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By coming together to promote knowledge exchange and engage in key areas of debate, we are addressing national and international challenges facing contemporary cities across the world.

Our areas of focus include informal urbanism, urban regeneration, urban theory, transit urbanism, sustainable urbanism, and comparative urbanism. Our research is informed by researchers working on projects across multiple cities in the global South and global North.

Activities include invited guest lecture series, research seminars, funding application workshops, and impact events, among others.

Projects

Contested Streets

Investigating how street vendors in Hanoi and Kuala Lumpur navigate and contest public space to sustain their livelihoods.

Book on a table, with the title 'State of the Legacy'

State of the Legacy Review

An interrogation of the legacy of the 2012 Olympic Games for the people and environment of East London.

Epidemics, Planning and the City: a Special Issue of Planning Perspectives

Examining how urban planning has historically addressed the challenges of infectious disease epidemics.

The Caring City

Examining the role of built environments and cities in shaping care practices and relationships.

Alternative forms of living: Developing a community-led housing network in Wales

Setting the foundations for the creation of a community-led housing network in Wales

The Death and Life of Neoliberal Urbanism

Interrogating neoliberal urbanism and its diverse forms.

Urban Design Education: Designing a Pedagogy for an Evolving Field

A susbstantial research monograph on a pedagogy for urban design as an evolving field.

Drone view of London, black and white

Dispersal: Picturing Urban Change in East London

A visual and critical exploration of the rapid transformation of East London’s industrial landscape.

Photograph of research posters on display

Euro-Mediterranean Urban Voids Ecology (EMUVE)

A Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship project looking at the existing voids produced by current shrinking cities along the Euro‐Mediterranean coastline.

Young people outside a centre in Cardiff.

AHRC IAA Project

A participatory storytelling initiative of urban photography projects between the Schools of Architecture, Geography and Planning and Grange Pavilion Youth Forum.

The Routledge Handbook of Urban Design Research Methods

The Routledge Handbook of Urban Design Research Methods

It is now a decisive moment for urban design to reflect on its rigour and relevance. This handbook is an attempt to seize this moment for urban design to further develop its theoretical and methodological knowledge base.

Care for Detroit, Grand Circus Detroit, 2012. Wes Aelbrecht

Constructing the Urban Imaginary: Photography, Decline and Renaissance

Discussing the construction of three distinct “urban imaginaries” during two cycles of urban redevelopment.

Lead members

Academic staff

Picture of Juliet Davis

Professor Juliet Davis

Head of the Welsh School of Architecture

Telephone
+44 29208 75497
Email
DavisJP@cardiff.ac.uk
Picture of Mhairi McVicar

Professor Mhairi McVicar

Academic Lead, Community Gateway

Telephone
+44 29208 74634
Email
McVicarM@cardiff.ac.uk
Picture of Joanne Patterson

Professor Joanne Patterson

Professorial Research Fellow

Telephone
+44 29208 74754
Email
Patterson@cardiff.ac.uk

Postgraduate students

No picture for Zikun Huang

Mr Zikun Huang

Research student

Email
HuangZ44@cardiff.ac.uk
Picture of Matt Ma

Mr Matt Ma

Research student

Email
MaY82@cardiff.ac.uk
Picture of Lina Ahmad

Lina Ahmad

Research student

Email
AhmadL@cardiff.ac.uk
No picture for Basak Toren

Dr Basak Toren

Research student

Email
TorenBI@cardiff.ac.uk
No picture for Dilara Yaratgan

Dr Dilara Yaratgan

Research student

Email
YaratganD@cardiff.ac.uk

Publications

Schools

Welsh School of Architecture

Next steps

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Research that matters

Our research makes a difference to people’s lives as we work across disciplines to tackle major challenges facing society, the economy and our environment.

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Postgraduate research

Our research degrees give the opportunity to investigate a specific topic in depth among field-leading researchers.

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Our research impact

Our research case studies highlight some of the areas where we deliver positive research impact.