mediating relationship was found with socio-demographic factors or visit frequency. The overall comparison of wellbeing between the two locations found a statistically significant relationship for positive deactivation-negative deactivation and a moderately significant for experience. Thus, it appears streetscape experience has a measurable impact on wellbeing so policymakers should turn their attention to including wellbeing in project appraisal.

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Examine the Effects of Transit-Oriented Development Have on People’s Travel Behaviour in Changsha, China

A description of the work: Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) has been widely studied and introduced as one of the methods to reduce the use of cars in the developed world and some well-development regions in China. However, Changsha, though having one of the fastest metro developments in China’s “non-first-tier cities” with the vast TOD or other similar urban development taken palace, has not been paid much attention in this field. Therefore, in order to fill the gap, this research aims to study the the relationship between people’s travel behaviour and TOD in Changsha. An online survey has been distributed to 239 responses and a binary logistic regression model has been used to identify the factors that lead people to take metro. There are three key findings in this dissertation: 1) High metro stations accessibility is the most significant in attracting people using metro while reducing car ownership and restricting urban car parking also play certain roles, but socio-demographic factors, like gender, age and income, are not significant at this aspect; 2) Increasing land-use diversity and optimising walking and cycling-friendly design can help to boost neighbourhood travel and reducing car usage while increasing density should not help much in this perspective; 3) Only few people have TOD-style daily travel mode and most of them have to put housing prices and layouts first in choosing their current residences, but they are still interested in living in a neighbourhood with TOD attributes. To better achieve TOD in Changsha, urban planners and policymakers should further improve the experience of non-car urban travel, optimise neighbourhood design and planning, and increase the investment in affordable housing to achieve greater freedom of housing choice.

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Sustainable Remote Working Neighbourhood

The modern city has placed offices and businesses at its core promising economic opportunities as the centralising force of urbanisation. This has resulted in expanded residential settlements surrounding centres of offices and contributes to the increase of carbon emissions from commute. Meanwhile, the remote working phenomenon accelerated by the recent global pandemic signals a sustainable urban development pathway that challenges the notion of traditional offices as urban centres. Despite the tragic losses from the COVID-19 pandemic, the crisis presents an important lesson regarding climate change as decentralised work from home being the ‘new normal’ has led to a significant reduction in carbon emission. Seizing this as an opportunity, this research project intends to strengthen this environmental gain by consolidating a transition of our cities towards a decentralised urban structure. Ever since teleconferencing and internet technologies have pervaded our lives, the benefits and risks of remote working have been actively discussed. However, the implications of remote working specifically to sustainable urban development as well as the measures to plan our cities more adaptable to the future for the rising community of remote workers have yet been thoroughly addressed. By investigating the desires of remote workers, the trend of workplaces, and the sustainability implications of remote working, this research presents a design framework that integrates urban compactness and a catalogue of workspace typologies to achieve a sustainable remote working neighbourhood.Based on the author’s place-based knowledge about the social and historical context of South Korea, Seoul and its urban fringe neighbourhood Pyeongchon are selected as the focus area for this research proposal. Interventions on four sites from Pyeongchon aims to demonstrate the design strategies culminating with persona scenarios illustrating the experience of sustainable living and remote working in the retrofitted neighbourhood.

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The social impacts of urban development in Hong Kong: local residents’ perspectives

The trajectory of urban development in Hong Kong has produced a culture where property development has become a powerful force in society that has shaped its key institutions and built up the ethos of property accumulation as the measure of ultimate success. Driven by three key institutions: the government, property developers, and the MTR, Hong Kong’s urban railway company, urban development has massively transformed the territory’s neighbourhoods and communities. This dissertation contributes to the under-researched juncture between urban transformation and community relations in the context of a development-dominant culture by considering the case study of Sai Ying Pun, a Hong Kong neighbourhood that has undergone such urban change. Through a mixed method approach the perspectives of residents and businesses from two key communities, as well as experts, are studied. The findings reveal that the impacts of urban change are not experienced evenly by each community, and even if displacement does not occur, the benefits do not fall symmetrically. The research also demonstrates the continued faith placed in the power of the institutionalised property development apparatus to enhance the urban landscape and to improve the lives of residents, as well as the enduring belief amongst Hong Kong people of its potential as a vehicle for upwards social mobility.

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Mobility Governance: understanding the institutional structures required to promote and effectively manage shared mobility services in Santiago de Chile

In a context of environmental crisis and unseen pace and scale of development changes, new technologies, such as shared mobility platforms, are emerging as potential solutions to current urban challenges. These innovative trends are revolutionising not only the way people move around and understand the whole concept of mobility, but also the way mobility is planned and governed. These changes, often framed as socio-technical transitions, are complex and raise questions about struggles against existing regimes, externalities (both positive and negative) and how they should be managed. Therefore, the success of a transition from private car ownership to shared mobility systems will depend not only on design and engineering aspects, but also on adequate governance structures that promote and manage the transition.  Through the qualitative analysis of the institutional structures of Santiago de Chile’s governance and mobility issues, this dissertation highlights the reforms, strategies and measures required to facilitate a successful transition into new socio-technical systems such as the shared use of transport means. Based on the evidence, the current political fragmentation and lack of a metropolitan authority has proven to limit shared mobility effective and fair development in the city. Therefore, it is argued in favour of the need for a new model of governance to address the ‘silo’ mentality and (current and future) mobility challenges. A holistic vision must be implemented when planning mobility for cities like Santiago and for this to happen successfully, the coordination of multiple groups of interest (national/regional/local government, the private sector, academia and civil society) is fundamental. The reform of current institutional structures plays a central role in ensuring the sustainable development of Santiago de Chile’s mobility system.

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How the urban renewal programmes have affect Taipei City’s resilience to earthquake, typhoon and flooding

Deeply threatened by natural disasters, especially earthquake, typhoon and flooding; Taiwan has been seeking an effective approach to enhance the urban adaptive capacity to hazards. Urban renewal, which was seen as a tool to stimulate urban economic development as well as promote planned redevelopment and utilisation of land, has been transferred to a solution to mitigate the disaster risk from the view of the authority. Therefore, this study aims to examine the effect of urban renewal programmes on urban resilience to natural disasters. A disaster resilience framework was built through literature review first, and then a comprehensive review of the urban renewal programme of Taipei City, including laws, regulations, government’s policies and research reports were conducted. Also, interviews among different actors engaging in the process of urban renewal and disaster prevention were carried out to analyse how urban renewal programme has affected the urban resilience, both on the physical and social environment. The result suggests that urban renewal programme may increase the physical resilience to disaster through improving build environment and natural environment capacity; however, in terms of improving the social adaptive capacity, the effect of urban renewal programme is quite limited. Since the concept of disaster resilience, especially social resilience, have not been involved in the urban renewal relevant policy and plan-making process in the first place, the linkage between urban renewal and building disaster-resilient city is fragmentary. Furthermore, despite similar goals, the different departments in the municipality have worked in parallel, which results in the inefficiency of improving resilience through urban renewal approach.

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How has the evolving role of women contributed to driving change in UK Town Centres

Abstract Is the importance of women on the High Street being overlooked? Debate around the current state of town centres has been intense. The demise of household names such as Woolworths and BHS has led to deep concern as to whether it is reconfiguring, or imploding. There is a lot at stake as town centres generate great social and economic value. A range of stakeholders are working to identify the drivers behind the instability in order to subvert the decline. Online shopping is highlighted as the greatest threat in an array of others, including taxation, high retail rents, inflexible leases, fragmented ownership, out-of-town centres, and poor infrastructure and built environments. Policy discussion and development target these areas. Little attention is paid to the most important factor, the consumer. Women undertake or influence up to 80% of purchases, they are the main consumer. If footfall is down in town centres, this must be due to changes in their shopping habits. Focusing on women in the London Boroughs of Lewisham and Bromley, the aim was to test whether the evolving role of women is the foundation for changing shopping habits and, ultimately, town centre woes. Looking through the prism of feminist geography, the home, work, leisure and shopping spaces that women inhabit, and mobility between these, were analysed. It was found that women’s roles and attitudes across all age ranges are changing and their shopping behaviour reflects this, with wide ranging policy implications.

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Cycling Through COVID-19; Exploring Human-Scale Sensescapes

Using the London Streetspace Programme as a testbed, this paper compares the everyday sensory experience—or ‘urban sensescape’ (van Duppen and Spierings, 2013)—of cycling along streets that have been repurposed to support human-scale mobility (cyclists, pedestrians etc.) with that of cycling along streets that exist to uphold the ‘system of automobility’, primarily supporting cars, taxis and buses. On the ground, data was collected via a video auto-ethnography, bringing the researcher (myself) as close as possible to the subject of study so that the transient and fleeting nature of cycling might be effectively captured. Following Jones (2012), the paper employs the concept of sensory discipline to frame the analysis, arguing that human-scale streets foster a more disciplined sensescape; one that less experienced riders would likely feel more comfortable navigating. In concluding, the paper calls for urban planners to go beyond the human-scale, dismantling the ‘vehicular-pedestrian binary’ (Jones, 2005) by carving out spaces that cyclists can call their own.

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Walkable US desert cities: facilitating walkability through urban design in support of sprawl repair

Walking is a heavily underused transportation mode in United States desert cities, due to urban sprawl and its consequences, among others. Sprawl repair can help create more walkable cities, but the sole activity of infilling open spaces is not enough to ensure walkability in desert cities. Human scale urban design interventions are necessary to mitigate the impact of the desert heat on pedestrians and to create a truly walkable environment. In this research, academic literature is reviewed and case study cities from around the world are analysed, resulting in a toolkit of urban design guidelines that facilitate walkability in US desert cities. The guidelines are applied and tested on the context of Downtown Palm Springs, California. The result is a practical toolkit for urban designers that work on US desert cities and which can serve as a base for further research into walkability in extreme climates.

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Urban regeneration strategy applying empty urban divides: Railway lands in Celaya, Mexico.

Urban divides are elements that influence how urban fabric grow and develop. They separate -physically or figuratively- space, movement and connections. It is the juxtaposition between Types, which is the context where the device can be found and Devices, which are the objects which divide. When an urban divide ceases to operate, it changes, disappears, or stay as ruins, leading to urban emptiness (a multilayer phenomenon in the city system). This Major Project aims to explore different urban relationships related to urban divide typologies and devices, urban emptiness typologies and how urban regeneration projects using urban divides work as strategy axes to improve cities, allowing the design of macro-strategic projects. Therefore, this proposal focuses on analysing rail tracks as elements for urban regeneration. Projects using urban divides and urban emptiness across Mexico and the United States of America are analysed to understand the effects on the urban fabric and how this practice provides tools to generate relationships between society, government and private sectors. The chosen site for the project uses two historical railways in Celaya, Mexico. These will cease to operate in 2020 when a new railway system outside of the city is completed. These rail tracks divide Celaya´s urban sprawl into four quadrants and have a complex relationship with their urban environments, as they cross diverse urban typologies, gated communities, informal settlements, historical sites, factories and industrial archaeology. To create an Urban Regeneration Strategies applying urban divides, a detailed analysis of smaller urban divides devices within the urban fabric is important to understand the complexity of urban relationships, as these will disclosure strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for improving the distribution of urban equipment, social equality, new green infrastructure, legibility, opportunities and accessibility. This approach is an opportunity to encounter common identities in order to improve the development of urban growth and the life of their inhabitants using urban divides that will cease to operate.

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Where are we now? What should we do? A Research on the Travel Experience of the Visually Impaired People on Public Transport and Accessibility Facilities in Nanjing

This research aims to explore the travel experience of VIP when using public transport and accessibility facilities in Nanjing and to present the feasible solution that can provide a better environment for their barrier-free travel.

