School of Social & Political Sciences

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.

Staff

Publications

2026

Zhu, J. (2026) An exploratory study of micro-regeneration in Shanghai through the lens of story arc. Journal of Urban Affairs, (doi: 10.1080/07352166.2026.2682239)

Hastings, A., Mackenzie, M., Earley, A., Fleming, J. (2026) In parallel or in dialogue? Recent homelessness and domestic abuse policy development in Scotland. International Journal on Homelessness,

Ou, Y., Bailey, N., McArthur, D. P., Zhao, Q. (2026) Willingness-to-pay for energy efficient homes: new insights from the 2022 energy crisis in the United Kingdom. Energy Research and Social Science, 135, (doi: 10.1016/j.erss.2026.104700)

Verduzco-Torres, J. R., Mcarthur, D., Crawford, F. (2026) The Price of Bus Delays in Glasgow: An economic valuation of bus passenger time lost due to congestion in Glasgow.

Verduzco-Torres, J. R., Mcarthur, D. P. (2026) Assessing public transport infrastructure: the role of employment matching in spatial accessibility measures. Journal of Geographical Systems, (doi: 10.1007/s10109-026-00490-x)

Zhu, J. (2026) "You don’t need to be a conspiracist to have concerns" - the imperative of proactive conversations. Journal of Urbanism: International Research on Placemaking and Urban Sustainability, (doi: 10.1080/17549175.2026.2635373)

2025

Inch, A., Legacy, C. (2025) Reading planning fantasies otherwise: what can transformative planning theory learn from the audacity of YIMBY desire? Routledge

Dauvergne, P., Allan, J. I., Beaudoin, S., Carney Almroth, B., Clapp, J., Cowan, E., de Groot, B., Farrelly, T., Grilli, N. d. M., Mah, A., Mendenhall, E., Paik, R., Ralston, R., Stoett, P., Stöfen-O'Brien, A., Taggart, J., Tiller, R., Villarrubia-Go mez, P., Vince, J. (2025) Competing axes of power in the global plastics treaty: understanding the politics of progress and setbacks in negotiating a high-ambition agreement. Marine Policy, 181, (doi: 10.1016/j.marpol.2025.106820)

Zhu, J. (2025) A ‘space-order’ publicness model: interpreting public space development in Shanghai’s people-oriented urban regeneration. Journal of Urbanism: International Research on Placemaking and Urban Sustainability, (doi: 10.1080/17549175.2025.2570536)

Hong, J., McArthur, D. P., Thakuriah, P. (V.), Cho, Y., Park, S. (2025) Examining the relationship between neighbourhood satisfaction, physical activity, and well-being in 11 cities in the Global South during the COVID-19 pandemic. Cities, 165, (doi: 10.1016/j.cities.2025.106082)

Zhu, J., Wang, Y., White, J., Inch, A., Payne, S. (2025) Urban Retrofit: A Systematic Evidence Review.

Norris, M., O’Hara, L., Earley, A., Stephens, M. (2025) Financing Social Rented Housing in Europe Report for EqualHouse Work package 5: Inclusive and Affordable Housing Policy Review.

Mcarthur, D., Crawford, F. (2025) Understanding the Heterogeneity in Cycling Behaviour of Disabled People.

Earley, A., Marsh, A., Gibb, K. (2025) The policy and politics of improving standards in the English private rented sector. Political Quarterly, (doi: 10.1111/1467-923X.13572)

Zhu, J., Wang, Y., Hickman, H., O'Brien, P., White, J., Payne, S., Inch, A. (2025) From Building Retrofit to Urban Retrofit: Preliminary Reflections from an International Evidence Review.

Zhu, J. (2025) Planning Experiments for Quality and Community: an Exploratory Study of Micro-Regeneration In Shanghai Through the Lens Of Story Arc.

Baker, C., Atkinson, D., Grabher, B., Howcroft, M. (2025) Bridging the “sport/culture silo”: the Eurovision Song Contest and its lessons for sporting and cultural mega-events. International Journal of Cultural Policy, (doi: 10.1080/10286632.2025.2521115)

Zhu, J. (2025) Places, people, and possibilities of urban retrofit.

