This dissertation investigates social implications of built environment interventions (BEI) related to bicycle urbanism from a Spatial Justice (Soja, 2010) perspective. By combining urban spatial theory and mobilities research, the novel theoretical framework Mobility Space helps to analyse spatial, experiential and discursive aspects of urban mobility priorities concomitantly and is thus an adequate analytical tool to uncover how recently proliferating cycling strategies impact society through an alteration of urban space. A qualitative and multi-method research design combines descriptive mapping, virtual site observation and semi-structured interviews to apply Mobility Space to the controversial Mini-Holland programme in Waltham Forest, London. Examining in detail the Walthamstow Village scheme, the research finds three patterns by which BEI related to bicycle urbanism re-organize movement, re-allocate space and re-design public realm to prioritize active travel and dwelling while discouraging car use. Those spatial alterations shift the political organization of space which in turn affects the Right to the City (Lefebvre et al., 1996) – an expression of Spatial Justice – as it enables a greater diversity of people to use urban space (right to appropriation) and makes them conscious how the space they inhabit is discursively produced and the outcome of contentious decision-making processes (right to participation). This research is relevant for urban professionals as environmental as well as pandemic-related urban mobility challenges necessitate a transformation of urban space to accommodate cycling, but negative outcomes for social equity, as resulting from car-urbanism, need to be avoided.

Through rethinking a more holistic framework for the structure of digitised short-term rental market in London, the study reviews the fundamental problem constrained the agency of planner and contextualises the Airbnb matter within London context.

Through a nexus approach, this research seeks to establish an integrative understanding of climate change and planning. In particular, it explores the extent to which local institutions can build capacities for addressing the climate emergency agenda in an integrative through planning.

This research explores some of the first cases of intergenerational living in London; Buccleuch House, the ‘Lifecycle Home’ in Chobham Manor, and Supportmatch UK Homesharing. The cases are studied through a number of themes, ranging from the motivation behind engagement in intergenerational living, the benefits and drawbacks of such a living arrangements, the design of intergenerational schemes, and the viability of intergenerational developments for the mainstream housing market. The experiences of key stakeholders involved in the intergenerational schemes are cross compared, with the aim of gaining a holistic understanding of the recent emergence of intergenerational living in London, focusing on the forms it can take, its design and development, and its’ future prospects. This research works towards a body of literature that promotes ways in which diversity can be encouraged in urban planning and offers inspiration in how this can be done. Furthermore, the topic bares great relevance to the debate sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic surrounding housing and healthcare, and especially that of older generations. Findings indicate that although becoming a more heavily debated topic, making frequent appearances in government policy and planning discourse, intergenerational living is still relatively niche in London. In order to transgress from niche to norm, a combined effort from stakeholders and a different approach to how we develop our cities is necessary.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the UK government has applied national and regional lockdowns that have greatly reduced the ability to travel for daily activities such as work or shopping. The changes in behaviour resulting from these restrictions have had spatial implications by creating a shift in the urban system, and particularly the urban retail system. High streets located near offices have seen great reductions in footfall whereas those located near residential hubs were most resilient. During lockdown, high accessibility of the area by public transport and high median household income of the catchment area both led to lower footfall. However, high ratios of retail, residential and leisure land uses increased footfall, as well as distance to central London and high residential density within the high street catchment. Our findings show that, to create resilient high street, there should be a greater push for residential uses on and around the high street, and a preservation or increase of retail units, as well as a decrease in the centralisation of the workplace. Whilst there are certainly dangers to the deregulation of the planning system, the adaptability that it facilitates for land use change may allow for the creation of such resilient high street. Findings also encourage policies that seek to decentralise urban systems, such as the 15-minute city model.

Over the past two decades, the Greater London Authority (GLA) has pursued the delivery of high-density development in London in order to respond to population growth whilst protecting the green belt. Though high-density places have been associated with sustainable outcomes, it is well documented that residents interact less frequently and build fewer relationships in these environments. This can be particularly detrimental since social contact is fundamental for our general well-being and happiness. In response to this problematic, this study explored if and how we can design for social interaction in high-density housing. To do so, it adopted the process of inducting theory from case studies. Firstly, three case studies of recently completed developments were undertaken to determine whether social interaction was a driving factor in the design process, the type and location of social interactions, and clarify the influence of physical design on social contact in comparison to other factors. These design-led schemes were chosen for investigation as award-winning developments which had received commendation for creating the foundations for a strong community. Next, a cross-case comparison was undertaken to identify hypothesis that addressed the research question and objectives. Providing support for existing literature in the context of high-density housing, it was discovered that limiting the number of apartments to a building allows for collective stewardship, and that communal areas shared by smaller groups are used more intensively. Moreover, combining shared paths and communal areas was observed to support fleeting interactions and helped to nurture a local sense of community. New findings included that externalising the circulation spaces of multi-storey apartment blocks can facilitate conversations between neighbours, and that bike stores can represent an epicentre for contact if internalised and co-located with shared paths. Notably, the impact of physical design factors was not deterministic.

Taking an intersectional feminist and rhythmanalysis approach to explore the embodied experience of pregnant women and new mothers in the built environment to find out what their needs are and how existing urban planning and design fails to meet them.

