Urban Transformations & Transitions

The Urban Transformations & Transitions research and scholarship cluster is concerned with the processes, policies and politics that are consistently shaping lived experiences of our built environments.

About the Cluster

We seek to develop diverse understandings of the role of place and the built environment from variegated perspectives through interdisciplinary research within urban studies, tying in with current and emerging research and knowledge exchange agendas.

The cluster focuses on collaborations within the school and external partners to enhance connections with industry, communities and government.

Our broader agenda also considers pedagogical approaches to better communicating understandings of our cluster, its research and scholarship to a wider audience, within and beyond academia.


Some of our Research Projects

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Place-Based Research Programme

Place is an important focus for current and future government research and development strategy. Place is also a research topic at the heart of many arts and humanities disciplines, from archaeology and architecture to history and literature.

An outline of buildings in blue lines with blue hearts and 'thumbs up' over some of the buildings. One building has a red heart above it.

Why Do Historic Places Matter? Emotional Attachments to Urban Heritage

This research is looking at the emotional attachments that people have to their historic urban environment and identifying the factors that contribute to those feelings. The key questions are how, and to what extent, are emotional attachments to place considered during the designation and management of historic urban assets? 

Busy street in Seoul, South Korea

Creating Prosperous City Centres Post-Pandemic Through Repurposing Retail Space

This collaboration aims to share knowledge and experience of practice and research on the planning and regeneration of retail spaces in city centres in the UK and South Korea to identify current and future challenges and develop solutions

Ageing High-Rise in Japan and the UK

This collaborative research aims to share knowledge and experience of historic and current practice and research on ageing highrise neighbourhoods in the UK and Japan to identify future challenges and develop solutions.

Capturing Land Value from Developments

This project seeks to identify the potential impact that alternative land value capture mechanisms might have on the incidence and value of developer contributions in Britain.

REPAIR: Real Estate, Place Adaptation and Innovation within an integrated Retailing system ‌

Real Estate, Place Adaptation and Innovation within an integrated Retailing systems (REPAIR) is a multi-stream research project, running over three years,  that aims to analyse the creation of diversity, innovation and, thus, adaptive capacity within urban retail markets.