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BREAKING BARRIERS: Designing for Urban Social Cohesion in Diverse Neighbourhoods to Integrate Segregated Social and Ethnic Groups

Barriers of social class, ethnicity and economic inequality are generating segregation between different backgrounds even if they inhabit in the same part of a city, this is particularly the problem in multicultural and high dense cities, where lack of interactions between users of the same space in has become a more frequent issue causing problems of segregation and distrust. Considering the public realm as the main or only space that users share with others makes it a favourable place to bring them into contact with other groups. For this reason, external open spaces have been considered fundamental and the best option for this project to allow people to mix. This project presents an exploration on how to use public space to promote social cohesion in areas with the mentioned problematics. Information from multiple theories, research and authors has been compiled by using a literature review to explore how different groups make use of the public space, what characteristics of a public place attract users and if there are existing elements that prevent people from having interactions among ethnic and social backgrounds groups and how these barriers could be reduced. By using the principles from the literature review, case studies and in situ observations, design strategies are developed and applied in a network of public spaces in the Borough of Tower Hamlets, London, UK, to respond to the problem of segregation by using the built environment as a tool to allow interactions to take place, creating social mix and inclusion without people perceiving each other’s status or ethnic background.

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E-bikes in London: Perpetual Transport Niche or The Next Mainstream Mode?

There is a growing global agenda for sustainable transport systems. The transport sector is the fastest growing contributor of CO2 emissions, with 8.1 million tonnes emitted by transport in London annually. E-bikes are thought to be environmentally superior to other motorised modes of transport, and can expand the role of bikes in cities by overcoming common barriers to traditional cycling such as time, distance and topography. However, e-bikes are still a niche market in London compared to elsewhere in Europe, and it is imperative that the reasons for this are understood to assess whether e-bikes can become a mainstream transport mode. Understanding this will have implications for transitions from carbon-intensive transport systems to sustainable ones. Framed by the multi-level perspective (MLP) within transition theory, an online survey and series of semi-structured interviews in the form of an innovative ‘e-ride-along’ were completed within a case study context. These methods sought to establish which factors affected travel mode choice, explore the attitudes and perceptions towards e-bikes of non e-bike users of different demographics, identify the main barriers to e-bike use in London, and understand whether attitudes towards e-bikes change before and after trying one for the first time. Results show that the main barriers to e-bike use in London are cost, safety, negative social stigma and lack of cycle infrastructure, and that these barriers are likely to be experienced differently depending on demographics. Results also show that habitual associations with unsustainable travel patterns could make the transition to sustainable transport modes such as e-bikes challenging. E-ride-along participants found the e-bike experience fun and enjoyable, with perceptions generally becoming more positive after riding one. In order for e-bikes to transition from a niche to a mainstream transport mode, a range of interventions is required by cross-regime actors in order to overcome barriers to e-bike use in London.

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Establishing a tool-kit for infill development on post-war Mid to High rise estates to improve open space and the relationship with the wider street

After decades of cessation in council house building and depleting stock numbers, local authorities have recently been given the means to start building again to meet the UK housing shortage. Low density council owned estates, in particular post-war mid to high rise estates, present an obvious opportunity to deliver intensification through infill development. Infill development, however, should benefit existing residents by addressing major problems, such as poor-quality open spaces and the tenuous relationship with the street. This study proposes a tool-kit to guide infill development on post-war, mid to high-rise estates in an attempt to find out how infill development can improve open spaces and the relationship that estates have with the streets. The tool-kit incorporates principles brought to light in a literature review of council estate regeneration theories and infill development case studies on post-war, mid to high rise estates. A design response on the Home Park Estate utilising the tool-kit is used to evaluate the tool-kit, leading to a conclusion that infill development implemented in accordance with the tool-kit would produce higher quality, more useful open spaces and strengthen the relationships that estates have with the wider street to produce safer and more cohesive streets. Further research is needed to determine resident’s aspirations for infill development and to determine the financial viability of infill.

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Can shopping centres weather the Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) storm? A study of the perspectives, pressures, strategies and opportunities arising from CVAs.

The retail sector has endured a prolonged period of upheaval that has led to retailers facing financial distress. As a result, the retail industry has been experiencing a rising number of retailers undertaking Company Voluntary Arrangements (CVAs). Using existing literature, secondary data and primary research drawn from semi-structured interviews with a broad range of high-profile stakeholders, this study will review the impacts of the CVA phenomenon on shopping centre formats. This approach will allow for an in-depth analysis of landlord and tenant perspectives and pressures, to understand the strategies that are being undertaken by these stakeholders to mitigate the impact of CVAs. The results show that CVAs have had a significant impact on the net income of shopping centres and have heightened tensions between landlords and tenants due to game playing and opportunistic negotiations between parties to secure the best outcome from the market. Interestingly, the most common strategies to overcome the CVA storm involve transforming the challenges into potential opportunities, which is possible thanks to the structure and management capabilities of shopping centres. Policy updates are all the same necessary to promote unity in the sector. Considering the under-researched nature of CVAs and the impact on shopping centres, this research paper ends with recommendations on policy and opportunities for future research.

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Journey Experience and Well-being of High Speed Rail Commuters -The case of Suzhou-Shanghai Part of High Speed Railway

In this study, the author explores the linkage between the journey experience of High-Speed Railway and well-being from the Asian perspective. The study firstly justifies the case study by arguing High-Speed-Railway, as a burgeoning transportation means worldwide, is influencing daily travel behaviour. Then, a sample of 168 intercity commuters using High-Speed Railway collected from Suzhou in China is presented. Through face-to-face and online surveys, the respondents stated their expectations and their actual journey experience of High-Speed Railway services retrospectively. User disgruntlement method is applied to investigate both instrumental and affective aspects of the journey experience. The satisfaction with travel is evaluated before the data is used to investigate the link between journey experience and well-being. Finally, the effect of journey experience on well-being is analyzed with Pearson correlation coefficient analysis in SPSS. Results suggest the significant impact of the instrumental aspect of the service on commuters’ well-being, especially the punctuality and accessibility to the stations. Besides, some of the affective factors also show significant influence on journey experience and in turn, well-being. The study ends by providing the policy implications of improving service quality and suggesting further research focus.

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Factors influencing metropolitan public transport integration in Florianópolis, Brazil – a Delphi study

The dissertation explores the factors influencing the pursuit of metropolitan public transport integration in Florianópolis, Brazil.  A Delphi survey with policymakers and stakeholders is employed, linking visioning, long-term public transport objectives and short-term barriers and measures throughout three successive questionnaires.

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An Evaluation of COVID-19’s Impact on The Smart City Framework – Case of London

This study investigates the Impact of COVID-19 on London and highlight opportunities to mitigate the impact on the city. The findings are based on semi-structured interviews with experts and categorised through the smart city framework, which includes, smart: economy, people, governance, mobility, environment and living.

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Levels of service and ridership in Greater Tel Aviv, Israel: a GIS study using open data with policy suggestions

Travel patterns in Israel and in Greater Tel Aviv (GTA), in particular, are car-dominated. This is due to several societal and governmental factors that have shaped such patterns over the years; Nowadays, Israel suffers from heavy congestion, that harms economic development and peoples welfare. Currently, policymakers are developing strategic plans for mass transport solutions in Greater Tel Aviv, including, a light rail and a metro system. By offering improved services, transport planners aspire to attract new passengers and establish new travel behaviour among local residents. Yet, it is still worth analysing the existing transit services and their level of service (LoS) to understand their influence on travel patterns. Therefore, this study aimed to analyse the level of service in GTA, and discuss its influence on transit ridership. The study followed an LoS ranking methodology developed by the Poelman and Dijkstra (2015), which classifies the objective levels of service of urban centres using open data and census data. Analysis findings suggest that over 88% of GTA urban centres residents in GTA are accessible to high frequencies on weekdays. This is considered high levels of service in comparison to other, previously studied cities. Next, the influence of the analysed LoS on ridership is analysed using Azjen Theory of Planned Behaviour (1991) as an analytical framework. Possible reasons for low transit ridership are discussed, including the role of simple network structure, social norms and marketing. Therefore, this paper argues that while high levels of service are required to make people use transit, they are not satisfactory. Last, different approaches for making transit promoting interventions are discussed. A context-specific policy is suggested- to operate the future metro lines and BRT, which could start generating demands, simplify transit use and raise attitudes.

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The role of youth culture in shaping spatiotemporal dimensions of place: A study on the rhythmicity, performativity and identity of Berlin Kidz.

Based on netnographic fieldwork with a virtual mixed-methods approach, this dissertation investigates the spatiotemporal dimensions of youth place-making. The aim is to illustrate how young people make meaningful connections with place through performative and rhythmic processes, and to learn about what young people search for. This study develops a framework in which young people are considered as active producers of culture, and as a vital part of cultural phenomenology. In unearthing how youth have been deprived of places to call their own that represent their own identity since the decline of urban public space, this study uses a single case-study, Berlin Kidz. This youth collective are notorious for their recognisable graffiti, train surfing, free-riding and other spontaneous activities across Berlin. I employ Lefebvre’s rhythm analysis and reinterpret this discourse through the postulation of performative urbanism in the hopes of contributing toward notions of urban planning and design. This phenomenological understanding of place unearths the spatiotemporal practises that young people exercise. It emerges that a central aspect of youth place-making is being able to create alternative dimensions through their role as performative place-makers, orchestrators of rhythms, and soldiers for youth. I illustrate how youth fabricate spatial and temporal disruptions in order to maintain a practice of improvising and organising, which to Berlin Kidz is a way of constructing meaning in everyday life.

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Governance as a tool to deliver sustainable transport systems: An institutional integration proposal for Monterrey, Mexico.

Monterrey, Mexico is a city that faces air pollution and congestion crisis due to a heavy reliance on private motorised mobility. The purpose of this paper is to show that governance plays a significant role in this issue, as the provision of mobility is fragmented between different levels of government and institutions that do not collaborate effectively. This research focuses on four topics, from a governance perspective: organisational structure, policy integration, finance and urban integration. It uses three progressive cities as case studies: Medellin, London and Singapore. These were selected as they have achieved a form of integration in their transport system and represent different political and cultural contexts. Documental research and semi-structured interviews were conducted in each city to understand their current framework and a coding matrix was created to perform a content analysis of the interviews. Results show that governance does impact significantly the ability of a city to pursue sustainable mobility. Progressive cities have integrated institutions that oversee planning, implementation, administration and monitoring of mobility, where Monterrey has these attributions fragmented in at least six organisations that scarcely collaborate. These cities have strong local plans that direct strategies and projects and support collaboration between agencies, level of governments and stakeholders. In Monterrey, the last metropolitan plan is outdated and has no integrating powers. Financing in Monterrey is not an issue of the number of resources, but how effectively they are being used. And finally, urban integration to mobility is being done through plans and policy in progressive cities but mostly treated separately in Monterrey. The paper concludes with a framework proposal for Monterrey, embedded in its current context, that would help the city overcome its issues. Further detailing would be needed for this framework to be realistically applied, but it is well-grounded on evidence.

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Risk Management in Real Estate Development

How real estate developers in Vienna consider risk in their decision-making.

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Public transport renewal and car use, an early assessment of the Leman Express and its impact on cross-border commuting in the Geneva area amidst the COVID-19 crisis

The automobile has become, over the years, the central element of our transport systems worldwide. Because of its negative impacts on the environment, health and on cities, it is now necessary to move towards another transport paradigm. This is however not so easy and will require a complex set of interventions, among which, the provision of efficient public transport. This dissertation seeks to understand the effect of renewed public transport provision on car use and dependence, as well as to understand whether the COVID-19 crisis has influenced this. To this end, the case study of the new Leman Express rail system in the Greater Geneva area (Switzerland/France) was analysed. An online survey was distributed to both train and non- train users resulting in interesting quantitative and qualitative data. Findings indicate that this new rail system is currently seen as a limited alternative to car use. It is nevertheless a step in the right direction. To achieve more significant modal shift, a wider network of interventions aiming to both attract drivers to alternative forms of transport and to restrict the use of cars will be necessary.

