Centre for Sustainable Planning and Environments (SPE)

by Mark Drane (LinkedIn; Instagram) Reflections on a part-time PhD undertaken alongside healthy urbanism practice and during a global pandemic. …the street remains a social space like no other.  Even in the context of divided and segregated cities, gated communities and ‘privatopias’, streets continue to provide spaces for public congregation, encounter and community making (Hubbard and … Continue reading "Designing for Health: Healthy Streetlife"

Welcome to our new SPE Research Centre Members who have joined UWE in the past year. We continue to grow as a research centre in capacity and outstanding research endeavours. We are very pleased to welcome our new members as they take on and excel in their different roles. Reem Elnady I am a passionate … Continue reading "Welcome to our new SPE Research Centre Members"

by FateN Mostafa Hatem The relationship between art and science is closer than we used to think especially in the context of the built environment. In my recent article “The role of art in smart cities research and making”, I explain how art could play an important role not only in shaping the experience of … Continue reading "Bringing Art Closer to Science: Re-designing and changing smart cities from a focus on digital and basic services to experience and liveability"

by Amanda Ramsay One in four UK homes is estimated to currently be at risk of flooding, with an average of £60,000 worth of damage inflicted per home when floods hit hardest. I learned this while contributing to a parliamentary roundtable this summer, hosted by Shadow Minister for Flooding, Oceans and Coastal Communities Emma Hardy … Continue reading "Reflections on the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act"

by Yarden Woolf A few weeks ago, I arrived in Stockholm for the International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA) World Congress. This was both my first time in Sweden and my first international conference, as well as the first time I would be presenting my research to professionals and academics from outside of the UK. … Continue reading "Lessons from Stockholm – a landscape architect and PhD student’s impressions"

by Zaky Fouad On January 13th 2023, I asked chatGPT what are greenspaces? It answered: “Greenspaces are areas of natural or semi-natural land, such as parks, gardens, and other open spaces, that provide a range of benefits for people and the environment. These benefits can include improved physical and mental health, increased biodiversity, and reduced … Continue reading "Wear your shoes, tie your laces; we whizz off to study greenspaces!"

by Heather Rumble Soil: Most of us rarely think about it and are likely unaware that the global degradation of soils is one of the biggest threats we face as a species (Gupta, 2019). Healthy soils provide the food we eat, filter the water we drink, protect us from natural disasters and pollution and form … Continue reading "The Beasts Below: Empowering Professionals in the British Virgin Islands to Monitor Soil Biodiversity"

by Rachel Alcock-Hodgson I am an active travel professional who has worked for Sustrans since 2015. I now work for Sustrans Scotland as a grant funder in the Places for Everyone team and I am also completing an Urban Planning Masters at UWE. Places for Everyone is Sustrans’ permanent active travel infrastructure fund for Scotland. … Continue reading "Designing for Children & Young People: A Toolkit for practitioners"