Members of the Centre for Sustainable Planning and Environments (SPE)

Director; Professor in Sustainable Built Environments

Key research interests:

• Green infrastructure
• Contaminated and brownfield land
• Healthy places

View Professor Sinnett's profile

Associate Professor in Participatory Community Practice.

Key research interests:

• Arts-led research and creative methodologies
• Water security and climate change
• Supporting wellbeing through the arts

View Dr Buser's profile

(Acting) Associate Head Student Experience

Key research interests:

• Contemporary leisure-related mobility, including international retirement migration
• Tourism geographies
• Collaborative consumption in tourism

View Dr Casado-Diaz's profile

Senior Lecturer in Planning and Sustainability

Key research interests:

• Delivery and implementation challenges in plan making
• The planning of medieval settlements
• Pedagogical issues relating to assessment offences

View Mr Croft's profile

Lecturer in Environmental Management

Key research interests:

• Low carbon innovation processes
• Energy geographies and the role of regions
• Innovation in the circular economy

View Dr de Laurentis' profile

Senior Lecturer in Urban Planning and Design

Key research interests:

• Urban design theory
• Inclusivity in urban design
• Decolonising urbanism

View Dr Araabi's profile

Lecturer in Architecture and Sustainability

Key research interests:

• Educational spaces
• Greenspaces
• Social sustainability

View Dr Fouad's profile

Senior Lecturer and Programme Leader (MSc Planning and Urban Leadership)

Key research interests:

• Landscape planning
• Ecotourism in protected areas
• Tactical urbanism and placemaking

View Dr Gohar's profile

Associate Professor in Urban and Regional Planning

Key research interests:

• Urban regeneration
• Regional development
• Comparative study (Europe)

View Dr Hall's profile

Associate Professor in Planning Practice

Key research interests:

• Professional practice and ethics
• Project implementation - from planning to delivery
• Planning for housing and national infrastructure

View Ms Hickman's profile

Senior Lecturer in Geography and Environmental Management

Key research interests:

• Food policy networks
• Sustainable local food systems
• Community-centred food initiatives

View Dr Hills' profile

Lecturer in Urban Planning

Key research interests:

• Planning for conservation and urban heritage
• Planning for housing (including the provision of modular housing for people experiencing homelessness and delivery of net zero housing)
• Density in urban planning and design

View Dr Karampour's profile

Senior Lecturer in Critical Urban Practice

Key research interests:

• Designing arts-led research and creative methodologies
• Critical spatial practices in designing publicness
• Temporary City

View Dr Karimnia's profile

Lecturer in Planning and Development

Key research interests:

• Professional practice and ethics 
• Neighbourhood planning, development management and major projects
• Climate change adaptation and mitigation

View Mrs Loveday's profile

Associate Professor in Urban Planning

Key research interests:

• Planning Theory
• Community spaces and community-led activities
• Regulation of space - values and practices

View Dr McClymont's profile

Lecturer in Architecture

Key research interests:

• Inclusive design in the built environment
• Bioclimatic (passive) design
• The body in the space: Human comfort and well-being

View Ms Morales Maya's profile

Research Associate

Key research interests:

• Community-led planning/neighbourhood planning
• Social inclusion
• Political trust

View Dr Ramsay's profile

Lecturer in Human Geography

Key research interests:

• digitalisation
• southern urbanisms and global development
• labour geographies

View Dr Ray's profile

Senior Lecturer in Healthy Urban Environments

Key research interests:

• Urban nature
• Green infrastructure and nature-based solutions
• Healthy places

View Dr Rumble's profile

Senior Lecturer in Urban Policy

Key research interests:

• Urban regeneration and policy
• Global cities
• Carnival and creativity

View Dr Tallon's profile

Senior Lecturer in Real Estate Economics

Key research interests:

• Urban transformation
• Relationships within growth, people and the built environment
• Real estate economics

View Dr Zhou's profile

Shahla is investigating the impact of the urban development plan on marginalized suburban areas of metropolitan Stockholm. The latest regional plan of Stockholm proposes eight new city cores in the urban periphery of the capital. Several of these will be located in the midst of marginalized residential neighbourhoods that are mainly home to low-income or newly arrived ethnic groups. The question arises whether the development plan will be based solely on economic priorities, with widespread social consequences, or take account of the balance between social sustainability goals and economic interests. To answer this question, Shahla will investigate in detail the process of the planning and design of these new neighbourhoods and their accordance or compatibility with a sustainable urban development strategy.