This research aims to provide an overview of the cultural-creative industries (CCI) in the Medina of Tunis and to understand pathways for socioeconomic development in the historic quarters. While the cultural heritage efforts, the history of craft and folk-art, and the function of souks in the Medina have been documented by scholars, little scholarly work has been carried out to analyse the link between socioeconomic development and the CCI in the city, despite the efforts of local civil society organisations. This work aims to provide an analysis of local socioeconomic challenges with a focus on labour and gender, to understand the relationship between the cultural-creative economy and the socioeconomic dynamics in the Medina, through a mixed-methods approach. Further, this research aims to add to the knowledge on economic development and creative industry development in a heritage context and specifically in countries in the Middle East and North Africa. While the majority of creative economy discourse is focused on the global North, this research aims to explore potential pathways for a heritage-led creative economy approach to economic activation through a comparative case study of other craft and folk-art heritage cities in the MENA region to inform pathways for change in the Medina. Finally, the notion of value is integral to bridging the gap between cultural heritage and economics. This research aims to map out the forms of value the cultural-creative economy can generate multiple and cross-disciplinary forms of value to contribute towards the work in measuring value in the Medina.

With the exploration of the value and sustainability of developing Urban Agroecology for application to urban development processes, the central question that will be extended and studied in this dissertation is, therefore, how can Urban Agroecology offer new possibilities for sustainable urban development? This can be deeply meaningful for agricultural civilisation contexted cities' problems solving and future development. Shanghai and Lima are case cities analysed, have been through and are now experiencing some exciting urban eco-building projects. They are urbanising at a fast pace with the global trend; both face complex urban development challenges while still needing further to consider potential and possibilities for further sustainable development and find the right questions during the application of Urban Agroecology. Urban space will be given a new functional definition in the future. The theoretical areas on which this dissertation will focus are the value of developing Urban Agroecology and approaching it sustainably.

A description of the work (Abstract): With the fastest urbanization process, Chinese cities have experienced extraordinary housing development and marketization, resulting in a significant shift in housing consumption. However, over time, housing inequality has increased significantly, especially among different socio-economic groups. This dissertation used 2017 Chinese General Social Survey data to explore the underlying factors of housing inequality and interaction relationships with other types of inequality (e.g., occupational inequality, income inequality, wealth inequality and intergenerational inequality and so on). The findings suggest that in the current privatized and commodified housing market, socioeconomic status, such as education, gender and age would have a significant effect on housing choice and lead to housing inequalities. Furthermore, this dissertation uses a case study of Beijing to explore the change of underlying causes from a historical perspective. In China, the real estate market experienced three stages, which are socialistic allocation stage (before 1998), privatization stage – market-based housing reform (1999-2008) and housing price booming stage (2009-2021). In the pre-reform era, political status was the primary driver of housing inequality. With the establishment of a privatized and commodified housing market following reform, some political drivers such as political position and work unit have a diminishing impact on housing decisions, whereas hukou remain a lasting effect on housing market. These findings support market transmission theory and power persistence theory, implying that the political system and market mechanism are both influencing the housing market at the same time. These findings point policymakers in the right direction for implementing more targeted measures to promote sustainable development in metropolitan areas.

« The number of Chinese netizens has surpassed 904 million in 2020, and 49% out of whom are women (CNNIC, 2020). Since its creation in the 1990s, Chinese cyberspace has been a vibrant sphere of civil action (Herold and Marolt, 2011). Under state authoritarianism, the Chinese cyberspace stands on the margin of normality, as a carnivalesque place of dissent (ibid.). Making up almost half of the entire netizen population, women are known to be key actors of cyberspace activism. This dissertation sets out to investigate female claim-making in Chinese cyberspace. It is particularly interested in the notion of citizenship that underpins their claims. Female fans of a cyber-entertainment reality show are examined as a case study, using feminist critical discourse analysis (FCDA) as the methodology. Their claims are analysed against the analytical framework of feminist discursive activism to see if it can challenge dominant patriarchal discourses and advances citizenship consciousness. This dissertation finds that female fans’ claim-making constitute discursive activism that is essentially a politics of visibility, which resonates with the notion of performative citizenship.

Climate change is already threatening the lives and livelihoods of Yangon’s residents, with low-income informal settlements experiencing high levels of vulnerability, while receiving little protection in the face of spatially violent development, policy and planning. This dissertation aims to situate current climate change adaptation needs within the context of historical and contemporary spatial violence that continues to impact everyday lived realities in low-income settlements. Spatial violence in the form of displacement, dislocation and dispossession threatens to continue along the current trajectory perpetuating high levels of vulnerability. With so called ‘green’ development putting those most vulnerable into further states of precarity, this dissertation utilises a Feminist Political Ecology lens to explore the reality for women in Yangon, who despite traditional narratives of relative equality, experience high levels of vulnerability due to their gendered experiences. As a reaction to perpetuating spatial violence and threats of further precarity, women and community groups in Yangon are emerging as agents of their own adaptation in the form of community housing and infrastructure upgrading initiatives. Without acknowledgement for the current experience of spatial violence in the city, and the reactions of the most vulnerable communities, adaptation that aims to challenge the structures behind current vulnerability will not occur. This dissertation found that while there is a lack of care and acknowledgement for the reality of the most marginalised communities, they respond to threats of further precarity with agency, that if supported, could lead to transformative adaptation for the city of Yangon.