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Effects of the urban green and blue spaces on residential energy consumption: a case study on London

This dissertation takes residential energy consumption in London as the research object, exploring whether the difference in its spatial distribution is directly related to the urban green and blue spaces at the scale of Lower Layer Super Output Area (LSOA). After the control of other significant influence factors, multiple linear regression is applied to examine the relationship between study variables and normalised residential energy consumption. The study results show that some variables are significantly correlated to the domestic gas/electricity consumption, including variables about land occupation, distance and spatial distribution characteristics. However, their effects are not always consistent in different situations. The results of this dissertation not only can inspire future studies in this area but also provide some advice on the urban ecosystem planning and design.

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Nibbling at the Green Belt: An Investigation into the Impacts of Small-Scale Residential Development.

This thesis has investigated the controversy surrounding Green Belt policy in England, reflecting on the relevant planning policies that define the use of land across England. This project has focused specifically on the impact of small-scale, minor residential developments in eroding Green Belt boundaries and the subsequent alteration in the use of land throughout England. The south-east county of Surrey and the district of Tandridge have been employed as unique case studies, in which the prevailing Green Belt trends and the predominant policy arguments employed in decision-making have been examined.

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To what extent can measuring bus performance from the customer persepctive increase sustainable mode share?

This work analyses the production of a new bus performance metric for Transport for London. The main purpose was to switch measuring bus performance from an operational to a customer perspective and capture the holistic bus customer experience. Through an increased understanding of the customer experience, the thesis outlines the opportunities for Transport for London to increase sustainable mode share and encourage customers to the bus network through providing a more efficient service.

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Social (w)holes

For a city to be truly shared, it should aim to cultivate social cohesion amongst its various communities. Thus, it cannot neglect the issue of spatial segregation, but should, instead, encourage community members to willingly and freely cooperate and engage with one another, in spite of their differences, in order to achieve a sense of unity and belonging. However, there are cities that have, throughout history, witnessed daily practices of segregation and the spatialization of identities - which has led to the creation of divorced societies. Reinforcing the idea of identities and belonging to a certain community that should not engage with ‘others,’ has resulted in the creation of ‘imagined’ boundaries. Those boundaries, which spatially and distinctly exist in the deeply divided and territorialized city of Beirut, inhibit exchange and render its societies disengaged and divorced from each other. This research conceptualizes the aforementioned problem. It uses literature to outline the importance of cultivating social cohesion and how urban acupuncture can be used in nudging those divides through the implementation of design interventions within the city. It also draws out the required conditions for the application of this approach. As for case study reviews, they display the impact of providing multiple socially-engaging urban platforms.Through the amalgamation of academic literature and case study reviews, a practical toolkit, which puts forth design principles that aid in cultivating social cohesion, is proposed for nudging those notions of physical and 'imagined' boundaries that have taken on a spatial form. It is carried out on a network of spaces in the neighborhood of Bachoura, Beirut, to respond to the critical problem that has been fortified over the years. Design principles include creating shared spaces, fostering shared activities, promoting co-design, nudging common perceptions and overcoming physical barriers. In addition to the aforementioned, this thesis exemplifies how the practice of urban design can participate in cultural conflict resolution through the injection of inclusive and collaborative spaces within cities.

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Relocating Communities: From The Boleyn Ground to The London Stadium

The investigation looks at the topics of; stadia redevelopment; contractual landscapes in regeneration; concepts on being at home; the commercialisation of football and community displacement In doing so, this paper begins to elucidate the perspectives of a community who's experience reveals a clash between the values of commerce, communities, legacy and dividend. The 2012 Olympic legacy promises emphasised the long term use of infrastructure and in March 2013, 'E20 Stadium LLP' confirmed that West Ham United Football Club would be the London Stadium's long-term concessionaire. The relocation to the London Stadium was the catalyst for supporter resentment. many opposed the move on the grounds that the decision to move co-opted the identity of the club for commercial gain. There was scant democratic consultation and supporters failed to see tangible benefits materialise at the London Stadium. Negative sentiment peaked on 10 March 2018, with a riot erupting at the London Stadium which was targeted at the clubs owners. This research begins to elucidate the perspectives of those who experience the post-Olympic environment, by posing the question: Why was there a backlash to the move to the London Stadium from the supporters of West Ham United Football Club?

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Co-designing Bicycle Networks: An Exploration of Public Participation in Beirut

The study explores how collaborative bicycle planning in Beirut might be exercised, and what it might contribute to transport planning. Three participatory workshops were conducted with recent bicycle adopters, focused on developing a preliminary user-informed bicycle network and the criteria to shape. Wider stakeholder interviews gauged perceptions of ideal participation, the workshop’s evaluation as a participatory process, and its contributions to improved planning.

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"Sinking the City": Towards Carbon Storage and Reduced CO2 Emissions in Low-Carbon Neighbourhoods

A Major Research Project presented for the degree of Master of Science in Sustainable Urbanism

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How is social equity understood in UK city transport strategies? A study of Oxford and London transport strategies.

This research explores how social equity is understood, measured and prioritised in UK transport strategies The Oxford Transport Strategy and the London Mayor's Transport Strategy were examined through strategy analysis and expert interviews to understand how and why social equity policies/objectives were conceptualised and prioritised within each strategy. Surveys with the public were then undertaken to explore whether the strategies are consistent with the public's needs and definitions of social equity. This research aims to add the limited body of work around social equity definitions in the transport sector and transport strategy analysis and provides recommendations as to how social equity might be more effectively incorporated and measured in transport strategies in the future.

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Development Viability Assessments and Public Participation: Restoring a Balance of Power on the Greenwich Peninsula.

This dissertation explores how the recent revision to the NPPF, which advocates the public disclosure of unreacted development viability assessments, can enable both the inclusion of non-technical expertise in viability modelling and effective public participation in related decision-making. The research focuses on the redevelopment of the Greenwich Peninsula; identifying the structure of urban governance and the stakeholders consulted in viability modelling.

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Revitalising historic urban quarters: the notion construction of heritage in urban regeneration

This research investigates into the notion construction of heritage in urban regeneration process in China. It aims to understand how and why is heritage produced in specific ways, as a step contributing to understanding distance between heritage policy and implementation. It adopts a qualitative approach of case study, collecting both primary data from interviews as well as non-participant observation and secondary data from official documents and online articles. The research conceptualises heritage as a process, exploring value construction and delicate power relations within. It unveils multiplicity of heritage in both value interpretation and product-making. The intrinsic dissonance among multiple interpretations and imbalanced power relations weave into the process where heritage material is purposefully selected and packaged into specific heritage products. Current trends in regeneration also greatly influence governance of heritage management. This research implies the complexity of heritage and its relation to political-economic context. It calls for further studies to analyse heritage governance in China with more comprehensive scope.

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What are the conditions under which social housing estates residents can retain their homes after a planned redevelopment scheme?

The research aim of this dissertation is to analyse the conditions under which the residents of social housing estates can retain their homes after a planned redevelopment scheme.

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Urban Planning and the Protection of Grassroots Music Venues in the London Boroughs of Hackney and the City of London

This research aims to contribute toward a critical understanding of how the planning system currently interacts with GMVs in London and the impact of measures introduced to better protect and support GMVs in the city through the planning system. This is achieved through a comparative analysis of planning policy and its application, along with the experience of individuals actively involved in the grassroots sector of the London Boroughs of Hackney and the City of Westminster, two of the most active areas for live music in the capital.

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Appraisal of Mass Rapid Transit system options for Milton Keynes using a fully participatory Multi-Actor Multi-Criteria Analysis

In depth assessment of appraisal techniques is conducted with a focus on participatory methods. The appraisal of a future major transport project for Milton Keynes is done using a fully participatory Multi-Actor Multi-Criteria Analysis method.

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Would a Digital Planning App Make the UK Planning System More Efficient and Accessible?

A dissertation in planning researching whether a digital planning app would make the UK planning system more efficient and accessible.

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Social Value: Current state of practice in property development

An investigation into the role that social value plays in property development. It explores how social value is defined, How and Why property professionals engage with it at the different stages of development, and what the future of social value looks like.

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Trip chaining and car use: A case study of Cambourne, Cambridgeshire

A study of the interactions between car-dependent trip purposes and trip chaining and whether they result in additional car use, using the Cambridgeshire town of Cambourne as a case study.

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Assessing the gender gap in urban cycling through the Capability Approach

The present dissertation is developed under the basis that the un-targeted promotion of cycling, fails to increase gendered diversity in this mode of transport in the context of London. The research explores from a subjective approach the reasons behind the gender gap in cycling by looking into women’s personal experiences and intrinsic social conditions that make them prone to cycle, or on the contrary, constrain them from doing so. This dissertation is framed under Amartya Sen’s ‘Capability Approach’ (CA) (1984) as it recognises that individuals have different abilities or capabilities to carry out and activity, in this case, women's capabilities to cycle. The data was gathered through semi-structured interviews focused on women’s personal experience in cycling, and showed the social construction of gender influences how women perceive the action of riding a bicycle, and hence their ability to do so.

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Immediate Spaces and Subjective Wellbeing During the Covid-19 pandemic. A New Relationship?

Qualitative research project exploring the relationship between subjective wellbeing and immediate spaces during the Covid-19 pandemic.

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Some understandings of Privately Owned Public Spaces (POPS) in the Non-Western contexts: A case study of political uses in New Town Plaza, Hong Kong

This dissertation discusses the concept of privately owned public spaces (POPS) in urban planning, and explains how the narratives of POPS from the West could be ill-suited to the non-Western contexts. Looking into how different groups of actors understand/create meanings of POPS during a protest that has happened inside a shopping mall in Hong Kong, this dissertation gives a summary of both the discursive and visual findings. It analyses how alternative understandings could be created in the non-Western contexts, followed by some reflection on the wider West/non-West social context debate, as well as the analytical approach of future research.

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Social Infrastructure for the 21st Century: The Cases of Every One Every Day and the Idea Stores

Over the course of the last 30 years, changes in governance trends have led to a growing opportunity for citizen participation in decision-making at the level of local government. The 2011 Localism Act enshrined this in planning policy. However, the voluntary uptake of participatory planning mechanisms has been mixed at best. Areas with wealthier communities with more resources have been more likely to see these opportunities realised in a way they are not in areas with less affluent communities. UK planning policy does not specify the means by which local authorities should engage their communities but social infrastructure is implicated as a possible way to do this. This dissertation will therefore explore the potential contribution social infrastructure could make to empowering communities to play a more active role in the planning system. Community empowerment will be defined by using the concept of social capital and Sen’s capabilities approach. There has been considerable interest in libraries and participatory culture spaces since the start of the 21st century for their ability to generate social capital and broaden communities’ capabilities. This dissertation will look at two examples from East London. The first being Every One Every Day, the UK’s biggest participation scheme, in Barking & Dagenham and the second being the Idea Stores, a chain of modernised libraries, in Tower Hamlets. These examples will be used to make the case for a new type of social infrastructure that can empower communities and contribute to achieving participatory planning in line with the evolution of governance and recommendations in current planning policy. The findings from this study suggest that participatory culture spaces and libraries sit among wider networks of social infrastructure that, when combined, facilitate the social life and political power of communities across the UK to a greater or lesser degree.

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Government intervention in the evolutionary process of innovation districts: a comparison of Tech city in East London and 22@ Barcelona

The work aims to study government intervention in the evolutionary process of innovation districts and conduct a comparative study of Tech City in London and 22@ Barcelona.

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How can the design of a high street promote social inclusion and attempt to accommodate both poor and wealth community groups and their needs?

