Cities, Governance and Planning

This research group focuses on the governance of urban and regional processes and the role of planning and public policy in the mediation of space.

Shared Aims

To develop an inter-disciplinary, complex approach to understanding, framing, delivering and monitoring sustainable transformations in urban systems;
To develop methods, policies and tools which can assist in the transformation process;
To critically evaluate and advance the theories and methods in the field.

Core focus

Our research addresses the politics of planning, at a range of spatial scales, in the context of diverse and unequal societies and economies. We are particularly concerned with the role of local government in an era shaped by austerity, privatisation, financialisation and the transformation of citizenship. We explore these questions in fields such as housing, urban regeneration, devolution and spatial planning.

Staff

	Dr Sonia Arbaci Associate Professor Programme Director for MSc International Planning View Sonia's profile Send Sonia an email
	Dr Yasminah Beebeejaun Associate Professor View Yasminah's profile Send Yasminah an email
	Elena Besussi Teaching Fellow View Elena's profile Send Elena an email
	Dr Ben Clifford Associate Professor Programme Director for MSc Spatial Planning View Ben's profile Send Ben an email
	Professor Claire Colomb Professor of Urban Studies and Planning International Links Coordinator View Claire's profile Send Claire an email
	Professor Michael Edwards Teaching Fellow View Michael's profile Send Michael an email
	Dr Jessica Ferm Lecturer in Planning and Urban Management Programme Director for BSc Urban Planning Design and Management Programme Director for BSc Urban Studies Programme Director for BSc Planning and Real Estate View Jessica's profile Send Jessica an email
	Dr Sonia Freire Trigo Lecturer in Urban Planning Programme Director of MSc Urban Regeneration View Sonia's profile Send Sonia an email
	Professor Nick Gallent Professor of Housing and Planning View Nick's profile Send Nick an email
	Dr Susan Moore Associate Professor View Susan's profile Send Susan an email
	Dr Tatiana Moreira de Souza Research Fellow
	Professor Mike Raco Chair of Urban and Regional Governance Director for Research View Mike's profile Send Mike an email
	Professor Peter Rees Professor of Places and City Planning View Peter's profile Send Peter an email
	Dr Myfanwy Taylor Leverhulme Early Career Research Fellow View Myfanwy's profile Send Myfanwy an email
	Professor John Tomaney Professor of Urban and Regional Planning View John's profile Send John an email

PhD Researchers

	Cristobal Diaz Martinez View Cristobal's profile
	Ying-Chun Hou View Ying-Chun's profile With an interdisciplinary background in the fields of Political Science and Urban Studies, Ying Chun's research focuses on the themes of the governance and planning of cities, the dynamics of community construction and the transformation of developmental states.
	Aleksandra Milentijevic View Aleksandra's profile
	Andrew Purves Andrew's interest focuses on economic rent, and how land value is captured either for private gain, or public good; he is currently researching how this works in Singapore. View Andrew's profile
	Justinien Tribillon At the crossroad of social sciences and history of design, Justinien’s research focuses on elements of the built environment as social construct and cultural representations of cities and large-scale urban infrastructure. View Justinien's profile

Publications

November 2022

Madeddu, M. & Clifford, B. (2022). The conversion of buildings to housing use: England’s permitted development rights in comparative perspective. Progress in Planning

October 2022

Gallent, N., Hamiduddin, I., Stirling, P. & Wu, M. (2022). Village Housing. Constraints and opportunities in rural England. UCL Press

March 2022

Clifford, B. & Madeddu, M. (2022). Turning Shops into Housing? Planning Deregulation, Design Quality and the Future of the High Street in England. Built Environment

Gkartzios, M., Gallent, N. & Scott, M. (2022). Rural Places and Planning: Stories from the Global Countryside Policy Press

February 2022

Beebeejaun, Y., (2022) Race, gender, and positionality in urban planning research, International journal of qualitative methods

January 2022

Beebeejaun, Y. (2022). Europe and the people without planning: reconsidering British interventions in colonial Hong Kong Town Planning Review

September 2021
Beebeejaun, Y., McClymont, K., Maddrell, A., Mathijssen, B., & McNally, D. (2021) “Death in the peripheries: Planning for ethnic minority groups beyond the city.” Journal of Planning Education and Research

August 2021

Beebeejaun, Y., (2021) “Provincializing Planning: Reflections on spatial ordering and imperial power.” Planning Theory

Beebeejaun, Y., (2021) "Fracking and epistemic injustice: a feminist critique of planning inquiries.” Environment and Planning C

April 2021

Ferm, J., Freire Trigo, S. and More-Cherry, N. (2021). Documenting the ‘soft spaces’ of London planning: Opportunity Areas as institutional fix in a growth-oriented city. Regional Studies.