Director of Studies: Dr Hooman Foroughmand Araabi
Supervisor: Dr Stephen Hall

Jo's PhD research aims to advance understandings of environmental sustainability within households, of importance as households have significant environmental impacts through their food, water and energy consumption. Taking a social constructionist approach, her study draws together thinkings on the post-colonial and migration, foodways and theories of care to provide the research framings. The fieldwork will take place in Bristol and will critically examine the Foodway values and practices of global south migrants living in Bristol, as their environmental perspectives and understandings offer global north cities a resource for new learnings about household sustainability to inform strategy and policy.

Director of Studies: Dr Katie McClymont
Second Supervisor: Dr Michael Buser

Thesis: Exploring how visual arts organisations can take an inclusive and co-creative approach to the wellbeing of individuals with a refugee background.

Details to follow.

Thesis: Gender inequality in the city: The role and potential of urban planning.

Gender inequality is ever-present within both the profession and practice of planning. This has led to cities and city building practices have been created and evolved through predominantly patriarchal structures that have reinforced sexism in both public and private contexts.

Jenna’s PhD research is focused on gender inequality in cities and the role and potential of urban planning. Addressing gender equality and equity and improving the experience for women in cities involves intersecting considerations beyond traditional gender mainstreaming approaches that have been attempted in the UK over the past 20 years. Reducing harassment and violence against women and increasing safety, while important, is not the primary purpose of gender inclusive planning. It is well acknowledged that cities that are more gender inclusive are more sustainable and better for all. Nevertheless, large gaps continue to exist to strive for gender equity globally, and across the UK, between research, policy, practice and implementation.

The mixed-methods research will serve to identify gaps in the built environment, processes and policy that reinforce gender inequity. It will achieve this through engaging with local women, local community organizations and local stakeholders to contribute to an improved understanding of spatial equality in Bristol.

Thesis: Navigating host cities as Muslim women refugees.

This research explores the challenges faced by Muslim women refugees in urban environments, with a focus on Bristol, UK. Muslim women, who make up a significant portion of the global refugee population, often confront a unique set of barriers, including discrimination, social isolation, and religious prejudice. These experiences are compounded by gendered challenges, such as safety concerns and limited access to essential services.

The study examines how these women navigate the built environment, addressing key areas like housing, transportation, healthcare access, and community networks. Using participatory methods, including focus groups and interviews, the research amplifies the voices of Muslim women refugees, highlighting their lived experiences. The goal is to inform the development of inclusive, gender-sensitive urban planning policies that account for the specific needs of Muslim refugee women, contributing to their integration and overall well-being in host cities.

Thesis: Reinterpreting community: an exploration of the concepts of ‘community’ and ‘benefit’ within the context of community-led housing in England.

Anna brings 20 years of personal and professional experience of working in the community-led housing (CLH) sector. Her PhD research is attempting to explore and reinterpret the concepts of “community” and “benefit” within the context of community-led housing. She hopes that a better understanding of the different groups of people (communities) that contribute towards the design, delivery and long-term running of CLH projects, and the benefits that these individuals and groups gain through their participation, will assist in future policy-making decisions, grant funding guidelines and practical implementation of CLH projects. The research is 50% funded by Power to Change, an independent charitable trust that supports and develops community businesses in England.

Director of Studies: Dr Katie McClymont
Second Supervisor: Dr Stephen Hall

Thesis: Maximising the potential benefits of UWE Bristol’s Greenspaces to Improve student mental health.