Inch, A. (2025) Troubled times. Planning Theory and Practice, 26, pp. 319-322. (doi: 10.1080/14649357.2025.2560260)

Verduzco-Torres, J. R., McArthur, D. (2025) An Overview of an Open-access Accessibility Dataset Series in Great Britain.

Mah, A. (2025) Red Pockets: An Offering. Allen Lane (Penguin Books)

Mah, A. (2025) Anticipating just transitions: ecological crisis and future deindustrialization. Routledge

Earley, A. (2025) Achieving urban regeneration without gentrification? Community enterprises and community assets in the UK. Journal of Urban Affairs, 47, pp. 1125-1148. (doi: 10.1080/07352166.2023.2229459)

Ou, Y., Bailey, N., McArthur, D. P., Zhao, Q. (2025) The price premium of residential energy performance certificates: a scoping review of the European literature. Energy and Buildings, 332, (doi: 10.1016/j.enbuild.2025.115377)

Mcarthur, D., Raturi, V. (2025) Some experiences of recruiting participants for an app-based travel survey.

White, J., Inch, A. (2025) Starmer’s plan to ‘build baby build’ risks more American-style car-dominated sprawl. Conversation (Online), (doi: 10.64628/AB.jcvy6sy5u)

Howcroft, M., Marsh, N., Owen, J. (2025) Levelling Up, affective governance and tensions within 'pride in place' Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space, 43, pp. 387-405. (doi: 10.1177/23996544241268342)

Earley, A. (2025) The Policy and Politics of Improving Standards in the English Private Rented Sector.

Howcroft, M. (2025) Civic Imaginary Partnerships.

Madgin, R., Howcroft, M., McCandlish, A. (2025) The Felt Experiences of Place Resource Kit. (doi: 10.36399/gla.pubs.371694)

2024

Madgin, R., Howcroft, M. (2024) Advancing People-Centred, Place-Based Approaches. (doi: 10.36399/gla.pubs.342111)

Inch, A., Slade, J., Brownill, S., Ellis, G., Howcroft, M., Humphry, D., Leeson, L., O'Hara, G., Sartorio, F., Robbins, G. (2024) Community action, counter-professionals and radical planning in the UK. City: Analysis of Urban Change, Theory, Action, 28, pp. 681-704. (doi: 10.1080/13604813.2024.2427437)

Raturi, V., McArthur, D. P., Hong, J. (2024) Re-examining the role of street network configuration on bicycle commuting using crowdsourced data. Journal of Transport Geography, 120, (doi: 10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2024.103989)

Hong, J., Mcarthur, D. P. (2024) The examination of the relationship between Internet use at home, on the move and trip frequencies of public transport and private vehicle before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. International Journal of Urban Sciences, 28, pp. 479-494. (doi: 10.1080/12265934.2024.2317191)

Li, J., McArthur, D. P., Hong, J., Livingston, M. (2024) Influence of maternal past non-transport pro-environmental behaviours on young adults' sustainable transport. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, 131, (doi: 10.1016/j.trd.2024.104231)

Li, J., Mcarthur, D. P., Hong, J., Livingston, M. (2024) Role of maternal non-transport pro-environmental behaviors in adolescents’ travel-to-school mode choices. International Journal of Sustainable Transportation, 18, pp. 478-491. (doi: 10.1080/15568318.2024.2353219)

Earley, A. (2024) Achieving Urban Regeneration without Gentrification? Community Enterprises and Community Assets in the UK.

Gibb, K., Young, G., Earley, A. (2024) Responding to Scottish Housing to 2040: Developing Credible Policy Proposals to Support the Affordable Supply Programme.

Gibb, K., Marsh, A., Orr, D., Earley, A. (2024) Homes for All: A Vision for England’s Housing System.

Marsh, N., Howcroft, M., Owen, J. (2024) "Pride in place" beyond the metrics: Insights from the Feeling Towns project, AHRC Place Programme Policy Brief. (doi: 10.36399/gla.pubs.321921)

Wang, Y., Livingston, M., Mcarthur, D. P., Bailey, N. (2024) Enhancing our understanding of short-term rental activity: a daily scrape-based approach for Airbnb listings. PLoS ONE, 19, (doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0298131)

Baker, C., Atkinson, D., Grabher, B., Howcroft, M. (2024) Culture, Place and Partnership: The Cultural Relations of Eurovision 2023.