Ride-hailing services have grown ingrained in the urban mobility landscapes of cities all over the world. Uber alone has completed over 10 billion rides across 10,000 cities in a decade (Uber, 2018; Uber, 2020). During this time, ride-hailing players have revolutionized the transport sector by disrupting the taxi industry, public transport systems and labour protection laws. Despite its growing popularity in cities, many unknowns about ride-hailing’s impact make it difficult to regulate. The case of Uber, which faced regulatory hurdles and briefly ceased operations in Colombia in January 2020 (Feiner, 2020), a first for any LAC nation, exemplifies this. In the context of concerns about urban sustainability and social equity, Oviedo et al (2020) emphasize that as this new mode becomes more popular in LAC, assessing its impact becomes all the more crucial for local authorities and transport planning organizations. Scholars argue that research on this topic has been limited due to under-conceptualisation (Gomez‐Morantes et al, 2021), knowledge gaps regarding emerging markets (Granada et al, 2018) and a lack of focus on distributional perspectives and social disparities (Oviedo et al, 2021). Moreover, disagreements about the effects of ride-hailing and the resulting regulatory inconsistencies stem mainly from a lack of adequate data. Due to the novelty of the service and the unwillingness of its companies to disclose information due to privacy concerns, it has been difficult to measure the impact of ride-hailing. As a result, most of what is known comes from small survey samples, such as Henao's (2018). To overcome these limitations, this dissertation leverages one of the largest ride-hailing focused datasets made available by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) which captures responses from over 4000 LAC respondents. By placing ride-hailing within the well-established transport related social exclusion literature, this timely research adds much-needed information to the field of transport, specifically to the sub-discipline of shared mobility. The dissertation recognizes the complexity of framing the various dimensions of Transport Related Social Exclusion and analyzing all these effects in one study. However, at the core, under this theoretical framework, the research objective is to examine the potentially restrictive nature of ride-hailing for residents in LI neighbourhoods in Bogotá, Colombia. Ride-Hailing, Transport Equity, Transport Related Social Exclusion, Urban Mobility, Latin America

In order to raise awareness on particularly gender disparities during their exercise of the right to be mobile and participate in the city, this work aims to examine the associations between the frequency of the usage of on-demand transport services and particular factors related to gender-based inequalities such as sexual harassment, gender-based violence and fear, crime rates, social class and individual practices to contribute with broader debates on gendered social exclusion and inaccessibility. While intersecting concepts underpinning transport-related social exclusion (TRSE) and access to the city, this study uses official quantitative data, including attitudinal preferences, from the cities of Bogota and Mexico City provided by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) as part of their broader research on ride-hailing and Social Exclusion.

A description of the work (Abstract): Since the beginning of the pandemic many flaws in the way cities around the world function were made visible and the FAO identified the urban food provisioning system as one of these (Khim, 2020). COVID-19 is far from being the first biological hazard but in current times it is the first that has gravely affected all stages of the food system including, production, processing, packaging, distribution, retail, and consumption. More frequent climatic hazards have been studied and addressed through disaster risk reduction usually at the level of agricultural production such as unpredictable and extreme weather leading to failed harvests. Therefore, this paper combines the fields of disaster risk reduction and food system planning to build back better after the COVID-19 biological hazard in developing cities such as Lima, Peru and more particularly in the middle-low to low-income district of Villa Maria del Triunfo. This combination is based on the idea that disasters can be defined as the impact of a hazard on a human system which can be a food system and that literature in both fields mention resilience as a key concept to build back better. Throughout the case study assessing pre-disposing disaster risk to COVID-19 in the food system shed light on the unequal exposure, vulnerability, and capacity to act to disaster risk in Lima. It also created space to look at international examples of post-disaster recovery strategies in food systems of other cities and the Food and Agriculture Organisation’s most recent resilience framework called the City-Region Food system. The strategies suggested for the case of Villa Maria del Triunfo are transferable to cities that have similar issues but on the other hand they are also largely dependent on the will of cities and their actors to act on these matters. Thus, this paper can be seen as advocating for the implementation of food systems planning in disaster risk reduction as an important step for urban development.

« This dissertation examines whether participatory projects, notably those involving children, in urban areas in Lebanon can help improve refugee children’s wellbeing, including by enhancing social cohesion between diverse residents. Drawing from urban studies, child psychology, and other literature, it outlines Syrian refugee children’s circumstances in Lebanese urban areas, and the risks and protective factors they face as a result of their experiences. Centred around urban space, its theoretical framework links concepts of spatial justice, environmental child psychology/socio-ecological models, and social cohesion. Fundamental to its overarching exploration, it adopts a relational and psychosocial definition of wellbeing, which also recognises children’s unique characteristics and experiences. It considers practical evidence for its exploration in two projects in Lebanon, after briefly looking at children’s reimagining of urban areas outside of formal processes. It concludes that there is strong evidence that, when processes are meaningful and address participants’ priorities, as well as successfully engage local authorities, they have significant potential to contribute to children’s wellbeing and improve prospects for social cohesion. The challenge is in creating genuinely inclusive processes that have multiplying, lasting effects – i.e. that they can serve as the ‘glue’ that binds residents in pursuit of the urban commons – and that trigger ongoing, collective actions by a cross-section of residents, which can convince strategic, powerful stakeholders of their importance. Given the acute crisis Lebanon faces, such processes remain more important than ever, while remaining sensitive to the socio-political and economic realities affecting millions across the country.

Defensive urbanism is characterised by overt designs that are hostile in nature which are used to discourage certain groups from using urban spaces. This work proposes gated communities, transport infrastructure and anti- homeless architecture must therefore also be considered defensive urbanism. Using examples from across the world in cities attempting to become “global cities”, I attempt to show the impact these design decision have on groups who are particularly marginalised.