Social segregation between the rich and poor is an issue that London and other big cities struggle to fight. This issue is universal that it may exist between different neighbourhoods or in the same housing block. Bias and distrust between the poor and rich caused by lack of social contacts may adversely affect cohesion and stable social relations.  An inclusive high street that accommodates both poor and wealth community groups and their needs encourages interaction between people from different social backgrounds. This research examined three high streets in rich and poor neighbourhoods to explore how they support local residents’ economic and social daily activities. Street observation, surveying people and designer interviews were applied to understand factors that shape an inclusive high street from different aspects. Various store types with a wide range of price choice and well-managed public space play a critical role in promoting social inclusion of poor and wealthy community groups. Street physical characteristics (e.g. sidewalk width, availability of seating) have universal positive impact on enhancing sociability and inclusivity of each social groups. These findings could be reference for urban designers when planning for mixed-income communities.

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Community Influence, Opportunity Areas & Urban Regeneration: evaluating the ability for communities to influence regeneration in Opportunity Areas across London

This dissertation seeks to contextualise the debate on ‘localism’ by exploring a particular regeneration process in London. Specifically, it examines the extent of community influence in the regeneration processes of Opportunity Areas across London. The research involved an in-depth case study of the Earl’s Court and West Kensington Opportunity Area, a critical discourse analysis of the policies governing the case study, and interviews with councillors, residents and community groups. The findings from the research suggests a notable absence of emphasis on community engagement and empowerment in policies governing the case study. Interestingly, this lack of emphasis did not translate into a lack of community engagement in practice, but engagement processes were generally tokenistic and used to promote a wider neoliberal agenda of economic growth. Despite the limited community influence in the case study’s ‘prescribed spaces of engagement’, alternative sites of community resistance were successful in altering regeneration processes and outcomes, but such resistance was met with significant challenges that make its success exceptional in London. Furthermore, whilst the limits to community engagement observed in the case study are a London-wide phenomena, the status of Opportunity Areas as a tool for growth plays a role in further limiting the extent of community influence. Therefore overall, as explored through the Earl’s Court and West Kensington Opportunity Area, only to a limited extent are communities able to influence the regeneration processes of Opportunity Areas.

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Edible Poplar: Retrofitting Underused Urban Spaces in Poplar with Community Urban Farming to Nudge Sustainable Urban Living and Empower Communities

A major research project on retrofitting underused open spaces community urban farming in London.

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Investigating any possible factors influencing the rider transit mode choice between BRT and conventional bus services in Guangzhou.

The aim of this study is to understand the transit mode choice between BRT and conventional bus of the existing transport users and to identify any possible influential factors or attributes result such a reference in the context of Guangzhou, China. The study examined the importance and the influence of possible factors on the transit mode choice from three dimensions including socio-demographic, travel behaviour and 14 service attribute. A new Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system was adopted in Guangzhou in 2010, with moving more than 27,000 passengers per hour in a single direction and achieved 805,000 daily boarding, suggesting that Guangzhou BRT is a sustainable solution to reduce traffic congestion along Zhongshan Avenue, which also makes it became Asia’s first high-capacity and operating flexible BRT system and received the 2011 Sustainable Transport Award.As one of the Chinese megacities, Guangzhou is undergoing massive growth of population, economy and private vehicles, which demonstrates the necessity to update the performance of Guangzhou BRT system when compared with conventional bus service, and outline any required improvement for both transit mode towards a better public transport environment.

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How do planners perceive their role in providing public toilets in London?

An examination of the role planning has played, does play and could play in ensuring adequate public toilet provision in London, especially in light of Policy S6 of the emerging London Plan. Six practising planners are interviewed and the role of local authorities as well as the changing role of planning is reflected upon. Public health is identified as the connection between public toilets and planning.

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Intergate lively and perceptible flood adaptation measures in public open space

Due to climate change, many urban areas are under high flood risks, among which urban public open space is one of the most vulnerable places (Matos Silva and Costa, 2017). To make matters worse, public open space with flood adaptation measures are facing problems like spatial compression, poor integration, and low-quality landscape (Leinster et al., 2009). Moreover, current measures are invisible, underground, and engineering-oriented, which is hard to be perceived by people, let alone provide opportunities for people to understand, accept and contribute to it (Wong, 2006). Though with these problems, public open space, which are multifunctional, Interdisciplinary, and civic significant, have entailed characteristics and opportunities for adaptation efforts (Matos Silva and Costa, 2017). So, the research question is how to integrate lively and perceptible flood adaptation measures into public open space. Through the literature review, the research tries to look into three related fields(1) flood adaptation measures applicable in public open space; (2) how can these measures to be lively elements in public open space; (3) design methods to enhance people's perception of urban flood risks and functions of these flood adaptation measures. Substantial case studies will be followed to fill the research gaps in design methods. Based on the summary of the literature review and case studies, a design toolkit will be formulated to guide the urban design practices in the Hackbridge and Beddington Corner Neighborhood. In conclusion, discussions and limitations will be put forward for future research.

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Within high density communities

The public open space is the carrier of social, economic and cultural activities for the residents. In the process of urbanization, the public space is constantly compressed. Social interaction serves as a link between communities and plays an important role in the sustainable development of residents' life and the whole society. However, differences and gaps in space and culture make social interaction less frequent that community members are reluctant to communicate with each other. This had adverse effects on public life and the physical and mental health of individual residents. This research summarizes the importance of social interaction with literature review. It also highlighted the underlying determinants of providing attractive open spaces in mixed communities to encourage interaction. The study of the leisure behaviour of different groups of people also emphasizes the basic understanding of the ideal way of living for all groups and the use of public places. The case study puts forward the possibility of space arrangement of public space, encouraging public participation in design and construction, renovation of existing facilities and promotion of sustainability. This research attempts to combine these findings into a comprehensive study of public open spaces in complex communities. From the key findings, a practical toolkit is proposed. The toolkit includes physical design principles as well as policies to support the provision of spaces that are attractive and able to encourage interaction by promoting participation, shared activities, joint design and overcoming physical barriers. Then, on the application side, a site was chosen from a fast-growing city in a developing country to gain a broader perspective. The toolkit was configured at the site to test and evaluate its usefulness and feasibility. It's also used to spot potential conflicts. The research aims to promote public interaction and encourage people to live more sustainable lives.

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The Role of Institutions for the Development of Car Sharing in London, Berlin, Rome and Milan

The purpose of this dissertation is to clarify the role of institutions for the development of car sharing services. Sustainable mobility has gained reasonable relevance in the past decade as it represents a fundamental aspect necessary for the preservation of the environment and for the improvement of the quality of life within urban centres. The use of private vehicles within cities has created numerous issues in terms of pollution and space consumption. The rise of the sharing economy and technological innovations have allowed the spread of new forms of shared mobility that aim at reducing private vehicle ownership. Despite the growing body of work produced by academics regarding the positive externalities that car sharing has on reducing emissions, traffic congestion and car ownership, the role of institutions as enablers and facilitators for the development of these services has remained widely unexplored. Following the development of a theoretical framework that draws on the work of academics that focused on the role of institutors, urban governance, and policy, the paper progresses by presenting four European case studies: London, Berlin, Rome and Milan. By identifying the key institutions and organizations that affect the development of car sharing, we then progress in listing and analysing the key policies and strategic plans that affect these services in each city. The analysis is supported by interviews carried out with eight experts that work in the sector. We then proceed in discussing and concluding that institutions play a central role in facilitating and directing the development of car sharing.

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Inequalities in the Commuting Burden: Institutional Constraints and Job-housing Relationships in Tianjin

The burden of commuting has been a key issue for urban transport equity in developing countries, and the inequality of the commuting burden is accompanied by the institutional aspect. Among the many institutional factors, the housing and employment institutions bring major impacts on individuals’ choices of accommodation and job, thus restrict commuting behaviour and job-housing relationships. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the role of employment and housing system constraints such as Hukou (a form of household registration in mainland China) and Danwei (the name of work unit or workplace in mainland China) in the unequal commuting burden taking Tianjin as an example. By distributing self-completed questionnaires among 400 Tianjin commuters and conducting semi-structured interviews with five of them, this study collects information about the commuters’ commuting patterns to understand how they balance job-housing relationships under institutional barriers. The results of multiple linear regression show that factors such as Hukou status, employment sector and housing source have a significant impact on commuting time. Some commuters are employed by Danweis or have Tianjin Hukou, so they can join the housing plans of Danwei, which means that Danweis provide some solutions for their accommodation so that their commute time is significantly decreased. Interviews found that institutional barriers constrained the job-housing balance of high-skilled immigrants, while local residents and low-skilled immigrants avoided institutional barriers by returning to Danwei housing and choosing informal housing separately. The study provides new evidence for which groups have suffered from the commuting burden caused by institutional barriers. In terms of improvement measures, commuters are looking forward to eliminating the legacy of Danweis’ housing benefits and achieving equal housing subsidies. At the same time,they appealed for improvements of housing benefits, the quality of public transport and mixed housing -workplace planning. This study finds that institutional discrimination causes social inequality in the commuting burden, which could continue to worsen unless unequal institution is eliminated. The findings can be used to assist planners and decision makers in developing effective strategies to promote sustainable urban development.

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Urban Street Evolution: The Opportunity from Emerging Transportation Technologies to Create More Human-centred Places

With the rapid population growth in cities, the existing transportation system exposes insurmountable problems due to restrictions of conventional technologies. In this circumstance, some emerging transportation technologies become potential solutions, while relevant research is mainly from the domain of engineering and information technologies. From the perspectives of city planners and urban designers, this research aims at exploring the question about how can street design response to the advent of those new technologies and regard this transformation as an opportunity to revive street life. By identifying the key features of four main technologies: autonomous vehicles (AVs), automated mass transit, shared bicycle or scooters, and better delivery systems, this research tries to find out proactive alteration of streets to accommodate those elements and become more human-centred spaces. A tool-kit, which consists of five tools, shows the spatial design guidance for different circumstances on streets and the deployment of street facilities. The tool-kit is applied in a specific site in Tianhe Central Business District in Guangzhou, China. By examining the proposed tool-kit and demonstrating the possibility of embedding those transportation technologies into our urban environment, this research presents a probable prospect of vibrant, versatile, safe and resilient streets, which contain multiple transport modes and support our urban life.

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The development of bike sharing in Shanghai: from emerging, boosting to shrinking

The bike sharing scheme in Shanghai

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Visualising vacancy using electricity consumption data: a study of the centre of Belo Horizonte, Brazil

In Brazil, official data confirms that residential vacancy is bigger than the housing deficit. While the simultaneous existence of a built empty stock and families in need of housing has been widely criticised, very little is known about the vacant stock itself. It is precisely the lack of information one of the main obstacles to face this controversial scenario. This dissertation contributes to the scientific discussion on real estate vacancy by presenting a method to visualise the phenomenon in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, using geographic electricity consumption data, which discloses the location of utility poles, characterised by the number of connections in each pole and their billing status. First of all, the literature review discusses how the capitalist production of space generates a vacant built stock and, afterwards, how the scientific community have worked with unconventional data sources to inform real estate vacancy. Next, the gathered data is analysed and, from that, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) support the construction of a Geoprocessing model. The process results on the visualisation of areas of interest where there is a high absolute density of possibly vacant properties. The method is firstly applied at the municipal scale, and the broader scenario of the city, as well as the method’s limitations, are discussed. Then, the process is applied at a local scale, focusing on the Centre neighbourhood. After that, it is conducted a preliminary test of its effectiveness through the direct sampling method; photos of the identified areas of interest are collected and analysed. Finally, conclusions are presented, also revealing how the developed method could serve as a tool for public authorities to monitor real estate vacancy.