Baker, C., Atkinson, D., Grabher, B., Howcroft, M. (2024) Soft Power, Cultural Relations and Conflict through Eurovision and Other Mega-events: A Literature Review.

Verduzco-Torres, J. R., Mcarthur, D. P. (2024) Public transport accessibility indicators to urban and regional services in Great Britain. Scientific Data, 11, (doi: 10.1038/s41597-023-02890-w)

Gibb, K., Young, G., Earley, A. (2024) Sustainable Housing Policy in Scotland: Re-Booting the Affordable Housing Supply Programme.

2023

Howcroft, M. (2023) The cultural politics of civic pride through Hull UK City of Culture 2017. Arts and the Market, 13, pp. 138-158. (doi: 10.1108/AAM-08-2021-0043)

McArthur, D. P., Hong, J. (2023) Are slow internet connections limiting home working opportunities? Travel Behaviour and Society, 33, (doi: 10.1016/j.tbs.2023.100629)

Hong, J., Mcarthur, D. P., Lee, J. (2023) Neighbourhood deprivation, changes in walking attitudes during the COVID-19 pandemic and walking demand in the post-pandemic period. Cities, 141, (doi: 10.1016/j.cities.2023.104517)

Mah, A. (2023) Petrochemical Planet: Multiscalar Battles of Industrial Transformation. Duke University Press

Verduzco-Torres, J. R., Mcarthur, D. (2023) Written Evidence for the Future of Transport Data UK Parliament Inquiry.

Earley, A. (2023) Community Enterprises, Community Assets and Processes of Urban Regeneration and Gentrification in Tumultuous Times of Crisis.

Owen, J., Howcroft, M. (2023) Pride(s) in Place(s) Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Pride.

Verduzco-Torres, J. R., Bailey, N., Mcarthur, D. (2023) Towards Just Neighbourhoods: Leveraging Geospatial Data Science to Understand Night-Time Public Transport Variability in British Cities.

Verduzco-Torres, J. R., Mcarthur, D. (2023) From morning to night: Unveiling the variability in public transport services across Great Britain.

Baker, C., Howcroft, M. (2023) Gay Bod: civic and LGBTQ+ pride after Brexit in a city on the margins of the UK and Europe. Routledge

Mah, A. (2023) Foreword. Routledge

Wang, Y., Bailey, N., McArthur, D., Livingston, M. (2023) Hosting major events: Understanding the impacts of short-term rentals in Glasgow during COP26. (doi: 10.5281/zenodo.7828437)

Hastings, A., Mackenzie, M., Earley, A., Fleming, J. (2023) In Parallel or in Dialogue? Recent Housing and Domestic Abuse Policy Change in Scotland.

Earley, A., James, G., Stephens, M., Sakalasuriya, M. (2023) The Contested Politics of Residential Space.

Earley, A. (2023) Community Enterprises, Community Assets and Processes of Urban Regeneration and Gentrification in Tumultuous Times.

Wang, Y., Livingston, M., McArthur, D. P., Bailey, N. (2023) The challenges of measuring the short-term rental market: an analysis of open data on Airbnb activity. Housing Studies, 39, pp. 2260-2279. (doi: 10.1080/02673037.2023.2176829)

Chao, A., Frears, E., Howcroft, M., Owen, J., Marsh, N. (2023) How Proud?

2022

Tilsted, J. P., Mah, A., Nielson, T. D., Finkill, G., Bauer, F. (2022) Petrochemical transition narratives: Selling fossil fuel solutions in a decarbonizing world. Energy Research and Social Science, 94, (doi: 10.1016/j.erss.2022.102880)

Marsh, N., Clarke, C., Howcroft, M., May, W. (2022) Towns and the Cultural Economies of Recovery: A Multidisciplinary Mapping.

Brown, D., Mah, A., Walker, G. (2022) The tenacity of trust in petrochemical communities: reckoning with risk on the Fawley Waterside (1997–2019) Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space, 5, pp. 997-1696. (doi: 10.1177/25148486211045367)

Stephens, M., O'Brien, P., Earley, A. (2022) Resilience in the housing system: Market institutions from the global financial crisis to COVID-19.

