Research grants & projects

  • 2017-19 Urban Form Resilience Projects, in partnership with Ax:son Johnson Foundation and Arup Engineering (2017-2019). The project is funded by Ax:son with £93,735.
  • 2013-14: L’Abitare Futuro (The Future Inhabiting), Commission from National Consortium of Construction Cooperatives of Italy for a research on the future of construction cooperatives in Italy. Total: £8,000
  • 2013-16: GALE, Global Accessibility to Local Experience, EPSRC grant in partnership with University of Cambridge Computer Lab and the Queen Mary University Institute for Complex Systems. Total: £755.000; UoS: £250,000
  • 2011-12: Multiple Centrality Assessment (MCA) as a strategic modelling tool for use in urban regeneration, KTA grant in partnership with Robert Adam Urbanism. £55,000
  • 2016: Royal Academy of Engineers. Distinguished Visiting Fellowship awarded to Prof R Gifford (Victoria Canada) for 3 months of work on environmental preferences at urban scales. UoS: Total: £6,000
  • 2015: Plot Based Urbanism: Field Guide to Masterplanning, University of Strathclyde “Bridging the Gap” grant. £6,500
  • 2010: Under the Microscope. Small Scottish Towns. Research & Development and Architecture & Design Scotland grant. £18,000
  • 2007-2009: Gateways to Professions: Urban Design, in collaboration with RTPI, sponsored by Department for Education and Skills. Total: £209,000; UoS £89,000

Current research themes & PhD topics

UDSU has an international, diverse and very committed cohort of more than ten PhD students and has recently attracted Fulbright researchers. PhD students at UDSU are key contributors of, and are involved in teaching both undergraduate and postgraduate courses in a research-led teaching and learning process. Our topics include aspects related to:

  • User engagement
  • Spatial analysis/modelling of social profiles
  • Economic activities
  • Urban centres
  • Transport strategies/resources & design which encompasses all the above in a new approach to masterplanning, which we call Plot-Based Urbanism
  • Morphometrics & evolution in the urban form
  • Assessing urban design qualities in the streetscape
  • Modelling resilience in urban form
  • Urban form & change in informal settlements
  • Measuring & correlating urban form