This study looks into the responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro. The main objective of this study is to enable an understanding of a favela as a capable urban governance institution. This rationale is made possible through the case study of local initiatives that surged in Rio during the crisis, by making use of Byrne’s (2005) complexity framework applied to social sciences. Through the analysis of this case, it becomes clear that three institutional conditions allowed local organisations to advance urban equality throughout the pandemic. First, a condition of formal government institution’s failure. Second, a condition of inadequate access to health and sanitation. Third, a structural inequality that portray favelas as a threat to be perceived by formal institutions as something that must be fixed. This understanding leads to a contribution to the academic and societal understanding of urban settings in Brazil. This paper contains important implications for future work in favelas, although its finding are somewhat limited to the specific context of favelas in Rio de Janeiro.

Poor water and sanitation brings health inequalities in Dar es Salaam, which sets great challenges to achieve health justice. Finding routes to water and sanitation equity is an important development agenda in Dar es Salaam. To answer the research question about how the current water and sanitation governance of Dar es Salaam affects health justice, the dissertation adopts literature review and case study to have an analysis. Through literature review, vulnerabilities in the relationship between poor water and sanitation and health inequalities in Dar es Salaam are founded. Through three cases, Kombo (Ilala Municipality), Keko Machungwa (Temeke Municipality) and Tandale Slum, interactions among all kinds of determinants and stakeholders in Dar es Salaam’ water and sanitation governance are analysed and discussed. Drawing the analytical framework of health justice, all cases are analysed from environmental justice, social justice and planning justice, these three aspects that help to achieve health justice. In the end, the dissertation identifies future challenges to water and sanitation equity in Dar es Salaam and proposes recommendations to the local and global water and sanitation governance.

A description of the work (Abstract): «Exploring a potential vision of the common good for London’s economic centres, this dissertation asks why and how economic democracy should be enacted at the scale of the high street. While COVID-19 has exacerbated inequalities along many lines, evolving values around community, wellbeing and public space also pose an opportunity for re-imagining fairer economic trajectories through a focus on place. Often magnifying wider economic issues, the long-run decline of British high streets has been well documented. While commonly focusing on curation and design as a way to ‘activate’ these once public spaces, their complexity has given way to an equally diverse discourse lacking a consistent framework for guiding planning, interventions and policy. While current high street rhetoric offers a growing focus on social value and ‘community-led development’, economic power and equity implications are frequently overlooked. This thesis suggests, given the accessible and inclusive nature of high streets, the potential for situating a framework of economic development that considers a more radical restructuring of social and economic power. Placing the principles of economic democracy within an everyday site helps to foreground people and place. Through repurposing urban space for inclusive, collective and participatory workspaces, services or social centres, high streets can play a role in reformulating value concepts. Developing an analytical framework that considers rights, ownership and deliberation, through iterative empirical analysis, this thesis will address practices that could re-frame high streets to better serve their communities. SHORT: study asking why and how should a framework of economic democracy be used to re-shape london’s high streets, for the redistribution of economic power and the promotion of the common good.

Access to secure housing is a basic requirement for human dignity, and yet millions of people are under the threat of eviction. Amidst the global housing crisis, there has been an emergence of social movements defying the hegemonic concept of individualistic property rights. The discussion around the urban commons is in line with this struggle. Thailand’s slum upgrading program, Bann Mankong, is a great example of practising collective rights over land and housing. Starting from 2003 with ten pilot projects, Bann Mankong has scaled up successfully to 1,231 projects covering 112,777 households as of 2019. Impressed by its success, a lot of literature on Bann Mankong tried to extract lessons on how to replicate the model elsewhere. However, while it stresses its applicability, less has been discussed about the country-specific context of Thailand, which gave birth to this program. Similarly, the focus on the participatory aspect of the program diluted the fact that Bann Mankong is a government-initiated and funded program and the very nature of the CODI, the operating agency of the program, is a government organisation, even if it adopted the flexibility of NGOs. Guided by Ostrom’s institutional analysis and development framework and Bookchin’s confederal governance, the dissertation identified the hierarchical elements of Bann Mankong’s organisational structure. Also, the dissertation analysed the socio-economic and cultural context around the institution which enabled the emergence of a state-initiated commoning process like Bann Mankong; the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis in Thailand, the notion of ‘sufficiency economy’ combined with Buddhism, the long-held history of public control over land, and grassroots movements. Lastly, the dissertation outlined the limitations of Bann Mankong in terms of inclusivity, financial sustainability, and gender equality. Especially regarding gender equality, the dissertation illuminated how voluntary labour in creating and managing the urban commons is gendered and underappreciated.

In many ways the experience of spatial violence in Beirut is somewhat of an anomaly both prior to and following the port-explosion, which prompts exploration with regards to the potentials of people-led urban recovery. The research explores the infrastructures of care that developed following the blast looking into different areas including Karantina, Mar Mikhayel, and Medawer as key case studies. The first section of the analysis examines the historical roots of sectarian divides in Beirut and the theme of statelessness. Referring to the works of Lefebvre and Agamben, the research explores spatial practices and the reproduction of space within the scope of conflict in Beirut. The second section of the research entails urban analyses of the aforementioned case studies, raising potential recommendation and discussions to assess and take remedial action following events of such magnitude in contested contents.

