2024 winners and finalists
2024 winners
Project hindsight - post decision implementation
The journey from planning consent through to delivery and ongoing occupation / operation is under researched in studies of the development process. Project hindsight – a study of practitioner’s experiences of the implementation stage of nationally significant infrastructure projects – addresses this gap and provides policy and practice recommendations informed by a closer understanding of what drives successful delivery.
View research here.
Dr Robert Richardson, University of Glasgow
Conceptualising 'street-level' urban design governance in Scotland
Drawing on collaborative case study research with a local authority, this paper develops understanding of how urban design is implemented through the planning system. The paper concludes that greater knowledge of the varied stakeholders who collectively deliver urban design, and how they interact, could help planners to address an often-lamented 'implementation gap' between the aims of urban design policy and the outcomes delivered.
View research here.
Louise Brace, University of Brighton
The Role of Local Planning Authority Plan-Making in Rural Renewable Energy Production
A comparison of the policies of Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) responsible for rural areas within South East England to determine the extent to which they enable the acceleration of renewable energy (RE) development that mitigates climate change and promotes energy resilience. The study’s development and ratification of a criteria-based policy evaluation framework has the potential to contribute to widescale policy improvement and standardisation, applying positive weightings to ensure the expedition of RE delivery at the pace and magnitude required to address national net zero targets.
Charlotte Mohn, Francesco Tonnarelli, Jonathan Weaver, Winston Njuguna, Abdirahman Barkhadle (UN-Habitat; International Organization for Migration (IOM))
From Dadaab Camp to Kismayo City: A Call for Local Evidence to Inform Durable Solutions
View research here.
2024 finalists
Prof. Matthew Carmona & Dr. Tommaso Gabrieli
Urban design governance Soft powers and the European experience
View research here.
Mark Dobson (University of Reading) and Prof. Gavin Parker (University of Reading)
Slow Planning?
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Dr Chris Foye (UCL), Dr Edward Shepherd ( Cardiff University)
Why have the volume housebuilders been so profitable? The power of volume housebuilders and what this tells us about housing supply, the land market and the state
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James White (University of Glasgow) and John Punter (Retired Professor of Urban Design, Cardiff University)
Condoland: The Planning, Design, and Development of Toronto's CityPlace
Condoland is the first 'deep dive’ into how high-rise neighbourhoods are planned, designed and developed in Toronto, Canada, and how a neighbourly style of development celebrated in one city – in this case ‘Vancouverism’ – doesn’t always work when introduced elsewhere. The book offers a warning for cities about relying on private development to deliver housing. It shows how residential high-rise property – 'condominium development' – has been consumed by a focus on the investor market, and that its urban form has evolved to suit that market. Condoland raises key questions about the resilience of neoliberal city planning in global cities experiencing 'vertical urbanization'.
View research here.
Prof. Matthew Carmona
Coding urban design, Constructing a wireframe for a place-focused urbanism
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Hannnah Hickman, Nick Croft, Dr Katie McClymont, Dr Stephen Hall, Cat Loveday (University of West England) Dr Rebecca Windemer (Regan) and Dr Aidan While (University of Sheffield)
Project hindsight - post decision implementation
The journey from planning consent through to delivery and ongoing occupation / operation is under researched in studies of the development process. Project hindsight – a study of practitioner’s experiences of the implementation stage of nationally significant infrastructure projects – addresses this gap and provides policy and practice recommendations informed by a closer understanding of what drives successful delivery.
View research here.
Teresa Strachan, Newcastle University (retired)
Engaging Children and Young People in Planning
The research behind the writing of the book involved a range of methodologies. The young people were always at the centre of the research, with consideration given to their different learning styles and needs. Participatory action research was used throughout the case study projects, with outcomes and processes being constantly reflected upon and being learnt from. Whilst some quantitative methods were used as part of the discovery process about young people's perceptions, the book relied upon a discussion of qualitative outputs from the reflective process, enabling a candid perspective of planning from young people and from non-planners to be drawn out.
