RTPI Awards for Research Excellence

Co-authors
Dr Michael Martin (University of Sheffield); Mr Robert Phillips (University of Manchester); Dr Taki Sonbli (University of Manchester)

Research description
Applied Urban Design combines why we design and who we design for, with how we design delivering a bespoke, comprehensive, and accessible framework for understanding, and critically practicing, urban design in a contextually responsive manner. The study demonstrates international applicability through live research-by-design case studies in Denmark and England supplemented by 100+ best-practice examples. The framework is the result of a multi-method study conducted by University of Manchester, in partnership with University of Sheffield and Aalborg University (Denmark). It has successfully framed CPD for up-skilling RTPI planners, underpinned higher-education programmes, and informed the development of local authority policy.

Co-authors

Dr Jorge Patino, OECD Sahel and West Africa Club, Paris, France. Professor Juan Carlos Duque, Carbon Solutions, Saint Paul, MN, USA Professor Michael Keith, [Centre on Migration, Policy and Society, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK]

First author: Prof Gavin Parker, University of Reading, UK. Second author: Mark Dobson, University of Reading, UK.

Co-authors 
John Sturzaker FRTPI (University of Hertfordshire); Nick Gallent FRTPI (University College London); Prof Gavin Parker FRTPI (University of Reading); Amy Burnett (Middlesex University); Ian Mell (University of Manchester)

Research description
Rural Planning Futures charts the forces of change reshaping rural places across the UK and Ireland and positions rural places as central to addressing complex global challenges including climate action, nature recovery, energy transitions, and food security, and water quality. These issues, alongside longstanding concerns, such as housing and local services, require creative and integrated planning responses to build more sustainable rural futures. This book sets out ways of disrupting established ways of working and emphasises how planning practice can co-create visions of the good countryside in partnership with rural communities.

Co-authors
Ben Clifford (University College London); Susannah Gunn, Abigail Schoneboom, Geoff Vigar (Newcastle University); Andy Inch, Jason Slade. 

Research description 
Spatial planning is at a crossroads, with government reform undermining the traditional vision of state-employed planners making decisions about development in a unified public interest. Half of UK planners are now employed in the private sector, with complex inter-relations between the sectors including supplying outsourced services to local authorities struggling with budget cuts. Drawing on new empirical data from a major research project, Working in the Public Interest this book reveals what it's like to be a UK planner in the early 21st century, and how the profession can fulfil its potential for the benefit of society and the environment.

Co-authors
Dr Jingyi Zhu and Wendy Clarke, The Bartlett School of Planning, UCL

Research description
This two-year project demonstrated that high-quality, sustainable housing is achievable in disadvantaged communities. 20 exemplary developments were identified and studied via site audits and interviews, leading to ten routes to success across planning, design, engagement, funding and regulatory domains. The findings were widely shared through a guide, online case studies, a research summary, and a series of events. Further outreach included blogs, articles and a methodologically focussed academic paper. The project offers a range of practical models for delivering high quality housing development in areas of inequality.

Co-authors
Dr Stephen Hall (University of the West of England) Owain Hanmer (University of the West of England) Catriona Riddell (Catriona Riddell Associates) Richard Wood (Richard Wood Associates)

Co-authors
Sue Dawson Energy, Environment and Society, The University of Dundee, United Kingdom Husam AlWaer Architecture and Urban Planning, The University of Dundee, United Kingdom

Research description 
This research addresses the urgent challenge of climate resilience by examining how blue-green infrastructure (BGI) and placemaking can be integrated to deliver socially inclusive and flood resilient urban environments. Focusing on Dundee and Broughty Ferry, a city facing both socio-economic deprivation and multiple forms of flood risk, the study utilises semi-structured interviews with planners, practitioners, and community group members. This provides insight into governance barriers, competing infrastructure preferences, and practical constraints. The research advances theoretical and practical understanding of BGI in planning, offering actionable guidance for policymakers, practitioners and communities aiming to create more liveable, climate-adaptive places.

Co-authors
Quang Cuong Doan (a), Jun Ma (a b), Shuting Chen (a), Xiaohu Zhang (a b) (a) Department of Urban Planning and Design, Faculty of Architecture, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, PR China (b) Urban Systems Institute, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, PR China

Research description
This study investigated the nonlinear relationships of the built environment, road vehicles, and air pollution on urban vitality. Results revealed that while the built environment features explained a significant portion (77.5 %) of the variance in urban vitality, road vehicles (such as bicycles, buses, cars, and motorbikes) and ozone concentrations accounted for 15.18 % and 1.46 %, respectively. While the built environment and road vehicles exhibit positive nonlinear relationships with urban vitality, ozone concentration demonstrated a negative threshold effect. This study advances understanding of the mechanisms and factors influencing urban vitality, offering insights into fostering a sustainable urban environment.