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An Investigation into the Impact of the Short-Term Rental Market (and its Subsequent Professionalisation) on the Private Long-Term Rental Sector in London

AirBnB and other short term rental services (STRs) have become an established part of the residential real estate market in London. For the STR market in general, the desire to stay in apartments and your ‘own space' over that of a hotel has given rise to this market. AirBnB and other short-term rental platforms claim to operate through the ‘sharing economy’. However this paper will show that STR listings in London are forming a new professionalised market. As a result of this booming industry, there is substantial removal of stock from the private rental sector (PRS) resulting in reduced supply and rising prices. Despite this, the industry is still operating largely unregulated and uncontrolled. Where regulation has been attempted in London, it has been routinely ignored without repercussions and remains ineffective. This paper investigates the impact of STR professionalisation using data samples and interviews before examining regulatory policies from Japan, Santa Monica and Barcelona

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How do fears, perception and the reality of a pandemic impact on an individual’s travel behaviour and choice - a case study of the Covid-19 outbreak in London

Investigation into the impact of Covid-19 on the travel choice and behaviour, including how perceptions of public transport changed

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Research on analyzing the social conflicts caused by urban tourism and developing a sustainable urban tourism mode in tourist cities ----- A case study of Shanghai historic and cultural attractions

This research takes historic and cultural attractions and surrounding residential areas in Shanghai as research object. It studies on the social conflicts caused by urban tourism and how to remit these conflicts. Due to the continuously development of urban tourism in recent years, tourist attractions and surrounding residential areas experienced great changes, which influence residents’ lives and stimulate social conflicts between local residents and urban tourism. In this context, the concept of developing sustainable urban tourism (SUT) model around scenic spots is put forward to remit social conflicts caused by excessive development of urban tourism. To remit social conflicts caused by urban tourism and form a SUT model around scenic spots, six indicators have been investigated in this research: design and utilization of public space, gentrification, social belonging and integration, tourist behavior, infrastructures and service facilities and population structure. These six indicators are used to build the evaluation framework to assess the current condition of two selected scenic spots in Shanghai (Tianzifang and Yuyuan Road) and to figure out how to develop the SUT model in Shanghai. Based on analysis, both selected sites suffer from social influence caused by urban tourism in different level. For further compare and contrast of two scenic spots, some common issues and distinct social conflicts have been found, and reliable recommendation are finally provided. The research outcome is forming a SUT model to remit social conflicts caused by urban tourism, and this could be adapted to other scenic spots in Shanghai or other cities.

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‘Too poor to play?’: An enquiry into contemporary segregation and desegregation within London’s play spaces.

This dissertation is an investigation into play space 'segregation' on the Lilian Baylis Estate. This work looks at issues of urban segregation within the context of tenure mix.

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Exploiting the above and below ground legacy of mining to give former mine locations a reviewed role at the heart of former mining communities.

This work aims to explore opportunities to regenerate the mining site and make it central to community life.Paper in-depth analyses issues and existing regeneration strategies of mining towns, that can be translated into a new design concept for Stainforth.

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Re-thinking urban design research - an interdisciplinary exploration at the interface of urban design and brain sciences using the Delphi technique

Urban design is an interdisciplinary and dynamic discipline with an increasing importance in our urban world. In recent years, the discipline has shown an heightened interest in gathering scientific evidence on how the urban built environment shapes human-beings. Disciplines that have been making significant progress in this area are brain sciences (psychology, cognitive science and neuroscience). There is a potential, strong link between urban design and brain sciences in regard to human-centred urban design. To investigate this link in practice, this dissertation explores how far it is possible that urban designers and brain scientists cooperate at the intersection of both fields to create more human-centred urban built environments. The dissertation has been utilising a ranking-type Delphi study to let participants who are from brain sciences and urban design, agree on a hypothetical research agenda for human-centred urban design research. We hypothesised that the higher the consensus the higher the cooperation potential for the two fields. Their consensus on the research agenda acts as a proxy that indicates if the two fields have the potential to cooperate. This is based on the assumption that pre-existing overlap of research topics is an effective parameter that indicates cooperation potential for both fields. The dissertation found that there was a slight consensus for the ranking exercise, although it was non-significant. However, in combination with supplementary data from the other rounds of the Delphi study, this indicates that cooperation potential is apparent, yet practical challenges remain (e.g. different methodology and research language). Also, there have been a range of limiting factors in regard to the Delphi method. Therefore, more research is needed to further explore the link between the two fields in practice and to establish a better knowledge base.

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Delivering Moor Value: How a growing boating population can be leveraged to deliver canal corridors in London that work for all

The number of residential boaters within London is increasing with more people taking to the water as a way to live sustainable lifestyles, get closer to nature and attempted to reduce the costs of living in the capital. At the same time the increase in housing density in London means that areas of public realm such as canals need to work harder to meet the objectives of multiple users. This study investigated how there could be mutual benefits to both the growing liveaboard boater population, and visitors to the canal, by and increase in the provision of mooring services. The literature review uncovered access to nature, exotic appeal, safety, mooring space and conflict as common themes between the two groups. Case studies were reviewed through the lens of these themes to establish best practice in public space adjacent to canals. The literature review and case studies were combined to develop a toolkit with specific actions addressing the themes identified. Through the application of the toolkit to a test site in west London, it was found that better canal side spaces could be developed to meet the needs of both populations, if there was sufficient space, and funding streams could be identified. The toolkit was most successful when addressing sites adjacent to the canal, as opposed to delivering on the towpath itself.

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Conscience and Consequence, or An Examination of Fare Evasion Behaviour on Public Transport

A study into fare evasion behaviour in London to determine whether and purely rational economic approach to enforcement can be effective. Finding that it is not, a new model is proposed, incorporating economic and moral reasoning and making use of neutralisation theory. This model is tested against the data and policy implications discussed.

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To what extent does verticalization provide a socially sustainable solution to Singapore’s land scarcity problem?

This dissertation focuses on the social sustainability of high-rise and high-density developments.

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Why the expansion of the welfare regime has not solved the growing housing affordability crisis in Bhutan

Housing affordability crisis around the world has been linked to the neoliberalisation of housing policies, shrinkage of welfare states, credit system, and lack of housing supply. Existing literature shows that the narrative of neoliberal hegemony is converging globally. In contrast the welfare regime in Bhutan is on a divergence trajectory with welfare increasing in proportion to the growing GDP. Additionally, there are strong governmental efforts to prioritise a comprehensive national housing policy that is holistic and in line with its development philosophy of Gross National Happiness. However, Bhutan has been experiencing a growing housing affordability crisis for over two decades. This contradicts housing literature that illustrates the global trend of neoliberalisation of housing policies and the dwindling of welfare states as the cause for housing affordability crisis. Drawing on a qualitative, longitudinal, and historical analysis from 1950 to current the year, 2020, this research investigates the Bhutanese welfare regime “kidu” and the housing system as it relates to the growing housing affordability crisis in Bhutan. This research demonstrates the centrality of land in the housing system and subsequently contributes a novel methodological framework for future housing research. It also highlights the importance of understanding the socio-cultural context and the complexities of informal practices such as clientelism that poses a challenge to the implementation of policies. A key finding of this research asserts that without addressing the issue of land and the normative variables that shape it, the housing affordability crisis in Bhutan will continue to recur. The research concludes by presenting opportunities to move forward based on findings from interviews and discussions with key informants coupled with academic literature and national policy documents.

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A Circular Cities Approach to Regeneration in London? Study of King’s Cross Central

This dissertation examines the Kings Cross regeneration scheme from a circular cities perspective, addressing the three circular capacities of looping, adapting and regenerating. It also draws on the research on heritage-led regeneration to study the role of the site's rich heritage that has been preserved development. The research is based on a qualitative content analysis of planning documents and interviews with professionals involved in the project. The analysis concludes that the scheme exhibits looping, adapting and regenerating capacities to some extent and demonstrates the multidimensional benefits that emerge from a circular approach to urban regeneration.

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How does enriching a tertiary network contribute to improving pedestrian safety and security, and thus promote walking in dense metropolitan areas?

This is a research project on pedestrian safety – both road safety and personal security. It has recognised potential of tertiary networks as an alternative solution in promoting pedestrian safety, bringing people away from traffic through animated routes. It has adopted a systematic approach in understanding pedestrian needs and behaviour, identifying mitigation methods and potential challenges, such as conflicts between different street functions. A toolkit consisting a framework, action objectives, application guidelines and interventions are developed and tested against the literature review and casestudy findings. The methodical application has allowed for a clear establishment of tertiary network, linking key destinations, catering different users need. The study area chosen is an office-dominant location. The sensitive site analysis has introduced a site-specific approach, building on the distinctively different character of the site during different days of week, proposing different interventions and route enhancements for weekdays and weekends. During weekdays, the key focus is on road safety, by introducing pedestrianisation on streets with high pedestrian flow, and intersection managements that offer safer crossing and movement through the site. During weekends, the emphasis lies on personal security, which aims to retain and attract people to the area through route animations, provision of gathering space and introduction of activities. The application of toolkit has demonstrated its flexibility and ability to be used across different type and scale of projects within dense metropolitan areas.

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Coming Full Circle - Reclaiming space on major urban road junctions by learning from historic street patterns.

Cities are places of exchange, meeting and social gathering which rely on proximity and connectivity to fulfil these functions. Road junctions are where the physical intersection of streets enables the intersection and intensification of these social functions. In this respect, they are essential to the function of the city and should be considered as key nodes in the urban fabric. However, in the 20th Century as cities grew and cars became more prevalent, major interventions were made on road junctions to improve the flow of traffic, often destroying parts of the city to achieve it. While this helped increase mobility overall in doing so it damaged the very fabric and functionality of the city. They are designed to segregate and accelerate traffic flows, thereby removing the opportunity for interaction and exchange, in this respect it is argued that these interventions were anti-urbanAs cities start to turn away from the dominance of private vehicles, and towards more sustainable modes of travel such as cycling and walking, many of these road junctions are being re-configured to make them safer for pedestrians and cyclists. It is argued that many of these new improvements repeat a similar mistake; they are primarily highway infrastructure schemes. Is there a missed opportunity to undertake better interventions that repair and strengthen the fabric of the city? Can major road interventions ever create successful places? Can we learn from the historical street layouts in order to undo these anti-urban interventions?The purpose of this project is to learn from best practices and historic precedents and provide practitioners with a toolkit to deliver holistic urban design on these sites

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Pop-up housing as a meanwhile use: A case study approach to London's housing crisis

London is currently facing an urgent housing crisis with the need for more affordable housing. Due to economic hardships, interest in ‘pop-ups’ has increased as a temporary method of interim use. This dissertation explores ‘meanwhile use’ as temporary usage in empty sites and aims to analyse their use as a pop-up housing model. Furthermore, the dissertation will explore if pop-up housing can be part of a practical solution in the London context. The unique PLACE / Ladywell’s pop-up village in Lewisham, South East London, will be the focused study site. It provides an in-depth ethnographic case study approach of this phenomena. The best and worst practices of PLACE / Ladywell will be further utilised as lessons learned for academic and practitioner purposes. Additionally, PLACE / Ladywell’s impact on London’s policy and planning processes along with more permanent social housing iterations, will be explored. The main dissertation findings highlight the precision manufactured housing technologies for high-quality temporary accommodation for homeless families and the next steps for the growing pop-up phenomenon.

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Conservation of Railway Station Heritage by Train Operating Companies

Conservation of Railway Station Heritage by Train Operating Companies

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Comparative analysis of the achievements and limitations of projects that support local businesses in a gentrification area: A case study on Brixton

This dissertation conducts a comparative analysis of the achievements and limitations of Pop Brixton and Brixton Pound, projects that support local businesses in a gentrification area, based on Brixton. Through this, this study aims to find the answers to how the projects that support local businesses work in a gentrification area and what are the achievements and limitations of the projects that support local businesses.

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What is the influence of private business partnerships on the inclusivity of public participation in regenerated areas? A Case Study of the Urban Partners Organisation in King’s Cross.