Samuel’s PhD research investigates the role and extent to which UWE Bristol’s Greenspaces impact the mental health of university students. The deteriorating mental health among students has given rise to global concerns. Greenspace is beneficial to mental health due to its restorative and cognitive benefits, including other engagement opportunities such as socialisation and physical activity. Using a mixed-methods approach, Sam’s study seeks to understand students' behaviours in relation to greenspace and how greenspace can benefit students in managing common mental health challenges such as depression and anxiety. The study uniquely brings a multidisciplinary approach in addressing the issue as it is based in health and built environment disciplines. Sam has a background in biological sciences and public health, and this project adds to his experience in multidisciplinary research.

Director of Studies: Professor Danielle Sinnett
Supervisors: Dr Issy Bray

Title: Is Bristol embarking in a just transition? Case study of the One City Climate Strategy.

Addressing the climate crisis at the socio-economic level is bringing a dramatic set of changes. However, the direction or depth of these changes is still unclear. While social forces mainly linked to the private sector promote a new “green economy” based on resource efficiency and technological advancement, others are concerned with the social implication of environmental protection. The controversy starts from the assumption that the new green economy can imply the trade-off between economic revenue and people’s well-being and valuable life paths.

This study sits in the middle of this debate and employs qualitative research methods to examine whether Bristol is embarking on a Just Transition, thus encompassing the concept of justice in climate, environmental, and energy scholar communities.

Exploring the Bristol City Council’s Climate Emergency scheme, the study aims at analysing the impact of decarbonisation policies on ethnic minorities within the urban city and produce measurable outcomes in terms of rights of inclusion and participation of all people, the development of environmental regulation and the rebalance of benefits and burdens of climate change.

Director of Studies: Dr Michael Buser
Supervisors: Dr Hooman Foroughmand Araabi and Dr Rebecca Windemer

Details to follow.

Title: Exploring the wellbeing benefits of community-led housing, focusing on the influence of green space and green infrastructure upon the mental wellbeing of residents.

Judith is studying the wellbeing impact of grassroots “community-led” housing, with a focus on the influence of green space and infrastructure. She is a 50:50 funded scholar, receiving support from UWE Bristol and Power to Change.

Having gained an undergraduate degree in Zoology from USW Swansea, Judith went on to undertake a career in the voluntary sector, with much of her work being within the fields of mental wellbeing and community development. During this time, she also co-founded Sustaining Life, a community organisation via which she ran a therapeutic allotment project and now uses to facilitate the delivery of mental health awareness training and various participative sessions.

It is this concern for community health and wellbeing, twinned with a passion for natural places, which has led Judith to undertake her current research. She intends to work alongside communities of interest, seeking to increase understanding of and advocate for improvements to the social, emotional, and physical health landscapes, both literally and metaphorically. From the vantage point of her home in the South Wales Valleys, Judith is aware of the impact of multiple disadvantages upon populations and hopes that her PhD will help influence policymaking and service design within housing in the UK and further afield.

Director of Studies: Dr Katie McClymont
Supervisors: Dr Stephen Hall and Dr Helen Hoyle

Details to follow.

Details to follow.

Community-owned renewable energy challenges the incumbent model of centralised fossil fuel both through decentralising infrastructure and through alternative modes of governance and ownership. Studies of community energy have tended to focus on its social, governance and participation dimensions, with few examining its impact on people-place relations.

Celia's PhD will contribute to the understanding of how community energy interacts with the symbolic and affective dimensions of place. She will do this by looking at how place values are expressed through community wind energy proposals as they are negotiated through the planning process. Celia has a particular interest in the ways that landscape is perceived to be affected by wind energy and how this is interpreted by those involved in or affected by community energy projects. Celia is funded by the ESRC South West Doctoral Training Partnership.

Director of Studies: Professor Patrick Devine-Wright (University of Exeter)
Supervisors: Dr Catherine Butler (University of Exeter) and Professor Katie Williams

George is interested in low impact development, radical democracy and how planning addresses climate change. His PhD will research those who pursue low impact development while – for whatever reason – not attaining planning permission. In doing so this will explore what the limits of planning policy in relation to climate change are and synthesising this with the development of British planning and historical geographies of rural land and property. Focus will fall on why it has been difficult to pursue low impact development and what this tells us about planning’s approach to climate change mitigation. His aim is to co-produce the research output with the research participants. George is funded by the ESRC South West Doctoral Training Partnership.