Co-authors
Dr. Jinshuo Wang (Israel Institute of Technology, Israel); Dr. Guibo Sun (Department of Planning, Property and Environmental Management, The University of Manchester, UK)

Research description
This study provides compelling evidence that the ambiguity in state-owned land property rights increases transaction costs in China's transit-oriented development (TOD) projects. Ambiguous property rights and unsupportive institutional arrangements in land development processes result in development sites far from metro stations, housing adjacent to industrial areas, and oversized commercial spaces on urban fringes. This study extended the debates of ambiguous land property rights to the public-owned land realm, and showed that ambiguity in -owned land property rights is rooted in China's historical and institutional contexts, driving high transaction costs in land development and undermining urban infrastructure development.

Co-authors
Changlong Ling (Peking University), Xinyi Niu (Tongji University), Jiawen Yang (Peking University), Jiangping Zhou (The University of Hong Kong)

Research description
This pioneering research challenges conventional urban planning by revealing how commuting efficiency varies dramatically across different industry sectors. Using an unprecedented dataset of 11 million commuters in Shenzhen, the study demonstrates that traditional jobs-housing balance policies often fail because they overlook industry-specific needs. The findings have directly informed regional infrastructure planning in China's Greater Bay Area and been featured in UN-Habitat Global Urban Lectures. By providing a new framework for understanding commuting heterogeneity, this work enables planners to develop targeted, effective solutions for reducing commuting burdens.

Mobility hubs have evolved over the past 20 years, responding to a need to change travel behaviours and reduce the impacts private vehicles impose on their environments. Mobility hubs are increasingly being integrated into local policy; however, there is currently a lack of understanding within industry about what constitutes a mobility hub and what they aim to achieve. Giuseppe's research looks to identify transferable strategies from national and international case studies, as well as interviews with industry professionals, and translate this into a framework for the planning, design and delivery of mobility hub networks in the UK.

To address the increased recognition of creating inclusive places, an investigation into the lived experiences of neurodivergent people and the physical and mental barriers faced by vulnerable groups when navigating and wayfinding around built environments, leading to exclusive places and spaces. The study's results highlight the potential design quality issues in relation to the case study of Milton Keynes and introduces a set of small-scale design solutions that can improve peoples experiences of the built environment for wayfinding and navigating, improving the quality of life for all to address the aims of national and local legislation.

This study explores gender bias in Kazakhstan's city planning. It fills a critical knowledge gap in Global East planning cultures by demonstrating how gender bias affects female planners' careers. Two overarching discourses are identified using feminist social constructionist theory and discourse analysis: specific context planning culture and authority gap. Female planners' experiences are shaped by societal pressures and professional challenges. The research reveals systemic barriers in Kazakhstan's planning culture, emphasizing the need for structural reform to achieve fair representation in leadership. This empirically rich study contributes to gender and planning scholarship by situating its findings within the post-socialist Kazakhstan context.

The Westminster Government consultations in 2023 and national changes introduced in Scotland and Wales provided the backdrop to investigating the impacts of Short Term Lets (such as Airbnb) in Rother District Council, St Ives and Cornwall, Gwynedd Council and City of Edinburgh Council. The research investigated the policy responses at local and national levels. The dissertation was underpinned by analysing a VisitBritain Short Term Lets database detailing their scale and revenue. This enabled comparisons to housing supply and private market rentals. Recommendations were made, framed around the Governments consultation proposals, to strike a balance between the various positives and negatives.

In 2021, the government committed to reviewing the National Planning Policy Framework as it applied to development near ancient woodlands. It agreed to strengthen guidance if the review found that implementation of relevant policies could be improved. Stephenson Halliday and ADAS analysed planning applications and appeals in England over a four year period. They also interviewed planning officers and inspectors to gain insight into the factors influencing the decision-making process. The results showed implementation was not as expected, suggesting the issue was not with the policy wording as such, but with the process itself.

Cultivating Inclusive and Green Transport explores how gender-responsive transport design can accelerate decarbonisation while improving access, safety, and equity. Developed through global collaboration and peer-reviewed by academic experts, the paper offers practical solutions grounded in real-world case studies. It presents a systems-thinking framework to help planners and policymakers deliver more inclusive, low-carbon transport strategies that support thriving, resilient communities.