The Royal Town Planning Institute is now helping to fund an additional three early-career research projects
In the fourth year of awarding these grants, the RTPI research projects being funded will be one year long, and will be undertaken by undergraduates for their PhD.
Details on the three projects and those running them are below:
Dr Malachy Buck MRTPI
Dr Buck will investigate how planning obligations are used, valued, and reported to deliver social value in England. Specifically, how objectives of planning and social value align.
The research will aim to develop a series of recommendations for planning policy and practice, along with a simple tool and guidelines for practitioners to support valuation of development contributions.
Dr Buck said “Social value is an increasingly important concept in the built environment sector, yet little research examines the intersection of planning and social value. Through engagement with the sector, this research will help support accurate and reliable reporting of social value.”
RTPI student member Qingyuan Guo
This research will explore how local authority planners enhance housing delivery in contexts of high-pressure for private developers.
This research will tackle the challenge facing developers in ensuring housing delivery meets the housing delivery test by implementing policies in a politically sensitive domain.
Qingyuan Guo said “I’m delighted to have won this funding from the RTPI. If you want to understand how local government housing strategies actually function on the ground, or if you are a practitioner determined to drive change within bureaucracy for better policy and public value, this research is for you.”
Anna Hope, University of the West of England
This research centres around supporting planners in understanding community more effectively. This builds on Anna’s previous PhD research into PORTAL, a framework for understanding community in multiple dimensions.
This will be achieved by engaging with both community members and planners in South West England to develop and launch a set of resources tackling the matter.
Anna Hope said “My PhD outlined a simple framework for understanding community, which has potential to improve community engagement practices across multiple arenas. I’m excited to develop and trial tools that have a real, positive impact on both planning practice and community empowerment.”
Two Practitioner Research Fund (PRF) projects are being funded
Following calls for proposals in August, the RTPI awarded grants to two projects under the PRF, for Cerys Atchinson of CA Town Planning and Daniel James of Plan Research, who will carry out research into Low Traffic Neighbourhoods in Birmingham, and an interdisciplinary study of ‘tiny homes’, respectively.
Cerys Atchison said: “I’m delighted to receive this grant and to work with the RTPI on a project that addresses an issue of growing importance in planning practice. Concerns about women’s safety in public space are well documented, yet there is still limited evidence on how large-scale street interventions such as Low Traffic Neighbourhoods shape people’s everyday experiences of feeling safe or unsafe. Birmingham’s LTNs provide a valuable opportunity to explore this in depth. I hope the findings will support planners in designing more inclusive and safe places.”
Cerys Atchison said: “I’m delighted to receive this grant and to work with the RTPI on a project that addresses an issue of growing importance in planning practice. Concerns about women’s safety in public space are well documented, yet there is still limited evidence on how large-scale street interventions such as Low Traffic Neighbourhoods shape people’s everyday experiences of feeling safe or unsafe. Birmingham’s LTNs provide a valuable opportunity to explore this in depth. I hope the findings will support planners in designing more inclusive and safe places.”
The post New RTPI research projects funded appeared first on Planning, Building & Construction Today.