With less than a decade left to deliver the Sustainable Development Goal of universal access to water and sanitation, innovative and inclusive new approaches are needed to address the ongoing challenge of urban Water Supply and Sanitation (WSS). WSS has long been misrecognised as a technical issue of facilities and infrastructure, obscuring the complex socio-political drivers that shape distributional injustices in service provision. Furthermore, marginalised groups disproportionately suffering WSS injustices, such as informal settlement residents, are typically excluded from the WSS decision-making that could alleviate their struggles. The co-production of knowledge through partnerships with informal settlement residents is gaining interest as a potentially transformative method to address WSS injustices through improving recognition of the multifaceted and heterogeneous realities within informal settlements and empowering the political participation of informal settlement residents. Despite widespread academic enthusiasm, much of the literature remains broadly conceptual. This dissertation contributes to the debate by examining how knowledge co-production can help alleviate WSS service provision injustices through the specific case of the Centre for Community Initiative’s activities in the informal settlements of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The combined theoretical lenses of environmental justice and Feminist Political Ecology deliver a nuanced perspective on knowledge co-production that emphasises the importance of local context, heterogeneity within and between informal settlements and the complexity of ‘transformative change’.

This dissertation will use Dulwich Picture Gallery as a case study for exploring how art institutions can revaluate their own histories in light of the urgent contemporary issue of systemic racism. The history of the public life of Dulwich Picture Gallery will be presented through a site writing methodology (Rendell 2010). Utilising a fictocritical approach archival sources will be reanimated to subvert the history of one of Sir John Soane’s most famous surviving buildings

Located at the centre of Swindon, the Swindon Railway Village (SRV) was a residential and social hub for Swindon and its Great Western Railway (GWR) locomotive and carriage works. The SRV was established in 1841 to the designs of the famous engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel and expanded throughout the latter half of the nineteenth century to serve the GWR’s needs. By 1891, it comprised of around 287 cottages, a large mechanics’ institute, a market, a cottage hospital, an expansive company park, an Anglican church, a Methodist chapel, swimming baths and a medical dispensary. The SRV was a complex multi-functional space that could support a railway worker from cradle to grave. This report aims to reinvigorate an understudied area and to answer the central research question— what were the architectural and ideological functions of the SRV?

Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic caused an economic and physical exodus within the City of London. The guilds seized the opportunity to reclaim their historic seat of power. New guilds arose. The construction of the Replica Makers Livery Hall is rooted in the poetics of the process. Histories of the Postman’s Park site and London’s Brutalism elements are reinterpreted via the construction.

Description This dissertation examines China’s contemporary nostalgia towards the 1980s-2000s by aligning it with nostalgia for the disappearing shijing (市井) place in the cities. Shijing, in the 1980s and 1990s, was characterised by the increasing inflow of rural migrant workers searching for urban membership. They appropriate shijing places into their mediating ground to contest the right to the city, but in contemporary contexts, such places are often tagged as urban villages (城中村; Chengzhongcun) to be demolished in city renewal schemas. The disappearance of shijing places led to the nostalgic construction of a duplicated shijing place in the catering complex Wenheyou (文和友) in Changsha, Hunan province. This essay evaluates this nostalgia by regarding it as a process of negotiating urban membership, rather than an event representing authentic/fake memory. This real-fake dualism is challenged by recognising Wenheyou as a Duplitecture that do not intend to be an exact copy of shijing. Furthermore, by adopting shijing as an evaluative concept, this dissertation scrutinises this process through the prism of dynamic interactions between the authors, readers, and spectators of nostalgia. Shijing in three memory frames – the “real” shijing (in memory), the “fake and material” shijing (in Wenheyou), and the “fake and virtual” shijing (on social media) – are analysed to reveal this dynamism. While the “real” shijing is inevitably irretrievable, the “fake and material” shijing still contests the right to narrate and to create heterogenous atmospheres. From a feminist perspective, this heterogeneity also enables female spectators to be in a state of uncertainty, unfettered by existing binds and bonds. However, in effect, this indeterminacy is overshadowed by the determinacy of spectatorship in an atmosphere where the political is rendered as cultural and cultural as anti-cultural. Description This dissertation examines China’s contemporary nostalgia towards the 1980s-2000s by aligning it with nostalgia for the disappearing shijing (市井) place in the cities. Shijing, in the 1980s and 1990s, was characterised by the increasing inflow of rural migrant workers searching for urban membership. They appropriate shijing places into their mediating ground to contest the right to the city, but in contemporary contexts, such places are often tagged as urban villages (城中村; Chengzhongcun) to be demolished in city renewal schemas. The disappearance of shijing places led to the nostalgic construction of a duplicated shijing place in the catering complex Wenheyou (文和友) in Changsha, Hunan province. This essay evaluates this nostalgia by regarding it as a process of negotiating urban membership, rather than an event representing authentic/fake memory. This real-fake dualism is challenged by recognising Wenheyou as a Duplitecture that do not intend to be an exact copy of shijing. Furthermore, by adopting shijing as an evaluative concept, this dissertation scrutinises this process through the prism of dynamic interactions between the authors, readers, and spectators of nostalgia. Shijing in three memory frames – the “real” shijing (in memory), the “fake and material” shijing (in Wenheyou), and the “fake and virtual” shijing (on social media) – are analysed to reveal this dynamism. While the “real” shijing is inevitably irretrievable, the “fake and material” shijing still contests the right to narrate and to create heterogenous atmospheres. From a feminist perspective, this heterogeneity also enables female spectators to be in a state of uncertainty, unfettered by existing binds and bonds. However, in effect, this indeterminacy is overshadowed by the determinacy of spectatorship in an atmosphere where the political is rendered as cultural and cultural as anti-cultural.

Architectural re-imagination of the red-light district of Tehran known as Shahrinaw

The results reveal that the rail network has an important optimization effect Spatial Accessibility in at multi dimensions

The main purpose of this study is to explore the general impact of centrality on urban space and to verify the relationship between the centrality structure in urban networks and the concrete centre and barrier areas in urban spaces. The core question of the research is: what is the potential impact of the integration-based centre, the functional centre and the physical barrier on the social-economic conditions of communities? Based on the question, this study takes 457 communities in central and northern London as case studies, and measure the spatial relation between the community and various adjacent centres and barriers with network analysis methods. On this basis, Multi-scale Geographically Weighted Regression(MGWR) and Binary Logistics Regression methods are employed to test the correlation between spatial relation and the socio-economic conditions of the local communities.