Director of Studies: Professor Rob Atkinson
Supervisors: Dr Katie McClymont and Dr Alex Prichard (University of Exeter)

Details to follow.

Details to follow.

The impact of engineered tree pit solutions on street tree growth and survival.

Dean has particular interests in street tree planting design and establishment, and young tree growth and survival. His PhD, partnered with GreenBlue Urban and the Urban Forest Research Group, Forest Research, is investigating the impact of engineered tree pit solutions on street tree growth and establishment. This involves monitoring new planting programmes across a central borough and high-end development in London, and obtaining practitioner perspectives on the impact of tree pit design on key urban tree performance metrics. Dean is an arboriculturist by profession and is an active member of several industry working groups, where learning from his PhD is contributing to practitioner guidance.

View Dean's profile.

Director of Studies: Professor Danielle Sinnett
Supervisors: Dr Hooman Foroughmand Araabi and Dr Kieron Doick (Forest Research).

Community participation in urban regeneration projects in Vietnam.

This research explores how communities participate in a collaborative process with policy makers and development professionals in upgrading mixed housing settlements.

Four objectives were clarified in this thesis:

1. The nature of community participation in the process of upgrading mixed housing settlements in two cities in Vietnam
2. The ways that community participation helped shape the process of participation and the negotiated outcomes
3. The policy context and political culture which frame power relations in state-citizen interaction in Vietnam
4. The community participation framework in regeneration projects in Vietnam.

Firstly, the conceptual contribution of the research was the summary of the literature on the participatory approach in urban regeneration projects drawing largely on UK literature. By initially examining the literature on community participation, the author established the different approaches to community participation as well as an analytical framework for the research which includes the benefits of and barriers to community participation in regeneration projects.

Secondly, the practical contribution of the thesis is the provision of lessons from the UK and from other developing countries (Tanzania, South Africa, the Philippines and Thailand) that Vietnam can learn from (in both positive and negative ways) with reference to various aspects of people empowerment, resource management and the (de-)centralisation of government.

Finally, at the empirical level, the research investigated the participatory context, including Vietnam’s governmental structure, political culture, the development of Non-Government Organisations (NGOs), citizen rights and institutions, which structured community participation in Vietnam. The analysis of the case studies shows that policies to renovate neighbourhoods in urban areas have offered positive examples of and reasons for implementing further community participation in renewal projects in Vietnam.

Supervisors: Professor Rob Atkinson, Dr Derrick Purdue.

Creative rural places: A study of cultural industries in Stroud, UK.

The aim of this PhD study is to explore the extent to which, and the ways in which, a rural context shapes the workings of cultural industries. The rural focus is significant as in comparison to urban areas, and in particular, metropolitan cites, cultural industries in rural areas have received comparatively little scholarly attention. This study questions the dominant discourse that cultural industries are quintessentially city phenomena through a study of visual arts and crafts cultural industries in the rural district of Stroud, UK. Finding limitations in the leading approach to framing and understanding the workings of cultural industries, that is an emphasis on clustering, this study argues that a multi-dimensional analytical framework that combines consideration of spatial organisation, networks (both local and extra-local) and place has a greater potential to advance understanding about how cultural industries work. The study’s research methods involved a combination of semi-structured interviews, an on-line survey and fieldwork to generate a mixture of both qualitative and quantitative data.

Supervisors: Professor Rob Atkinson, Dr Laurence Carmichael, Ron Griffiths, Ray Figg (Stroud District Council).

Healthy streetlife: An ecologic exploration of residents' health practices in the street environment.

Mark investigated residential streets as a setting for creating community health and wellbeing. The street was also a scale at which design practitioners might be able to intervene more readily than the neighbourhood or whole city scale. Having completed a systematic review of links between street scale design and non-communicable disease, Mark progressed a qualitative study set in the residential street to investigate the mechanisms by which its microscale design might help or hinder the creation of health for the community that lives there.

Mark’s work is set within a social-ecologic systems approach to health and seeks to increase interdisciplinary understanding between public health and built environment disciplines. This research is closely aligned with his practice, Urban Habitats, which has a vision for design practice that is both ethical and works alongside communities and organisations to think about creating health and wellbeing.