This dissertation set out to assess whether voluntary business partnerships influence the inclusivity of public participation in regenerated areas through the case study of Urban Partners in King’s Cross. Whilst existing literature is predominated by participation in multi-actor governance networks created to mobilise regeneration, and private business partnerships including BIDs, this research adds to the debate through the exploration of participation influenced by voluntary business partnerships mitigating the impacts of continued regeneration. It investigated this influence through the membership structure and strategy for membership recruitment, and mechanisms influencing wider community participation. It also evaluated the risks associated with sustaining participation in a voluntary business partnership, and the extent to which the aims of the partnership are influenced by the local community.

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Reviewing the key governance issues in Chinese BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) infrastructure and their attendant risks from the perspective of the Chinese government

PPP (Public-Private Partnership) as an efficient risk transfer tool that has been commonly used within various developed countries such as the UK, France and Australia. Starting in the 1980s, China also began to apply PPP models in infrastructure. Until 2013, based on the foundation of “The Belt and Road Initiative”, the Chinese government prioritized infrastructure development. PPP then became popular in China, specifically when utilizing methods such as BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer). BOT does still encounter some governance related challenges due to a lack of experience, with attendant risks. Therefore, the aim of this research is to review the current issues in Chinese BOT governance based on the perspective of the Chinese government and to provide recommendations to enhance the BOT governance and reduce attendant risks such as efficiency loss, project delays and reduced public credit. The predominate observations display the main issues including legal challenges, involvement of state-owned capital and the overwhelming power of the local government in regards to project negotiations. The discussion of these issues is a vital process as transparency is an issue that is being improved in China since 2013. Finally, suggestions on how to overcome the issues are provided mainly from the perspective of government initiatives and policy making.

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State intervention in Mobility-as-a-Service: the role of governance in steering new mobility services towards inclusive outcomes in London

This dissertation explores the viewpoints of stakeholders within the MaaS ecosystem to ascertain how governance can ensure MaaS contributes towards inclusion within London's transport network.

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Participatory planning in the ‘micro’ regeneration of traditional urban villages in South China: Analysing two cases in Guangzhou

In the past 40 years, China has experienced a rapid urbanisation process. Since 2014, to cope with problems such as the lack of land, the government of China has proposed a series of guidelines to promote the inventory mode of urban regeneration and avoid large-scale demolished and construction. Then the concept of micro regeneration has been proposed, aiming at protecting the historical culture and natural ecology and promoting the harmonious development, which is suitable for the regeneration of traditional urban villages. In the context of the new trend, many scholars started to consider participatory planning as the approach for micro regeneration, and some have done experimental practices in the metropolis of China since 2016, and Guangzhou is one of these cities. However, there is a lack of studies to reflect on these practices. To answer 'what effects does participatory planning bring and what factors influence them? ', the thesis summarised four advantages of participatory planning, including exchanging knowledge and mutual learning, increasing the support of the planning process, enhancing the sense of ownership and improving civic capacity, as well as two critiques which are the high cost and the power problem through literature review. Then it comparatively analysed two traditional urban villages which have adopted participatory planning in their micro-regeneration. The results show that participatory planning does have these four advantages. The thesis also found six factors influence the effects, including the participation methods, the trust in organisers, the correspondence between the participation experience and the expectation, the bias of public perception toward the regeneration process, the residents concerning for the collective interest and the support of the government. These results can be applied to a broader public participation field and have practical significance.

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Can the value of Green infrastructure be demonstrated to the government in Shanghai?-Discovering Green infrastructure's value and challenges for valuing

This work discovers Shanghai's GI service value and helps the government to alleviate the challenges for valuing GI.

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Invisible walks. Women's experience of everyday journeys in Santiago, Chile

This research examines women’s everyday walking experiences in the city of Santiago, Chile. It was developed from a feminist and phenomenological perspective taking ‘the route as a line’, empirically addressing the Chilean case with data gathered from 16 women through field-diaries and shared walks. By considering walking as a lived experience, the research explores the shape and configuration of different walking lines focusing on rhythm, gender-social interactions, and the built environment.

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Online Motorbike Ride-hailing Services as Paratransit Mode in Greater Jakarta: Understanding user’s motivations and journey experience

The online motorbike ride-hailing services considered as a new form of transportation services that grow recently in Greater Jakarta. This research wants to understand the services provided by online motorbike ride-hailing services as a paratransit transportation mode in Greater Jakarta, based on users’ journey motivation and experience. A random sample of 232 participants using online motorbike ride-hailing services was collected from Greater Jakarta. The study investigated the critical aspects that influence users’ choice in using online motorbike ride-hailing service, both for direct travel mode or first-mile and last-mile travel mode. It also examined the importance of the selected instrumental and affective factors on the journey experience in using online motorbike ride-hailing service. Instrumental factors are the practical aspects of the service, including cost, time, frequency while affective factors are those that represent feelings evoked by travelling, like stress, anxiety, happiness and pleasure. Users’ dissatisfaction toward some aspects of service aspects also investigates in order to suggest what aspects are needed urgent improvement.

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Decarbonising pre-1914 terraced housing in London: Key obstacles and improving owner-occupier uptake of retrofit projects

Today, housing generates 30% of the world’s carbon emissions. In the UK, 80% of homes will still exist in 2050, and subsequently the Government’s net zero greenhouse gas emissions target is a monumental challenge which can only be resolved through retrofitting the existing housing stock. This study looks to identify the obstacles that commonly hinder the uptake of retrofit projects and to unearth solutions to ensure that carbon reduction measures are widely adopted. The complexity of the UK housing stock, disruption, finance, legislation, workforce, along with owner knowledge, motivation and behaviour, frequently detract from the possibility of implementing energy efficiency improvements. The theoretical framework presented in this research portrays the external obstacles that often prevent such work from occurring, whilst highlighting the importance of the owner in facilitating the undertaking of retrofit projects, regardless of the influence of external factors. This study takes a qualitative approach, exploring the experiences of five owner-occupiers in London who have undertaken retrofit projects on their pre-1914 terraced homes. The results suggest that changes to current legislation are required to encourage decarbonisation. Additionally, a shift in the property market is needed so that retrofit measures are reflected in the value of housing. Furthermore, the workforce requires significant expansion, improved training and comprehensive retrofit knowledge. This is essential to endow the UK workforce with the capabilities needed to undertake this immense challenge.

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Increasing Flood Resilience: Low-Income Urban Neighbourhoods in the Global South

This major research project explores the paradigm shift in the flood management discourse from flood mitigation to flood resilience through design. It explores how urban design could be used as a tool to increase flood resilience of low-income urban neighbourhoods in the Global South nations. The project shows that urban design is a bedrock for holistic flood management that could simultaneously help low-income communities achieve a more sustainable livelihood.

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Real estate investment for individuals in France: Assessment of practitioners' buy to let strategy.

Over the past years in France, due to changes, especially in credit conditions, a consensus emerged from practitioners’ literature on an ideal buy to let strategy for individuals to start real estate investment. However, this literature is unbalanced and suffers from a lack of evidence. This dissertation aims to fill this gap providing solid rationales with reference to proven economic fundamentals. Investigations rely on secondary data analysis, completed by numerical evidence. Results show that practitioners’ statements allow taking the most of actual policies, taxation, capital, and housing market conditions. Also, investigations provide an update of current housing market conditions, assessing main trends for change, and their concerns for the strategy and its durability. Findings in this concern show that these trends are predominantly aligned with strategy due to need for refurbishments, the adaptation of housing to current needs (esp. furnished housing), and potential migrations outward metropolises. Nevertheless, it also evidences the main risks for the durability of this strategy that should be monitored, especially the regulation of debt ratio calculation method. Finally, this dissertation participates in research in real estate investment in French residential market it highlights gaps in some specific points and opens the field to further researches in this field.

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Skelmersdale: The design and implementation of a British new town, 1961-1985

New towns were a cornerstone of the post-war British planning system. They have been both praised and derided, but are, in reality, little understood. Research has mainly focused on the experience of a few iconic examples, such as Cumbernauld and Milton Keynes; other new towns, especially in the north-west of England, have been relatively neglected. This means that there is a lack of understanding of how new towns were designed in very different contexts, and of how their often experimental, modernist designs were implemented over time. Recent proposals to establish new development corporations in the Oxford-Cambridge Arc mean that an examination of new town design and implementation is more timely than ever.This dissertation responds by assessing the design and implementation of Skelmersdale New Town, near Liverpool, a little-studied example designated in the early 1960s and built out by its development corporation until 1985. The dissertation begins by assessing the town’s design, demonstrating how it embodied the priorities of its architect-planner, Hugh Wilson. These priorities – full automobility, urban character and compactness – reflected the context of early 1960s modernism and responded to criticism of earlier new towns, but took limited account of the local context.The dissertation then discusses Skelmersdale’s implementation, arguing that this brought to the fore the development corporation’s dependence on central government. The development corporation was able to provide the planned-for housing, industrial premises and road network, as these were government priorities in the early years of implementation. However, it struggled to achieve the affluent urban character planned in the overambitious, sometimes contradictory design. Skelmersdale’s experience reveals that while comprehensive modernist planning was a powerful tool in creating housing and infrastructure, it was limited by its inability to fully predict future economic and political conditions.

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Living at home and going nowhere? How living with parents affects the travel behaviour of millennial Londoners

A growing proportion of young adults live with their parents in London, driven in part by high housing costs and weak wage growth. Meanwhile, reductions in driver’s license holding and car use among millennials have gained significant attention in transport research. A number of distinct lifestyle changes have been suggested to have contributed to these emerging trends. Millennials’ delayed transition to adulthood is often acknowledged, but few studies have explored how living with parent’s past adolescence affects travel behaviour. This study uses survey data from Transport for London (TfL) to compare the travel behaviours of millennials who live with parents with those who live independently. The results show that those living with parents travel less frequently, and by less active and sustainable modes, with implications for health, social exclusion, and sustainability. Path analysis, a form of structural equation modelling, is used to uncover the mediating impacts of car access, socio-demographic and spatial characteristics. Millennials in multi-generational households largely live in outer London and in areas of lower public transport accessibility. Contrary to findings of previous studies, millennials who live with their parents are more likely to have access to a car than their counterparts who live independently, although they are less likely to have learnt to drive. These results reveal wide variation in the travel behaviours of millennial Londoners, resulting from the interaction of cohort-specific and traditional determinants of travel demand. This challenges the implicitly assumed homogeneity of millennial travel behaviours in much of the literature. Further, this research demonstrates the need for transport planners to account for broader macro-economic uncertainty in their forecasts of travel demand. To ensure the continued growth of active and sustainable travel among young adults, policy interventions must span economic, housing and transport disciplines.

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Local climate governance in action: The challenges to contributing to national mitigation targets in the case of Santiago de Chile

Local climate action has been placed in the centre of the climate change mitigation strategies globally and, thus, the need to understand it is increasing. Consequently, there has been a growing literature examining the capacity of local climate action to effectively contributing to reducing Greenhouse gas emissions committed by national governments to the international climate regime, especially in Western countries. However, little attention has been placed in the Global South context. This dissertation aims to examine the local climate action in a southern context, to determine how mitigation measures undertaken by local governments in the Santiago Metropolitan Region contribute to Chilean commitments.Based on governance literature, specifically a Multi-level governance framework, the study provides a comprehensive overview of the local climate action in the region. Employing mainly primary data and a mix of quantitative and qualitative, the dissertation analyses the case study and review the main challenges of local climate action in the country. Analysis of the data demonstrated that Chilean local climate action needs to strengthen its capacities to effectively contributing to the mitigation targets committed. The results suggest that local action faces several challenges that need to be overcome, grouped in four areas: resources, equity, measurements and strategic planning. Further research is required to examine technical aspects of mitigation measures and the application of indicators, as well as incorporate the rest of the municipalities of the country.