Canal structure was designed alongside the planning of the street configuration in Amsterdam and it was added to the existing urban form in London during the city’s growth. On that basis this study aims to demonstrate the possible impact of this difference on the potential movement and spatial distribution of functions between Amsterdam and London.

This research studies the Jeddah Waterfront in an attempt to model, then understand the pedestrian-waterfront engagement dynamics. A new tool for creating visibility graphs was created, with components allowing the use of directed visibility graphs, night-time lighting and weighted visual attractors. Pedestrian activity subgroups were then defined and associated with various spatial metric patterns resulting in a set of design recommendations for the ongoing Jeddah Waterfront expansions.

This is a dissertation project completed as part of the MSc Space Syntax: Architecture and Cities course at the Bartlett School of Architecture, which explores the urban morphological implications of the motorway in the city centre. The study takes the Westway motorway as an example of a Modernist approach to urban transport infrastructure and analyses its long-term impact on the hierarchy of centrality in the neighbourhood. Relations between change in spatial configurations and building attributes such as land use diversity and density are statistically examined. Finally, the study discusses to what extent the impact of top-down urban design manifested in urban growth would implicate community severance.

This paper intends to prove that the underlying spatial logic of central Singapore has been shaped by the evolving ethnic discourse, and by extension, language.

Description Although Apartheid officially ended in 1994, scant empirical evidence exists into spatial factors which may serve to afford the generation of racial heterogeneity. This research, centred on Cape Town, as a primary case study is an empirical examination of the relationship between demographic racial integration and urban configuration in South African cities. The principal argument of this dissertation is that the spatial configuration and mobility systems of an urban environment can either reinforce existing racial homogeneity or allow for the creation of new networks of racial heterogeneity. Furthermore, it is argued that within this context, urban systems, which emerged organically, have the strongest relation with demographic racial integration. The research required a methodological approach which could encompass both physical and behavioural aspects. The precise descriptions offered by the evidence-based research techniques of space syntax allowed for a configurational understanding of both the spatial and social aspects of this study. A morphological analysis of Cape Town over three crucial time periods using space syntax analytical techniques, South African Census and GIS data confirmed that, on a global scale, the city remains predominantly racially and economically stratified. Despite the global trend of segregation, a local analysis of demographic racial integration, revealed that, residential racial heterogeneity is emerging in particular neighbourhoods. Through a compendium of neighbourhood case studies, specific spatial morphological characteristics were identified and shown to have a relation with demographic residential racial integration. Finally, the research examined mobility systems, from the perspective of how they may provide affordances for the creation of patterns of multi-racial co-presence, with a specific emphasis on the emergent minibus taxi system. Whilst this system has been widely stigmatised as chaotic and haphazard, the evidence has shown that it has an intrinsic spatial and social logic, forming the largest network of accessibility in the city. Finally, the thesis draws a series of conclusions which lead to a broad set of proposed recommendations.

Using the Beirut Port explosion as a case study, a methodological framework is proposed, that can be adopted as part of an organised disaster management strategy, where limited resources countries, like Lebanon, can benefit from the freely available open-access spatial analysis methods and resources to increase its preparedness towards hazards.

This work aims to solve a problem of introducing electric cargo bikes to Hong Kong using computer simulation technique called Agent Based Modelling - at a much lower cost compared to field study due to policy, geographical and operational restrictions.

The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent national lockdowns have had a significant impact on businesses of all sizes, particularly small businesses. Therefore, it is essential that small businesses are adequately supported to enable their sustainable recovery from the pandemic. The Mayor of London has assembled the London Recovery Board (LRB) to oversee and push forward initiatives to support the long-term recovery of unemployment rates, small business closures and lost economic growth caused by the pandemic. This report has identified two important factors which are crucial to businesses’ ability to grow and survive and have subsequently been impacted by the pandemic: (1) growing and maintaining social networks and (2) dealing with uncertainty. The impact of the pandemic on these factors has ultimately limited the ability of small businesses to develop their knowledge of business administration and obtain investor financing. Anchor institutions are private or public organisations which have the potential to make genuine social and economic impacts to their localities due to their size and spending power; they have been identified as important actors in the city (GLA, 2021). By using their spending power through procurement, anchor institutions have an important role in helping small businesses recover from the pandemic. Public and private anchor institutions can provide this support by establishing local procurement policies. To help anchor institutions strategically target resources, this report analysed the impact of COVID-19 on small businesses by industry. In addition, a tool has been developed for anchor institutions to use to help small businesses. The function of the tool is to help anchor institutions make informed decisions about setting and assessing the effectiveness of their local procurement policies. The tool does this by plotting the locations of small businesses and anchor institutions. This allows anchor institutions to identify where and what small businesses are in their locality. Coupled with a list of small businesses who were offered tenders, the tool also allows institutions to see how many small businesses they have offered service/product tenders to out of the total number of small businesses in the same industry, and therefore, the effectiveness of their local procurement policies.