Hastings, A., Mackenzie, M., Earley, A. (2022) Domestic Abuse and Housing: Policy in Focus Since the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Earley, A. (2022) Community Enterprises, Community Assets and Processes of Urban Regeneration and Gentrification in Tumultuous Times.

Earley, A. (2022) Community Enterprises, Community Assets and Processes of Urban Regeneration and Gentrification in Extraordinary Times.

Verduzco-Torres, J. R., Hong, J., McArthur, D. P. (2022) How do psychological, habitual and built environment factors influence cycling in a city with a well-connected cycling infrastructure? International Journal of Urban Sciences, 26, pp. 479-498. (doi: 10.1080/12265934.2021.1930111)

Earley, A. (2022) Community Enterprise, Community Assets and Regeneration.

Earley, A. (2022) Exploring the Role of Community Enterprises and their Assets in Urban Regeneration and Gentrification: Bristol Case Study Findings.

Feltrin, L., Mah, A., Brown, D. (2022) Noxious deindustrialization: experiences of precarity and pollution in Scotland’s petrochemical capital. Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space, 40, pp. 781-986. (doi: 10.1177/23996544211056328)

Mah, A. (2022) Plastic Unlimited: How Corporations are Fuelling the Ecological Crisis and What We Can Do About It. Polity Press

Earley, A. (2022) PhD Research Findings and Recommendations: Community Enterprises, Community Assets and Processes of Regeneration and Gentrification.

Earley, A. (2022) Balancing Structure and Agency when Analysing and Writing Up Research About Place-based Community Organisations.

Hong, J., Mcarthur, D. P., Sim, J., Kim, C. H. (2022) Did air pollution continue to affect bike share usage in Seoul during the COVID-19 pandemic? Journal of Transport and Health, 24, (doi: 10.1016/j.jth.2022.101342)

Marsh, N., Ashton, D., Howcroft, M. (2022) Written evidence submitted to Reimagining where we live: cultural placemaking and the levelling up agenda.

Whyte, B., Mcarthur, D., Garnham, L., Livingston, M. (2022) Cycling trends in Scotland during the early phase of the Covid pandemic. Active Travel Studies, 2, pp. 1-19. (doi: 10.16997/ats.1120)

2021

Earley, A. (2021) Exploring the role of Community Enterprises and their Community Assets in Processes of Urban Regeneration and Gentrification.

Earley, A. (2021) Reflecting on the PhD Experience.

Earley, A. (2021) Using and Approaching Theory in Doctoral Research.

Earley, A. (2021) Housing Systems, their Institutions and their Resilience.

Fung, C. M., Mcarthur, D. P., Hong, J. (2021) Examining the effects of a temporary subway closure on cycling in Glasgow using bike-sharing data. Travel Behaviour and Society, 25, pp. 62-77. (doi: 10.1016/j.tbs.2021.06.002)

Livingston, M., McArthur, D., Hong, J., English, K. K. (2021) Predicting cycling volumes using crowdsourced activity data. Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science, 48, pp. 1228-1244. (doi: 10.1177/2399808320925822)

Mah, A. (2021) Future-proofing capitalism: the paradox of the circular economy for plastics. Global Environmental Politics, 21, pp. 121-142. (doi: 10.1162/glep_a_00594)

Hastings, A., Mackenzie, M., Earley, A. (2021) Domestic Abuse and Housing: Connections and Disconnections in the Pre-Covid 19 Policy World.

Mah, A. (2021) Ecological crisis, decarbonisation, and degrowth: the dilemmas of just petrochemical transformations. Stato e Mercato, 121, pp. 51-78. (doi: 10.1425/101444)

Raturi, V., Hong, J., McArthur, D., Livingston, M. (2021) The impact of privacy protection measures on the utility of crowdsourced cycling data. Journal of Transport Geography, 92, (doi: 10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2021.103020)

Stephens, M., O'Brien, P., Earley, A. (2021) Resilience in the housing system: The mortgage and housebuilding industries from the global financial crisis to Covid-19.

