Dr Sina Shahab
Lecturer in Planning and Environmental Policy
School of Geography and Planning
- shahabs@cardiff.ac.uk
- +44 (0)29 2087 6092
- Room 1.55, Glamorgan Building, King Edward VII Avenue, Cardiff, CF10 3WA
- Available for postgraduate supervision
Overview
- Lecturer in Planning and Environmental Policy at the Cardiff School of Geography and Planning
- Lead of the Spatial Planning and City Environments (SPACE) Research Group
- Representative of the UK Planning Schools in the Association of European Schools of Planning (AESOP)
- Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)
- Member of the International Academic Association on Planning, Law, and Property Rights (PLPR)
- Affiliate of the Sustainable Places Research Institute (PLACE)
News
The RTPI Award for Research Excellence 2018
One of my papers, ‘‘Estimates of Transaction Costs in Transfer of Development Rights Programs’’, which is published in the Journal of the American Planning Association (JAPA), has been chosen as the winner of the prestigious Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) Research Excellence Award 2018 - Early Career Category.
The JAPA Article of the Year Award 2019
The paper ‘‘Estimates of Transaction Costs in Transfer of Development Rights Programs’’, has been selected as the winner of the JAPA Article of the Year Award 2019.
Biography
Qualifications
- Professional Diploma for Entrepreneurial Educators, University College Dublin, Ireland (2018)
- PhD (Planning and Environmental Policy), University College Dublin, Ireland (2017)
- Master of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Tehran, Iran (2011)
Honours and awards
2019 - The JAPA Article of the Year Award
2018 - The RTPI Award for Research Excellence
Academic positions
- Lecturer, School of Geography and Planning, Cardiff University, UK (2018-present)
- Visiting Assistant Professor, School of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Policy, University College Dublin, Ireland (2019-present)
- Postdoctoral Research Fellow, School of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Policy, University College Dublin, Ireland (2017-2018)
Publications
2021
- Shahab, S., Bagheri, B. and Potts, R. 2021. Barriers to employing e-participation in the Iranian planning system. Cities 116, article number: 103281. (10.1016/j.cities.2021.103281)
- Cassarino, M., Shahab, S. and Biscaya, S. 2021. Envisioning happy places for all: a systematic review of the impact of transformations in the urban environment on the wellbeing of vulnerable groups. Sustainability 13(14), article number: 8086. (10.3390/su13148086)
- Shahab, S., Hartmann, T. and Jonkman, A. 2021. Strategies of municipal land policies: housing development in Germany, Belgium, and Netherlands. European Planning Studies 29(6), pp. 1132-1150. (10.1080/09654313.2020.1817867)
- Sadler, G. and Shahab, S. 2021. Self‐build and custom housebuilding registers in England: a transaction‐cost and effectiveness analysis. Sustainability 13(9), article number: 4912. (10.3390/su13094912)
- Shahab, S. and Lades, L. K. 2021. Sludge and transaction costs. Behavioural Public Policy, pp. 1-22.
- Gingell, A. H. and Shahab, S. 2021. An analysis of self‐build and custom housebuilding in the south west of England.. Urban Science 5(1), article number: 9. (10.3390/urbansci5010009)
- Shahab, S. and Viallon, F. 2021. Swiss land improvement syndicates: 'Impure' Coasian solutions?. Planning Theory 20(1), pp. 44-62. (10.1177/1473095220923629)
- Dickinson, D. and Shahab, S. 2021. Post planning-decision process: ensuring the delivery of high-quality developments in Cardiff. Land Use Policy 100, article number: 105114. (10.1016/j.landusepol.2020.105114)
- Ahmadpoor, N. and Shahab, S. 2021. Realising the value of greenspace: a planners' perspective on the COVID-19 pandemic. Town Planning Review 92(1), pp. 49-56. (10.3828/tpr.2020.37)
- Shahab, S., Hartmann, T. and Jonkman, A. 2021. Strategies of municipal land policies: proposing an alternative to the passive-active dichotomy. Presented at: Annual Conference of the Association on Planning, Law, and Property Rights 2021 (PLPR), Virtual, 1-25 February 2021.
- Sadler, G. and Shahab, S. 2021. Perceived effectiveness and transaction costs of self-build and custom housebuilding registers in England. Presented at: International Scientific and Practical Conference 2021, Kyiv, Ukraine, 20-21 May 2021.
- Shahab, S. 2021. Improving the post planning-decision process to deliver high-quality developments. Presented at: Association of European Schools of Planning (AESOP) Annual Congress 2021, Virtual, 12-14 July 2021.
2020
- Kelly, J. A.et al. 2020. Enabling a just transition: a composite indicator for assessing home heating energy-poverty risk and the impact of environmental policy measures. Energy Policy 146, article number: 111791. (10.1016/j.enpol.2020.111791)
- Gao, Y., Shahab, S. and Ahmadpoor, N. 2020. Morphology of urban villages in China: a case study of Dayuan Village in Guangzhou. Urban Science 4(2), article number: 23. (10.3390/urbansci4020023)
- Shahab, S. and Allam, Z. 2020. Reducing transaction costs of tradable permit schemes using blockchain smart contracts. Growth and Change 51(1), pp. 302-308. (10.1111/grow.12342)
- Hou, J.et al. 2020. Implementation analysis of transfer of development rights for conserving privately-owned built heritage in Hong Kong: A transaction costs perspective. Growth and Change 51(1), pp. 530-550. (10.1111/grow.12350)
- Ralphs, E., Shahab, S. and Ahmadpoor, N. 2020. Access to small airports and the impact on regional growth in the UK. Current Urban Studies 8(1), pp. 24-56. (10.4236/cus.2020.81002)
- Shahab, S. and Hartmann, T. 2020. Land policy in Germany: shifting from a passive to an active strategy?. Presented at: The 14th annual conference of the Association on Planning, Law, and Property Rights (PLPR), Usti nad Labem, 17–21 February 2020.