A description of the work: This study focuses on CSR strategy using the programs of corporate-NGO partnerships from FamilyMart, the second-largest convenient store chain brand in Taiwan. In total, nine NGO programs were identified in the 2020 FamilyMart’s CSR report. The qualitative case study research was conducted and combined with documentary analysis. The data was collected from public documentaries, such as academic papers, CSR reports, corporate websites, press articles, and promoting videos online. The study applied resource-based theory to examine the contribution level on forming corporate’s sustained competitive advantages of different types of partnerships. Also, by implementing CSR approach analytical framework, the programs were analysed the intentions and implications of each type of partnership. The analyse showed that there is the possibility of transition from one type of partnership to the other one if the initial cooperation was based on a strategic CSR approach and both sectors were able to leverage and complement each other.

Social Enterprises (SEs) are increasingly viewed globally as vehicles for change due to their innovations, experimentations and development of new models, services, and products that can respond to pressing global challenges. Entrepreneurial ecosystems represent the wider context that not only shapes entrepreneurship but also shapes entrepreneurial responses to the grand challenges. Getting ecosystems ‘right’ is therefore imperative. This research sets out to critically examine the budding social enterprise ecosystem in Kenya by addresses the following research questions: 1) How is the ecosystem in Kenya developing? 1a) What is the current landscape of the ecosystem in Kenya? 1b) What type of environment is the ecosystem creating? 1c) How ‘Kenyan’ is the ecosystem? Through the examination of the ecosystems domains, based on a literature review and seven interviews with ecosystem stakeholders I argue that the current Kenyan Social Enterprise Ecosystem (SEE) is geared towards the creation of certain types of enterprises based on the Western models of SE. I will show that there is an alternative model in Kenya that can be found in Homegrown SEs models that have developed from the 1960’s. Using institutional isomorphism theory, I will show how a post-colonial critique can be applied to the development of the Kenyan SEE due to the large presence and direction setting of Western stakeholders. The study will offer missed opportunities in amplifying local knowledge, funding the gaps-new models of tailored support, rethinking scale, and a new African model of businesses. Finally, I maintain that the goals and values underpinning social entrepreneurship are inherent in the Kenyan cultures- and should be harnessed to create a wider movement of good businesses in Africa, and potentially beyond and offer a number of recommendations that could strengthen the ecosystem. Keywords: Social enterprises, social entrepreneurial ecosystem, Kenya, SSA, post-colonial, social entrepreneurs.

Mental health has continuously emerged as an issue of concern amongst university students globally (Global Summit on Student Affairs and Services, 2016). The World Health Organization (2020) stated that “mental wellbeing needs to be understood as a state of wellbeing in which every individual realizes his or her own [emotional intelligence] potential and possesses the ability to cope with normal stresses of life”. This paper draws upon the mental health challenges during the Covid-19 pandemic amongst university students in the United Kingdom and proposes that the higher education system should consider embedding emotional intelligence into the university curriculum post-Covid. To investigate how the Covid-19 pandemic has increased mental health challenges, we will conduct secondary research from press, academic literature and academic literature. Additionally, semi-structured interviews with university student support services staff will be conducted to explore how an emotional intelligence-based curriculum combat these mental health challenges post-covid.

The main aim for this study is to identify how small holder farmers in Elgeyo Marakwet County, northwest Kenya, are the drivers of innovation for agricultural methods, and how we may harness these processes in collaboration with other institutions in order to promote sustainable intensification of agriculture, as it is the backbone of the economy of many African countries. This is done through analysis of secondary data previously collected by the IGP PROCOL Kenya team and primary quantitative data in the form of semi-structured in-depth interviews with farmer in the Elgeyo Marakwet County.

This study will explore the role of the consumer in achieving sustainable prosperity. It seeks to contribute to the discourse on systems-change and the role of consumer agency within it. Exploring a bottom—up approach it seeks to contribute to the understanding of how consumer agency can be leveraged to transition towards a sustainable future.

A description of the work: This dissertation explores the role of educational technology enterprises (ETEs) in improving learning outcomes in developing countries through technology-mediated learning. It aims to contribute to the growing body of literature on the use of EdTech in emerging economies by adopting a novel approach – examining the provision of educational technology by private enterprises, in contrast to much more prominent user-focused research. Qualitative analysis presented in this dissertation leans on primary data gathered in semi-structured interviews with executives of ETEs operating in developing countries and takes form of a case study of five enterprises – Ubongo, EnCube Labs, Gradely, Open Learning Experience and Can’t Wait To Learn. I assess the emerging theories on the vision of learning that ETEs adopt, the prerequisites for implementation of their intervention methods, the role of human educator in those enterprises, ETEs’ coexistence with formal education and, most importantly, the process of ETE sustaining change and scaling up. It was discovered that ETE scalability plays an important role in improving learning outcomes in developing countries and two factor categories are particularly conducive of it – implementation partnerships and financing. Additionally, this dissertation established and formulated the “country-language” principle of ETE scaling.

A description of the work: This dissertation analysed the positive and negative effects of partnerships and the acquisition of social enterprises by large corporations in need of change, through different case studies. Through an exploratory research of three case studies, primary and secondary data, this study tests the hypothesis the social enterprises can influence the acquiring large corporations’ social impact. The study found that when a social enterprise is combined with a corporation, the social enterprise can influence the corporation to achieve greater social purpose in the following ways: a clear social mission embedded in the corporate culture and protected by contracts, strong social networks and measurement of impacts with stakeholders and finally, procedures to share best practices across the corporation.

Research to date still lacks a practice-based framework to understand how employee-driven innovation (EDI) can be harnessed to support organisations to adopt more sustainable practices. This dissertation will explore how EDI can be harnessed for organisational sustainability transitions.