Hastings, A., Mackenzie, M., Earley, A. (2021) Domestic Abuse and Housing: Connections and Disconnections in the Pre-Covid-19 Policy World.

2020

Jephcote, C., Brown, D., Verbeek, T., Mah, A. (2020) A systematic review and meta-analysis of haematological malignancies in residents living near petrochemical facilities. Environmental Health, 19, (doi: 10.1186/s12940-020-00582-1)

Hong, J., Mcarthur, D. P., Livingston, M. (2020) The evaluation of large cycling infrastructure investments in Glasgow using crowdsourced cycle data. Transportation, 47, pp. 2859-2872. (doi: 10.1007/s11116-019-09988-4)

Hong, J., Mcarthur, D. P., Raturi, V. (2020) Did safe cycling infrastructure still matter during a COVID-19 lockdown? Sustainability, 12, (doi: 10.3390/su12208672)

Gibb, K., Foye, C., Stephens, M., Earley, A. (2020) Improving Opportunities: How to Support Social Housing Tenants into Sustainable Employment – Report to the APPG on Housing and Social Mobility.

Verbeek, T., Mah, A. (2020) Integration and isolation in the global petrochemical industry: a multiscalar corporate network analysis. Economic Geography, 96, pp. 363-387. (doi: 10.1080/00130095.2020.1794809)

Mah, A. (2020) Toxic legacies and environmental justice. Routledge

(2020) Toxic Truths: Environmental Justice and Citizen Science in a Post-Truth Age. (doi: 10.7765/9781526137005)

McArthur, D., Thorsen, I., Ubøe, J. (2020) Some consequences of ignoring relocations in the cost–benefit analysis of transportation infrastructure investments. Springer

Waite, D., McArthur, D. (2020) Understanding the impacts of Covid-19 on the Glasgow City-region economy - Gauging impacts through big data?

Hong, J., McArthur, D. P., Stewart, J. L. (2020) Can providing safe cycling infrastructure encourage people to cycle more when it rains? The use of crowdsourced cycling data (Strava) Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 133, pp. 109-121. (doi: 10.1016/j.tra.2020.01.008)

2019

Mah, A., Wang, X. (2019) Accumulated injuries of environmental injustice: living and working with petrochemical pollution in Nanjing, China. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 109, pp. 1961-1977. (doi: 10.1080/24694452.2019.1574551)

Jephcote, C., Mah, A. (2019) Regional inequalities in benzene exposures across the European petrochemical industry: a Bayesian multilevel modelling approach. Environment International, 132, (doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2019.05.006)

Mah, A. (2019) A layover stop in the African American great migration: identity, ruination, and memory. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 42, pp. 2326-2332. (doi: 10.1080/01419870.2019.1605090)

Earley, A. (2019) Exploring the Role of Community Enterprises and their Assets in Regeneration/ Gentrification: Preliminary Findings, Glasgow Case Study.

Anejionu, O. C.D., Thakuriah, P. (V.), McHugh, A., Sun, Y., Mcarthur, D., Mason, P., Walpole, R. (2019) Spatial urban data system: a cloud-enabled big data infrastructure for social and economic urban analytics. Future Generation Computer Systems, 98, pp. 456-473. (doi: 10.1016/j.future.2019.03.052)

Earley, A. (2019) Space Means You Can Do Amazing Things!’: An Exploration of the Role of an Asset-managing Community Enterprise Within Regeneration and Gentrification.

Earley, A. (2019) Exploring the role of Community Enterprises and their Assets in Gentrifying/gentrified Neighbourhoods: Preliminary Findings.

Hong, J., McArthur, D. P., Livingston, M. (2019) Can accessing the Internet while travelling encourage commuters to use public transport regardless of their attitude? Sustainability, 11, (doi: 10.3390/su11123281)

Hong, J., Mcarthur, D. P. (2019) How does Internet usage influence young travellers' choices? Journal of Planning Education and Research, 39, pp. 155-165. (doi: 10.1177/0739456X17736811)

McArthur, D. P., Hong, J. (2019) Visualising where commuting cyclists travel using crowdsourced data. Journal of Transport Geography, 74, pp. 233-241. (doi: 10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2018.11.018)

Postgraduate research students

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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