February 2021

Maddrell, A., McNally, D., Beebeejaun, Y., McClymont, K. and Mathijissen, B. (2021) Intersections of (infra)structural violence and cultural inclusion: The geopolitics of minority cemeteries and crematoria provision. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers.

January 2021

Madeddu, M. and Clifford, B. (2021) Housing quality, permitted development and the role of regulation after COVID-19. Town Planning Review, 92(1), 41-48.

December 2020

Ferm, J. (2020). Governing urban development on industrial land in global cities: Lessons from London. Critical Dialogues of Urban Governance, Development and Activism. UCL Press

Moore, S. & Trudeau, D. (2020). New Urbanism: From Exception to Norm—The Evolution of a Global Movement. Urban Planning

Moore, S., Bunce, S,. Livingstone, N., March, L,. and Walks, A. (2020). Introduction: Critical dialogues of urban governance, development and activism: London and Toronto. Critical Dialogues of Urban Governance, Development and Activism. UCL Press

March, L. and Moore, S. (2020). Community, activism and engagement: A commentary. Critical Dialogues of Urban Governance, Development and Activism. UCL Press

Moreira de Souza, T. (2020). Regulating property conditions in the private rented sector: The complex geography of property licencing in London. Critical Dialogues of Urban Governance, Development and Activism. UCL Press

Raco, M. and Livingstone, N. (2020). Capital flows in the capital: Contemporary governmental Imaginations in London’s urban development. Critical Dialogues of Urban Governance, Development and Activism. UCL Press

Raco, M. and Walks, A. (2020). Governing urbanisation in the global city: A commentary. Critical Dialogues of Urban Governance, Development and Activism. UCL Press

Schiller, M. & Raco, M. (2020) Postcolonial narratives and the governance of informal housing in London. International Journal of Housing Policy 20(4)

Walks, A., Bunce, S,. Livingstone, N., March, L,. and Moore, S. (2020). Conclusion: Critical dialogues on urban governance, development and activism in London and Toronto. Critical Dialogues of Urban Governance, Development and Activism. UCL Press

November 2020

Morphet, J and Clifford, B. (2020). Reviving Local Authority Housing Delivery: Challenging Austerity Through Municipal Entrepreneurialism. Policy Press, Bristol

October 2020

Clifford, B., Andres, L., Carmona, M., De Mangalhaes, C., Durrant, D., Edwards, M., Ferm, J., Freire Trigo, S., Gabrieli, T., Gallent, N., Hamiduddin, I., Karampour, K., Moore, S., Morphet, J., Natarajan, L., Rydin, Y., Sendra,. P, Short, M. & Turcu,. L (2020). Planning for the Future White Paper: Consultation response from academics based at the Bartlett School of Planning, UCL

July 2020

Ferm, J., Clifford, B., Canelas, P. & Livingstone, N. (2020) Emerging Problematics of deregulating the urban: The case of permitted development in England. Urban Studies

March 2020

Ferm, J. & Raco, M. (2020) Viability Planning, Value Capture and the Geographies of Market-Led Planning Reform in England. Planning Theory & Practice 21 (2), 218-235

January 2020

Zeng, H., Ke, Q., Yu, X. (2020) Investigating the factors affecting the residential satisfaction of new-generation migrants: a case study of Hangzhou in China. International Journal of Urban Sciences

July 2020

Ferm, J., Clifford, B., Canelas, P. & Livingstone, N. (2020) Emerging Problematics of deregulating the urban: The case of permitted development in England. Urban Studies

October 2019

Gallent, N., De Magalhaes, C., Freire Trigo, S., Kath, S. & Whitehead, C. (2019) Can ‘Permission in Principle’ for New Housing in England Increase Certainty, Reduce ‘Planning Risk’, and Accelerate Housing Supply? Planning Theory & Practice 20 (5), 673-688

To contact the Cities, Governance & Planning Research Group leader, Professor John Tomaney, please email j.tomaney@ucl.ac.uk.