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Are local councillors fit for purpose as the democratic structures representing local interest in contemporary urban regeneration schemes? The case of the Colville Estate, Hackney

By studying a single in-depth case study, the regeneration of the Colville Estate, this dissertation aims to assess whether local councillors are relevant in representing local interest and to explore the ways in which local representatives represent local interest in contemporary urban regeneration projects, given the context of complex governance structures and devolved powers. The investigation describes relevance as whether councillors are interested, whether they are willing and whether they are capable of representing local interests.

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The Globalisation of London Commercial Real Estate Market: A Study of International Capitals

This research paper aimed at determining the key driving factors behind various types of international capitals inflow into London commercial real estate (CRE) market using both qualitative and quantitative methods. The qualitative study is carried out by a survey composed with 21 questions, conducted through interviews and emails by professionals from different backgrounds working in the London CRE market. The result demonstrates that investors prioritise generating considerable total returns (capital gain and yields) and analysing the economic environment over other requirements when investing in London CRE market. For quantitative analysis, panel data series has been used to carry out a longitudinal study along the 10-years’ timeline from Q1 2009 to Q4 2018. 20 individual data series on topics including socio-economic, demographic and bureaucratic characteristics have been collected from 15 European cities, including London, Paris, Frankfurt, Madrid Amsterdam, Brussels, Milan, Lisbon, Warsaw, Prague, Vienna, Stockholm, Oslo, Copenhagen and Helsinki. As our study targets on the London CRE market, markets of similar maturity in Europe have been selected to make the analysis more precise and relevant. We draw a conclusion that the most influential (statistically significant correlated) control variable group (based on the categorisation suggested by Lieser and Groh (2011)) is the Real Estate Investment Opportunities (urbanisation ratio and population growth) followed by Projected Investment Returns (including yield spread, real effective foreign exchange rate, rental growth, vacancy rate). Other key drives such as Economic Activity, Depth of Capital Market, Investor Protection and Legal Framework, Administrative Burdens and Regulatory Limitations are less statistically correlated with cross-border investment (XBI) activity. The Socio-Cultural and Political Environment is not statistically significant at all. Emerging effects of Brexit on the international investment volume have also been examined. Both qualitative and quantitative studies illustrated that XBI activities remain stable – investors are increasing or keeping their current holdings of London CRE despite the Brexit issue.

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Sustainable travel behaviours of TOD residents: An examination of TOD residents’ travel mode choices and consistency in Hangzhou

Transit-oriented development (TOD) is an urban design model designed to attract more sustainable travellers. However, not every TOD project conducts a highly sustainable travel sharing rate, and the proportion of daily car users in TODs is still growing steadily each year, especially in the cases of Chinese cities. Meanwhile, many Chinese cities are putting enormous investments into metro infrastructure development, but they are uncertain of whether these resources could be adequately used. Therefore, using the data collected from 1,298 TOD residents in Hangzhou, this paper aims to examine the wider impacts of TODs on the residents’ travel behaviours to broaden the current studies of travel behaviours by using the perspective of TOD residents and examining travel behaviour consistency. More specifically, this research employs three binary logistic models to identify the key variables which determine TOD residents’ travel choices and mode consistency. The results demonstrate that variables like monthly income, residential tenure, workplace metro accessibility and travel attitudes significantly impact travel mode choice, while variables like monthly incomes, the number of children in a household and increased car number influence the sustainable traveller’s behavioural consistency. A limited number of factors can influence car users to shift to sustainable travel behaviours. The research results would eventually contribute to planners’ design theories on TOD and implementation of new policies to reach a higher sustainable transport sharing rate within TOD properties as well as an adequate use of the metro infrastructure investments.

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Beirut’s urban scars: A dissonant heritage

After a brutal 15 year civil war, Lebanon, and specifically its capital Beirut, underwent a historic reconstruction process lead by a semi-private company, Solidere. The reconstruction erased much of the city’s heritage in order to hide all remnants of war and to present the city as an emblem of modernity. In line with a state sponsored amnesia, that discourages the discussion of war to sustain the existing political discourse, the Lebanese are still suffering from a segregated society, due, largely to a lack of reconciling the war. However, a handful of buildings managed to survive the destruction of the historic city centre, as a result of conflict between their shareholders. These buildings, or urban scars, bear witness to the war and remind locals of the turbulent past by presenting them with bullet holes and shelling marks. Often abandoned and derelict, these buildings await an uncertain future. In this dissertation I argue that these buildings present locals with stark reminders of the dangers of war and that they have the potential to reconcile the past. I do so by looking at two case studies; Burj El-Murr and Beit Beirut to understand local perceptions of the urban scar and the existing discourse of memorialisation. This will inform future conduct with these sites of dissonant heritage.

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A study examining the proportion of affordable housing in London’s recently permitted tall building

Driven by the need to deliver 43,000 new affordable homes annually, there has been a surge in new residential tall buildings over the last 10-15 years in London. Advocates claim they are necessary to cope with housing demand whilst critics argue high construction costs impact affordable housing contribution. Using primary data on over 850 planning applications referable to the Mayor between 2011-2020, this study examines whether new tall buildings in London provide proportionally less affordable housing and are less likely to be built than midrise typologies. Data collected includes the maximum height and type of development, location, typology and Mayoral decision date. Findings show that, on average, the proportion of affordable housing is lower in tall building applications than lower-rise typologies. This is particularly marked for applications over 30 storeys and those of a tower typology, whereas developments of 10 storeys or less achieve the highest proportion of affordable housing, particularly those in terrace or linear block typologies. The influence of location is marginal, but main land-use and decision date play the greatest role where the proportion of affordable housing has increased in recent years. Using data from the London Development Database (LDD), the completion rate of tall buildings was found to be lower than mid-rise developments. Overall, this study argues that high-rise typologies provide proportionally lower levels of affordable housing and are less proficient at delivering them. On this basis, it is recommended that planning policy in London recognise the influence of height and typology in the provision and delivery of affordable housing.

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A qualitative analysis of Cambridge regarding the suitability of Tax Increment Financing for infrastructure in the UK

An empirical study of the effects of financialisation on the delivery of infrastructure in the UK exploring this through the rationale of TIF in Cambridge

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Disability and the Use and Experiences of Public Transport in Surrey

The dissertation identifies the current barriers to using public transport, and how this affects the lives of disabled people in Surrey. Surrey differs to cities by having more rural areas, and so this study provides a different perspective

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Spatial planning during and after the COVID-19 pandemic in Changchun, China: Effects of working from home, social distancing behaviour and resilient city

COVID-19 poses a huge challenge to urban public-health emergency and governance systems. Those engaged in spatial planning and management are starting to think about how a ‘people-oriented’ principle can be incorporated into spatial-planning systems. The example of Changchun, China, is used to explore citizen views on the development of the post-pandemic city and on a future prevention and control system of spatial planning. Semi- structured interviews were used to explore the impact of COVID-19 on citizens’ life and work. The prevention and control system of Changchun spatial planning will be explored.

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Open spaces in informal settlements: Conflicts between top-down policies and bottom-up practices. The case of everyday use of public realm linked to transmicable in Bogota, Columbia.

In Colombia, informal settlements are a pressing planning issue, mostly due to the lack of infrastructure, public transportation, public services and public realm. However, in an effort to improve life-quality and reduce segregation from formal areas, governments have decided to intervene on slums through a wide range of strategies. The most successful one has been the so-called ‘social urbanism’ strategy, in which authorities designed and planned a major transport infrastructure project and that is linked to a comprehensive intervention that incorporates new social infrastructure and public spaces. Nevertheless, in the process of delivering new public realm, policy-makers’ objectives and community aspirations may differ, leading to a disconnection between top-down policies and traditions, cultural rules, and social values. As a result, activities carried out on open spaces vary from that were expected to take place initially. This paper shows the impact that the gap between top-down policies and bottom-up practices have on the everyday use of public spaces. Moreover, it recommends broadening the scope when evaluating ‘social urbanism’ projects and improving participatory processes in order to design spaces that fulfill local needs.

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Environmentally Conscious Development Actors: Reconciling Individual Ideology within Corporate Structures

This study explores the role of London’s environmentally conscious development actors within the construction and development industry. Through the use of interviews and questionnaires, this research seeks to investigate the extent to which environmentally conscious development actors experience conflict between individual ideology and corporate gain, how these competing aims are reconciled, and the impact of their coexistence on the construction and development industry in real development outcomes. With the impact of individual and collective action on environmental vulnerabilities becoming a critical concern, intervention at the national level and also at the micro-level, within everyday society is required. Existing literature on topic has typically investigated the impact of environmental degradation and the motivations and behaviours of environmentally conscious individuals, however there has been very limited research into the impact and changes that individuals can make within an organisation in order to address environmental concerns. Despite competing motivations to protect and enhance the environment against primarily monetary considerations, the environmentally conscious development actors associated with this study have demonstrated an ability to employ mechanisms within their professional practice in order to guide and encourage pro-environmental behaviours in light of challenges faced. Consequently, these individuals have been able to adapt and encourage change within the organisations that they work, resulting in significant environmental benefits in real development outcomes.

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The Sustainable Last Mile: Understanding Travel Behaviours to Suburban Rail Stations

The ‘last mile’ trip, from transit hub to home, is a growing phenomenon in transport research and investment. Yet it has received minimal attention in the suburbs, where most last mile trips are done by car. This dissertation explores key factors affecting travel behaviour for the last mile — the built environment; trip satisfaction; and attitudes — using UK case studies of the Oxford and Oxford Parkway railway stations. Quantitative and qualitative analyses reveal lessons for policy and governance, adding to a renewed emphasis on active travel during the Covid-19 pandemic.

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Impacts of Private Sector Involvement in Public Space Delivery and Management – Two Case Studies from Hong Kong

This dissertation examines impacts of private sector involvement in public space delivery and management on publicness in Hong Kong through two case studies, namely The Avenue and The Avenue of Stars. Previous literature on Privately-owned public space (POPS) often criticize such involvement leads to negative outcomes. This dissertation reveals these outcomes may vary depending on various factors, including owner(s) of the POPS, type of the space, delivery mechanism of the space. Judgement on POPS may not be as absolute as what suggested by previous literature. Moreover, previous literature often focuses on Western context. This dissertation evaluates POPS in the non-Western world. It considers influences of unique Chinese culture and norms in POPS publicness evaluation, providing an alternative understanding of POPS apart from Western narratives.

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Public to Private – An Analysis of The From Publicness of Contemporary Public Spaces: A Study of Two Privately Owned Public Spaces in London

Confronted with a shrinking financial resource, the public authorities in the UK have limitations on investing in public space. Therefore, the traditional state-owned public space may not be the only form of public space today. As the transfer mechanism of ownership or management of public space becomes increasingly common, more concerns about publicness have been raised. There are lots of polemic critiques, concerning the privatization of public space would diminish the publicness of contemporary public space. However, this light has become more controversial recently, arguing an opposite sequence of privatization, especially in the British case. This research focuses on the debate on the privatization of public space and investigates the impact on publicness of public space by positive impacts on the ‘publicness’ with regard to management, access and use/users.

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The potential for a circular food system in an urban environment – the case of four south London boroughs

Cities in the UK largely operate according to an unsustainable, linear metabolism, requiring high levels of resource extraction and generating significant amounts of waste. Conventional agriculture, responsible for almost all the food that feeds these cities, is dependent on non-renewable inputs such as artificial fertilisers, and with close to half of all food eaten in Britain imported, it often travels long distances before consumption. At the same time, approximately a third of all food grown is wasted. In the UK, 70% of this waste originates from households. In a circular economy, products are not wasted but retain ‘cascade’ value before degrading, and in their least useful form are recycled into a new input. In the food system, methods for achieving circularity already exist. Commercial and philanthropic ‘re-use’ allows for surplus to be distributed efficiently, while recycling – through anaerobic digestion and composting – converts waste, including sewage waste, into an environmentally-friendly fertiliser. These tools reduce the need for non-renewable inputs and can significantly reduce environmental harm. This paper will examine the potential for a circular food system in four London Boroughs: Merton, Sutton, Croydon and Kingston. These are chosen because together they form the South London Waste Partnership. The circularity of the present setup is assessed, through examination of the applicable policies at the national, regional and local level, combined with data review. It is shown that while some local policies are beneficial, there is significant scope for improving food recycling, while other system-wide changes would need a new approach by the national government

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Are REITs Misusing Their Reporting Flexibility and Opacity to Unfairly Minimise the Impact of Their Market Risk?