“Being based in the WHO Collaborating Centre and SPE at UWE Bristol has been a great experience for my PhD. I have access to world leading expertise and thinking organised in a creative, supportive, and collaborative learning environment.”

X (formerly Twitter) @healtharch | Research Gate

Director of Studies: Dr Laurence Carmichael
Supervisors: Professor James Longhurst, Dr Louis Rice and Professor Jane Powell

Eli's PhD is to evaluate a citizen-led neighbourhood regeneration method (Yamori) as means to sustainably revitalise shrinking cities. Japan is an advanced shrinking country and its government has been significantly investing to revitalise shrinking cities. However, their projects have brought little effect.

On the other hand, Yamori has been producing tangible results and increasingly popular. The draft research question is ‘Can Yamori sustainably revitalise shrinking cities?’. This research aims to explore the question not only from technical aspects but also from human motivation perspective.

Director of Studies: Dr Katie McClymont
Supervisors: Dr Stephen Hall and Professor Katie Williams

'We build our own homes': Practices of power and participation in a community land trust development.

Emma's research explores the social dynamics and structures of a community land trust in the early stages of a housing development project. As we see more partnerships emerge between land trusts and housing associations, there is a need to understand the nature of these collaborations and to look critically at normative assumption that community-led housing leads to citizen empowerment. Her research uses a participatory research approach to capture the stories of members involved in a housing project in Bristol. It examines the case study members' experiences through the lens of power relations in order to understand the extent to which the project supports active participation in alternative housing delivery.

Supervisors: Professor Katie Williams, Dr Michael Buser, Professor Danielle Sinnett.

Applying social practice theory to contemporary working practices in sustainable office buildings: Implications for the performance gap.

Sustainably designed buildings are increasingly present within the non-domestic building sector. However, issues of discrepancy between environmental performance design targets, such as energy and water use, and actual ‘in-use’ performance have been widely reported and researched. The difference between predicted and operational building performance is termed the ‘performance gap’. Narrowing the performance gap is not limited to addressing technological, physical and economic aspects associated with design, but extends to social and psychological considerations. This research focuses on the performance gap with particular reference to building occupants and operational energy use.

Supervisors: Professor Katie Williams, Professor Jessica Lamond, Dr Colin Booth.

Stuff and space in the home: How can an understanding of material possessions help to inform spatial storage design in UK housing?

The direction of Elena's research involves exploring how clutter, consumerism and utilitarian objects can influence sustainable behaviour as well as looking at understandings into key energy literacy attributes in the context of architectural education and practice in the UK and beyond.

Supervisors: Professor Danielle Sinnett, Professor Katie Williams, Dr Sonja Dragojlovic-Oliviera.

View Elena's profile.

An examination of the role and views of elected councillors in the governance of growth areas and whether political differences play a part in decision making.

The aim of the research is to explore and understand the role of local councillors in local government in the specialised area of spatial planning and was submitted for the Professional Doctorate of the Built Environment. There are three dimensions that influence this role. The first is the tension between central and local government and the highly centralised party political system which constrains local autonomy. The second is the role of the political party in local government, and its dominance in policy making. The third is the evolving spatial planning system and the new emphasis on localism and collaborative planning. These themes are explored through an examination of the spatial planning system, and in particular a case study of plan making in the growth area of the Central Oxfordshire Sub – region. The study has contributed to knowledge in a number of ways. It provides confirmatory evidence for other research exploring the role of the councillor in local government. This study has shown how the politicisation that has affected local government has also had an influence on the role of spatial planning in local government and that the dominant role of the political party in local government also involves spatial planning. It also demonstrates the important role of scrutiny in developing the Core Strategy that shapes the future pattern of development, so as to ensure that political space is shared with other stakeholders.