2019
- Viallon, F. and Shahab, S. 2019. Understanding the design and implementation of Land Improvement Syndicates (LIS): A transaction costs analysis framework. Presented at: REAL CORP 2019: 24th International Conference on Urban Planning and Regional Development in the Information Society GeoMultimedia 2019, Karlsruhe, Germany, 2-4 April 2019.
- Shahab, S., Clinch, J. P. and O'Neill, E. 2019. Impact-based planning evaluation : Advancing nomative criteria for policy analysis.. Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science 46(3), pp. 534-550. (10.1177/2399808317720446)
- Ahmadpoor, N. and Shahab, S. 2019. Spatial knowledge acquisition in the process of navigation: A review. Current Urban Studies 7(1), pp. 1-19. (10.4236/cus.2019.71001)
- Shahab, S., Clinch, J. P. and O'Neill, E. 2019. An analysis of the factors influencing transaction costs in Transferable Development Rights programmes.. Ecological Economics 156, pp. 409-419. (10.1016/j.ecolecon.2018.05.018)
- Shahab, S. and Viallon, F. 2019. A transaction cost analysis of Swiss land improvement syndicates. Town Planning Review 90(5), pp. 545-565. (10.3828/tpr.2019.34)
- Shahab, S. and Viallon, F. 2019. Land improvement syndicates: A coasian analysis of a Swiss land policy instrument. Presented at: 2019 RSA Annual Conference: Pushing Regions beyond their Borders, Santiago de Compostela, Spain, 5-7 June 2019.
- Shahab, S. and Viallon, F. 2019. Swiss majority-based land improvement syndicates: A transaction-costs story. Presented at: the 4th International Conference on CHANGING CITIES: Spatial, Design, Landscape & Socio-economic Dimensions, Chania, Crete Island, Greece, 24-29 June 2019.
2018
- Shahab, S., Clinch, J. and O'Neill, E. 2018. Timing and distributional aspects of transaction costs in Transferable Development Rights programmes. Habitat International 75, pp. 131-138. (10.1016/j.habitatint.2018.03.006)
- Shahab, S., Clinch, J. P. and O'Neill, E. 2018. Estimates of transaction costs in transfer of development rights programs.. Journal of the American Planning Association 84(1), pp. 61-75. (10.1080/01944363.2017.1406816)
- Shahab, S., Clinch, J. P. and O'Neill, E. 2018. Accounting for transaction costs in planning policy evaluation.. Land Use Policy 70, pp. 263-272. (10.1016/j.landusepol.2017.09.028)
- Shahab, S. 2018. Uncovering the hidden costs of Transferable Development Rights (TDR) programmes. Presented at: Association of European Schools of Planning (AESOP) Annual Congress, Gothenburg, Sweden, 10-14 July.
- Shahab, S. 2018. Revealing some of the hidden costs of Transferable Development Rights (TDR) programmes. Presented at: Real Estate & Land Planning (RELAND) International Conference, Mykonos, Greece, 4-8 September 2018.
2017
- Shahab, S. 2017. Taking transaction costs into account in evaluating planning policy instruments. Presented at: Association of European Schools of Planning (AESOP) Annual Congress, Lisbon, Portugal, 11-14 July 2017.
- Shahab, S. 2017. Factors influencing transaction costs in TDR programs. Presented at: Association of European Schools of Planning (AESOP) Annual Congress, Lisbon, Portugal, 11-14 July 2017.
Teaching
I lead the postgraduate modules ‘Planning and Real Estate’ and ‘Critical Planning Practice and Research’. I also contribute to several modules including ‘Designing Places and Plans’, ‘Community Engagement, Mediation and Negotiation Skills’, ‘Environmental Policy and Climate Change’ and ‘Research Project’.
My research interests, experience, and expertise lie at the intersection of Spatial Planning and Environmental Policy. Informed by various economic theories, including New Institutional Economics and Behavioural Economics, my research explores the ways in which decision-makers can design and implement land, planning, and environmental policies that are more effective, efficient, and equitable.
My policy research and practice experiences have been in an international context, involving projects in the USA, UK, Switzerland, Ireland, Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Spain, China, Hong Kong, Kuwait, Iran, and Mauritania. My most recent work has analysed a land policy in Switzerland, Land Improvement Syndicates, from the lens of transaction costs and property rights theories. Previously, I examined the extent, drivers, and distribution of transaction costs in a market-based policy instrument- transferable development rights.
Supervision
I am happy to supervise students interested in the following topics:
Land Policy:
- Instruments of Land Policy (e.g. Land Readjustment, TDR, Land Taxation)
- Transaction Costs and Land Policy
- Property Rights and Land Policy
- Market-based Instruments (MBIs)
- Development Management
- Land Value Capture
Environmental Policy:
- Behavioural Economics and the Environment (e.g. Nudge Theory)
- Policy-related Transaction Costs
- Policy Implementation and Institutional Arrangements
- Policy Analysis (particularly concerning Fuel Poverty)