The purpose of this research was to critically assess the degree to which REIT opacity and reporting flexibility is being used to deliberately mitigate market risk in the UK marketplace in order to predict the likelihood of investor vulnerability

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The value and role of street vendors in the Thai high street, in promoting social cohesion and socio-economic prosperity

Street vending can be a survival strategy for women and the urban poor and contributes to social cohesion in Thai society. Research on the relations between street vendor and buyers in four specific site areas where are selected case studies in this dissertation has tended to focus on perspectives from vending stakeholders, which are the seller, buyer, general public and authorities, through the ‘Returning footpaths to pedestrian’ policy, 2014, in order to investigate the impact of the existence and disappearance of street vendors in Bangkok. However, there are limitations to this approach because many vendors have already been relocated and the concept of social cohesion is multi-dimensional. This study uses data from surveys, interviews and observations to explore the manifestation of street vendor-related social cohesion and socio-economic prosperity in Thai society. Quantitative data analysis methods are used to interpret and explain street vending patterns affecting its location and buyers’ behaviour in different areas. Then, to conclude, the study investigates the role of Thai high-street vendors in aspects of contributing to social cohesion and economic prosperity, on which research is limited. The results show that street vendors encourage an inclusive city where streets act as public spaces for all, including vehicles, non-motorised traffic, pedestrians and socio-economic activities (vending). Furthermore, street vending involves building social integration and co-relationships between diverse people in the community as the same fabric, and also supports the place being more vital and safe due to the opening time effects. Therefore, policy interventions need to study the street vendor role in regard to social aspects in order to retain and improve the better vending on the street in Thailand; these policies may then be applicable to global street vending.

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Does UK cycling infrastructure guidance limit rates of cycling?

A comparison study of routes with contrasting link infrastructure types was undertaken in Surrey, UK, which found evidence in support of the hypothesis that some types of link cycle infrastructure are better able to grow rates of cycling, contrary to UK cycling guidance.

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Conflicting interests on small estates: Balancing existing residents’ well-being with the need for more homes

How can urban design interventions on small urban social housing estates be used to improve the well-being of residents, whilst facilitating and capturing the benefits of increased population density?

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Community Land Trusts and the housing needs of Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC) in the San Francisco Bay Area.

This dissertation analyses the extent to which Community Land Trusts (CLTs) in the San Francisco Bay Area can mitigate the displacement of Black, Indigenous and People Of Colour (BIPOC), and how they align with wider activism for housing equity and racial justice. It answers the question: to what extent are CLTs in the Bay Area intentionally integrating the housing needs of BIPOC into their agenda, in efforts to mitigate the displacement of BIPOC from their neighbourhoods? Using four Bay Area based CLTs and the East Bay Permanent Real Estate Cooperative (EB PREC) as case studies, semi-structured interviews were used to gather data on the intentionality of CLTs work with BIPOC communities and their efforts to collaborate with grassroots organisations in order to achieve this. It was found that, where some CLTs explicitly expressed their intentions to prioritise BIPOC communities, others feel too restricted by the Federal Housing Act to pursue such affirmative action. Moreover, all five organisations collaborated with housing rights and racial justice organisations, which kept them rooted to local grassroots movements. It is concluded that, of all the organisations interviewed, EB PREC is at the forefront of integrating the housing needs of BIPOC into their agenda, and therefore is in the best position to mitigate their displacement. This paper reveals the necessity for CLTs to be intentional about serving BIPOC communities in order to achieve racial justice in the housing market.

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Feeding London: An investigation into the implementation of vertical farms and how they are perceived in planning policy

This thesis investigates the feasibility of implementing vertical farms in London at a method of tackling food security in the City, and looks at how vertical farms are perceived within planning policy. The research uses document analysis and interviews to answer research questions. The results find that more support is offered to small scale vertical farms implemented within the City, incorporating the community. The research also calls for planners to work with vertical farmers to create an evidence base to why vertical farms are needed in the city.&

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An Investigation of Risks Dimension Behind the Selection of Public-Private Partnership Funding Mechanism in Indonesia: A Stakeholder Perspective.

Public-Private Partnership (PPP) is one of the most innovative procurement methods for an infrastructure project that is currently in high demand in Indonesia. While this scheme offers many advantages, the most significant benefit is a more proper risk allocation between the public and private sector. The risk-sharing between the two parties could be implemented in the whole project cycle, including when the project should decide its funding resources, which could be directly from the end-user (User Charge), or the annual government payment (Availability Payment). Despite the importance of risk and funding method, this study found only a few previous works of literature that are focussing on how risk could affect the selection of PPP project funding mechanism. Therefore, this research aims to identify the risks and the stakeholder preference for PPP funding mechanism in the Indonesian context. This study performs semi-structured interviews as a qualitative data collection method. The interview participants are from numbers of PPP practitioners in Indonesia with various professional backgrounds. After several series of interview, this study found numerous risks that should be considered in the funding selection process that could be categorised into four major risk groups, which are: demand, political, relationship, and financial dimensions. This research also found that the stakeholder preference on the funding selection is classified into three contexts, which are: (1) The types of infrastructure project, (2) Sector maturity, and (3) The degree of risk uncertainty. Additionally, this research then concluded by providing four key-suggestions for a more proper PPP funding selection decision-making, that are: (1) Ensure PPP is the best option in the first place, (2) Make a standardised, integrated, and sustain policy, (3) More balance risk allocation, and (4) Enhance the PPP knowledge in various sectors.

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An investigation into job-residence balance in mainland China: the case of Shenzhen

An investigation into job-residence balance in mainland China: the case of Shenzhen

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Delivering cohousing in England: the role of planning authorities

An exploration of the barriers and enabling factors to successful delivery of cohousing schemes in England.

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[In]Visible Communities: Planning for immigrant diversity in Barking and Dagenham

As cities have become superdiverse, urban planning must adapt to changes in the use of urban space. In Barking and Dagenham, rapid demographic change in the last two decades due to migration has fuelled community tensions and raised questions about how to ‘integrate’ new demographic groups. This dissertation provides a narrative led analysis of planning for new immigrant diversity in Barking and Dagenham, using seven in-depth-interviews as the primary dataset. This is supplemented by a range of secondary evidence, including policy documents. It finds that integration is not seen as an explicit planning concern by policy makers. However, the relationship between housing and the long-term integration of new immigrant communities is shown to be one of cyclical marginalisation, where the spatial imaginary of the borough is constructed upon binaries of ‘host’ visibility and immigrant invisibility, and in turn further reinforces these binaries through planning.

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Perceptions and attitudes towards micro e-scooters in Singapore

Perceptions and attitudes towards micro e-scooters in Singapore

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The use of social media amongst the LGBT+ population and its effect on the decline of LGBT+ night time venues in London: Is there a connection?

Drawing on existing planning research, this dissertation investigates the link between social media usage and the amount of time residents go out to LGBT+ night-time venues in London as identified on the Mayor of London’s Cultural Infrastructure Map.

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Management of the conflict between conservation and recreation in Hong Kong's country parks

This dissertation aims to answer the following key question: How to manage the conflict between conservation and recreation in Hong Kong’s country parks? These two concepts seem to be contradictory as it is widely recognized that visitors can have negative impacts on the environment and biodiversity. On the other hand, current practices will be looked into so as to identify planning potentials to handle or minimize such conflict. The following research questions will be addressed in this dissertation: 1.What are the current management practices in terms of conservation and recreation in Hong Kong, including their advantages and disadvantages? 2. What are the satisfaction levels towards Hong Kong country parks’ conservation and recreation management? 3.What are some of the suggestions to the management of country parks?

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The social impacts of Transit Oriented Development (TOD): The case study of Chengdu.

Rapid economic development and urbanisation cause serious traffic problems. To combat the traffic issue, many countries have begun to implement Transit Oriented Development (TOD). TOD can not only promote the development of public transport and alleviate traffic congestion but can also effectively curb urban sprawl and urban land problems, which have an impact on urban social development. This paper will use the city of Chengdu as an example to study the social impact of TOD on urban development.

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Exploring the Relationship between the Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Changes in Travel Behaviour in Huzhou, China

During the COVID-19 crisis, a series of measures restricting travel and outdoor activities are taken to mitigate the pandemic and minimise its negative effects. These unprecedented methods have greatly changed the number and purposes of trips and mode choices in travel. However, these changes in travel behaviour during and post the outbreak still remains unclear. In addition, different groups may be affected to varying degrees in terms of social equity, which is not fully discussed in the existing literature. Therefore, the aim of this dissertation is to investigate the differences in individuals’ travel behaviour before and after the pandemic using Huzhou as an example. Semi-structured interviews through telephone are used to explore the influence of COVID-19 on travel and perceptions of different groups. The results indicate that first travel demand was greatly reduced and public transport became the least popular travel mode during the pandemic due to policy constraints and the fear of infection. Secondly, decreased travel caused a lack of activity participation, which might affect health as well as subjective wellbeing negatively. Thirdly, the degree and the duration of such impacts vary from person to person. Students, people with lower incomes, groups living in communities with small size and insufficient green spaces, and those working in tourism, catering, informal business and transport-related sectors were more vulnerable than others in society. The key argument is that changes in travel behaviour due to COVID-19 caused inequity in these groups, while such unfairness has been overlooked by the local government. Thus, policymakers need to pay more attention to social inequities due to transport and individuals’ heterogeneity. Besides, public transport systems in Huzhou should be further developed to promote social cohesion in the way of expanding networks, increasing running frequency, building and updating infrastructures, introducing new modes such as light rails.

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Is Class C of the Use Classes Order Still Fit for Purpose?

This dissertation presents the findings of a study into Class C of the Use Classes Order drawing on primary research with the aid of planning professionals. Two case studies from Oxford City Council are analysed to explore the complexities of the Use Classes Order and to understand how these complexities are addressed in practice.

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Bridging the formality and informality: the perception of informal property rights of urban villages in Shenzhen, China

This research aims to explore how the government manages informal property rights in a Chinese context.  With a case study in an urban village in Shenzhen City, this paper first illustrates the diverse nature of informal property rights arrangement . Then it analyses how local governments applies flexible strategies towards informality.

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Conditions of Achieving a High-degree Cooperation in the Planning of Idle Resource Utilization

This research explores the main conditions of achieving a high-degree cooperation in the planning of utilizing the existing idle resources. It aims to understand the combined effect of general cooperative development modes (CDM), effectivity of the integration of multi-planning (IOMP) application and building of trust in collaboration to reach a harmony by adopting a qualitative method of case study analysis. It collects primary data from interviews and secondary data from government websites and official documents and visual information from some participants. This research unveils the main reasons behind farmers’ willingness of cooperation and the mutual supports between the enterprise and local government in terms of the achievability of consistent purposes, land adjustments and unity of the planning system. It extends the practicability of IOMP in promoting cooperation. Also, this study highlights the significance of trust by indicating the building of consensus and assessing the trust indicators in collaborative planning and governance to promote the cooperative relationship. This study implies the comprehensiveness of making a high degree of cooperation and even harmony in relevant development project in terms of interest, planning system and the psychological contract. It also desires further studies on more detailed analysis with different scales.

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This list was generated on Sat Nov 23 14:56:37 2024 UTC.

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