Environmental impacts and potential policies and strategies for informal housing: an analysis of Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Housing activities may create immediate and/or gradual, direct and/or indirect influences on the physical environment. Informal sub-systems of housing are widespread in the fast-growing cities of developing countries. With several exclusive characteristics, informal housing creates an array of adverse effects on the environment. To date, the environmental consequences of informal housing alongside the policy responses to tackle these problems have been rarely addressed by housing researchers. This research explores the immediate environmental consequences of informal housing in developing cities that are being produced due to lack of security tenure, lack of compliance with planning and building regulations and lack of proper utility services. The study aims to determine the effectiveness and potentials of a selection of international and national housing, planning and environmental policies, and strategies to reduce the environmental consequences of informal housing in developing cities. The research is qualitative. Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh, is the case study for this empirical research. Data has been collected through site surveys from a selection of case study areas in Dhaka, semi-structured interviews with a selection of stakeholders, and secondary sources. Policy implementation studies show a high incident of incompliance of policies, rules and regulations, thus creating extreme consequences in the immediate environment. Preliminary policy analysis finds very mixed perceptions of the stakeholders about the effectiveness of national and international housing, planning and environmental policies in Dhaka.

Supervisors: Professor Katie Williams, Dr Michael Short.

The production of informal space in the UK: A case study of an urban community garden in England.

The research examines how informal spaces (spaces appropriated by users who do not own the land) are made, used and produced. Informal spaces, known variously as: autonomous spaces, transgressive spaces, terrain vague or loose spaces are parts of the city that are either derelict or left over space. Invariably with no formal purpose, they lie outside of formal ownership or control and out of the gaze of official surveillance. The users and producers of these space are a heterogeneous group: from illicit users: sex-workers, alcoholics, drug-takers, ravers and graffiti artists to more quotidian users: gardening, resting on a bench, children playing and dog-walking. Users also include non-human groups such as the flora and fauna that also appropriate and occupy informal spaces. Using a UK-based case study, the research strategy is to adopt a multi-method approach including interviews, observation, mediated data and virtual ethnography. The aim of the research is to illuminate the conflicts, coagulates and collaborations that occur as part of the process(es) of production in informal spaces. The role of informal spaces is becoming increasingly pertinent during the current economic crisis as local authorities look to lower cost approaches to maintaining and producing open space - whilst also maintaining or augmenting their aspirations for community building, bio-diversity and local governance.

Supervisors: Professor Rob Atkinson, Dr Derrick Purdue.

View Louis' profile.

The impact of discourses of authenticity on the development and application of statutory definitions of gypsies and travellers; A study of their legal access to accommodation in England and Wales since 1959.

The purpose of the research is to investigate discourses of authenticity in the context of statutory definitions of Gypsies and Travellers in England and Wales since 1959, and the subsequent consequences for access to accommodation for these communities. In essence this is how the authenticity of Gypsies and Travellers is assessed by the state with regard to a range of statutory provisions relating to planning, unauthorised encampments, equalities and homelessness. This research is undertaken by means of a review of the development and application of such definitions since 1959, and an assessment of the consequences on both macro and micro levels. In the main this review consists of an analysis of the relevant case law and interviews with key informants. The gap in knowledge is the comprehensive analysis of the development, application and consequences of statutory definitions in the light of existing knowledge on discourses of authenticity with regard to Gypsies and Travellers.

Supervisors: Professor Katie Williams, Dr Avril Maddrell.

How can public open space provide opportunities for supporting older people’s quality of life through facilitating play?

The need for environmental gerontological research and for society to improve the provision for an aging population has been made, including provision of neighbourhoods with more enriching resources. Similarly it has been suggested that the social sustainability of neighbourhoods can be enhanced by promoting both formal and informal social interactions within them. Research on older people's use of public open space has tended to concentrate on the more functional aspects of access and mobility. Although there is acknowledgement of the importance of such spaces for older people’s social engagement and physical exercise there is little research on what makes places enjoyable and fun to be in. The aims of this PhD are to examine older people's understanding of the concept of play and to discover the urban design factors which influence the play potential of public outdoor space for older adults. The methods used are focus group discussions of the nature of play and older people's enjoyable experience of public open spaces, and walking interviews with older people describing an enjoyable place of their own choosing.

Supervisors: Professor Katie Williams, Professor Lamine Mahdjoubi, Dr Rachel Sara.