With the global clean energy transition in focus, one of the most crucial sectors within the energy industry that needs to transform is the power sector. In this paper, we focus on the role Pakistan’s power sector can play in the country’s clean energy transition. The scope of this paper is limited to the role of the residential power sector in Pakistan. First, we understand the current status of the power sector. Second, we understand the policies relevant to the power sector in Pakistan. Third, we focus on the residents of Pakistan and the challenges they face with respect to the structure of centralized top-to-bottom power sector, residential access to electricity, reliance on the centralized authority and unfair billing of consumed electricity. Consequently, it is established that while Pakistan needs to decarbonize its power sector, decentralization can accelerate the process. Since decentralized systems do not have a central authority to manage the system, and there is a lack of trust in the current centralized authorities, a mechanism is required for trusted, secure and tamper-proof transactions in the power sector. Blockchain, which is a digital ledger technology, can facilitate the establishment of trust in the power sector. Therefore, the role of blockchain in the power sector is studied and applications that are relevant to Pakistan are suggested. Finally, requirements to implement blockchain based applications are discussed, which includes facilitating blockchain-based startups in the power sector, empowering prosumers to take an active participatory role in the power sector, developing regulations and building capacity for innovative blockchain implementations.

A description of the work: The invisibility of natural capital and the top-down development model are not conducive for organizations and enterprises to make decisions that consider ecological and socio-cultural benefits and values, which hinder the realization of inclusive, sustainable, and resilient prosperity. In Kenya, medicine plants cherished by indigenous people face environmental and social challenges such as loss of forest resources and the encroachment of outsiders. Community-based medicine organizations are important actors to solve these challenges and develop indigenous treatments. This research aims to "make nature's value visible" and analyze the short and long-term commercial potential for small-scale community-based medicine organizations to develop a range of KEBS-approved indigenous remedies and treatments. This research would be based on the TEEB conceptual framework and approach, which measures the ecological, socio-cultural, and economic value of medicinal plants in the forests of Kenya. The key research question of this research is how community-based organizations should develop the indigenous medicine economy based on protecting local natural capital and human welfare. This research would review economic and statistical data and literature on indigenous medicines and ecosystem services, do statistics and analysis, and provide suggestions for developing community-based organizations for medicinal plants in the forests of Kenya.

The role of digital education platforms such as DingTalk in mitigating the impact of Covid-19 on students or supporting sustainable prosperity.

The demand for elderly care will increase significantly with the acceleration of ageing, so the country needs to transform under this demographic structure. The country desire to diversify elder caring, but 90% of the elderly still choose to stay at home. Therefore, it is worth understanding the thoughts of the elderly, including the advantages and disadvantages of home care. This researcher will further promote the prosperity of the elderly care industry and improve the quality of life of the elderly. Welfare pluralism suggests combining multiple resources such as family, community, enterprises, and national governance to tackle challenges brought by the ageing population. This research will specify the actions of those social actors via three key research questions: What reasons make the elderly choose caring services in their home instead of other private caring homes? What do these elder people need and concern about in current practices? How to improve the current practices and provide available alternative solutions for the ageing challenges? This research will use the qualitative method via semi-structured interviews because the qualitative method can collect the results of the subjective feeling of "home care" and observe the multiple reasons. Finally, based on the analysis of results, this research found specific solutions for achieving welfare the pluralism with the cooperation of government, community and individuals.

UNTIL DEBT NO LONGER TEAR US APART: USING CAUSAL LOOP DIAGRAMS TO STUDY HOUSEHOLD OVERINDEBTEDNESS AND POSSIBLE INTERVENTIONS

This blog post argues for a new approach to the inflated UK housing market, inspired by public policy initiatives in Oman. It suggests a major initiative of allocating state and local authority-owned brownfield sites as pre-approved building plots, prioritising the working poor trapped in expensive private rental. This could alleviate the pressure on the housing market, reduce the demand for private rental that exacerbates the market through "buy-to-let". There is also an opportuity to use this self-building boom to implement world-leading environmental standards and develop new types of sustainable housing technologies. The blog also proposes the establishment of a British Housing Bank, offering low interest loans to develop these sites.

This research diverges away from the sacred narratives which have rendered Varanasi as an ahistorical spiritual construct, and delves into the operative realm of embodied identity politics. With the aim to broaden scholarship which frames the intersectionality of political-power, ideological representation and the built environment, this investigation focuses on the politicized appropriation of Kashi by the in-power right-wing government under the leadership of India’s prime minister, Sri Narendra Modi. Through the articulation of this politicization, the dissertation reveals the masked ideological agendas of the bodies in power which simulate an image of Hindutva. Employing the events revolving around the Kashi Vishwanath-corridor Temple precinct complex as the nexus of analysis, the research contextualizes the bodies in power, in activated sacred space. The research unravels the underlying socio-political and economic structures which lay dormant, but feed the projected timeless narratives of Varanasi. Through the lens of the Kashi-corridor project, the analysis also sheds light on the re-activation of the hegemonic structures of caste and religion which appendage post-democratic and post-secularist narratives, subverting the voices of bodies positioned in alterity. By deconstructing the iconography and iconopraxis revolving around the Kashi-corridor precinct, I explore larger existential conditions at global, national, local and bodily scales through the activation of Identity-politics, Body-politics, Theo-politics, and Noo-politics, along with the representation of power through the projected built. The archival objects of study originate from varied material sources like images, newspaper-articles, political-speeches, public-presentations, the constructed and even the deconstructed environments. By articulating and unpacking these evidential artifacts, this dissertation surfaces the apparently peripheral threads which are critical to the sacred project.