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Pablo Sendra (University College London) Marco Picardi (University College London), Toby Laurent Belson (Westway23)
Assembling Under the Westway: The Emergence of Social Infrastructure in North Kensington, London
This piece of research reflects a trajectory of engaged research in the area. It is co-authored by two community activists in North Kensington (Belson and Picardi) and a UCL scholar that has collaborated with activists in North Kensington for seven years (Sendra). The paper explores the generative capacity of activist movements defending their community assets from commodification or closure to produce new forms of social infrastructure.
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Tongping Hao (The University of Hong Kong), Qunshan Zhao (University of Glasgow), Jianxiang Huang (The University of Hong Kong)
Optimization of tree locations to reduce human heat stress in an urban park
This research presents a novel method for determining optimal tree placements to maximize cooling benefits in urban environments, addressing challenges in tree modeling and where to plant trees for better cooling benefits. A rapid simulation model, evaluated using field measurements from an urban park in Hong Kong, is combined with a genetic algorithm to identify near-optimal tree layouts. The method can automatically identify locations for new trees and rearrange existing ones, with evidence showing trees can cool three times most if planted at the right place. This approach is faster than existing methods and can assist designers in positioning the trees in the right places.
View research here.
Caterina Villani, University College Dublin and Dr.Gianni Talamini, City University Hong Kong
Failed pedestrian street experiments in high-density urban Asia
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Dr Robert Richardson, University of Glasgow
Conceptualising 'street-level' urban design governance in Scotland
Drawing on collaborative case study research with a local authority, this paper develops understanding of how urban design is implemented through the planning system. The paper concludes that greater knowledge of the varied stakeholders who collectively deliver urban design, and how they interact, could help planners to address an often-lamented 'implementation gap' between the aims of urban design policy and the outcomes delivered.
View research here.
Charles Goode, University of Birmingham
Transit Oriented Development (TOD) in regional urban growth boundaries
This paper has helped to shape the broader debate on TOD by adding a spatial dimension, especially through focusing on the under-researched regions, and advocating for the (re)integration of transport and land-use planning. Whilst focused on England and highly policy-applied, the paper has resonance with debates globally about TOD, smart growth, housing affordability and sustainable development. Additionally, the paper has influenced and 'speaks' to wider academic and practitioner audiences through being published in a highly respected, quantitative Transport Geography journal therefore raising the profile of planning scholarship and research but also being Open Access.
View research here.
Martha Mingay, University of Sheffield
Crisis and the Common(s): Understanding Urban Community Land Trust Activism
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Rebecca Burrows, Leeds Beckett University
Decarbonising England’s Historic Buildings
Against the background of global climate change, this paper examines how English local planning authorities are balancing heritage conservation with the challenge of climate change, and the difficulties they face in achieving this. Drawing on empirical evidence from listed building consent applications and the opinions of local actors, the paper examines the energy-efficiency measures applied for by local applicants, how local assessors are responding, and the issues preventing decarbonisation. A mixed-methods approach has been used to understand how local assessors are navigating contradictory layers of ethics, legislation, case law and popular opinion to balance these highly politicised and contested agendas.
KH M Rifat Foysal, Cardiff University
A Novel Approach to Understand the Spatial & Socio-Demographic Distribution of EV Charging Stations in Dundee City
Jemma Clark, Queen's University Belfast
Teenagers Experience of Chippenham's Public Space
Louise Brace, University of Brighton
The Role of Local Planning Authority Plan-Making in Rural Renewable Energy Production
A comparison of the policies of Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) responsible for rural areas within South East England to determine the extent to which they enable the acceleration of renewable energy (RE) development that mitigates climate change and promotes energy resilience. The study’s development and ratification of a criteria-based policy evaluation framework has the potential to contribute to widescale policy improvement and standardisation, applying positive weightings to ensure the expedition of RE delivery at the pace and magnitude required to address national net zero targets.
Bethany Harris, Oxford Brookes University
Climate Change, Action, and Governance: Analysis of the Essex Climate Action Commission
Charlotte Mohn, Francesco Tonnarelli, Jonathan Weaver, Winston Njuguna, Abdirahman Barkhadle (UN-Habitat; International Organization for Migration (IOM))
From Dadaab Camp to Kismayo City: A Call for Local Evidence to Inform Durable Solutions
View research here.
Keith Mitchell (Stantec) Professor Greg Marsden (University of Leeds) Professor Monica Buscher (Lancaster University)
Bridging the Gap
View research here.