Current students

Jivantika Satyarthi
Project Title
Building in soundscape resilience via flood resilience to create healthier residential environments.
Project Abstract
Noise pollution is the second largest environmental cause of health problems in urban residential developments. Furthermore, a positive soundscape (perceived acoustic environment) approach to urban design is rarely considered. In contrast, sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) are required within all new residential developments in Scotland and the UK, but their potential for affecting soundscapes has not been fully explored. Yet, depending on the SUDS design, the type of planting, paving, water flow movements, and attractiveness to wildlife will all influence the acoustic environment, in positive sound-enhancing ways. Integration of the urban design/planning issues of sound and water management can create healthier, cognitively restorative, and thus resilient residential environments.
Jivantika’s interdisciplinary Ph.D. is funded by the ESRC-SGSSS 1+3 year scholarship. Her research attempts to explore how SuDS can be utilized or improved to reduce noise pollution and how salutogenic (health-promoting) soundscapes can be created by SuDS in urban residential areas. In particular, the project will examine the specific SuDS water and planting design features that produce salutogenic soundscapes.
Read more: Project Destress
Connect on:
LinkedIn,
Email: jas2004@hw.ac.uk
Supervisors
Dr. van der Jagt, Sander, Prof. Scott Arthur (Institute for Infrastructure and Environment), Dr. Sarah Payne (University of Surrey)
Building in soundscape resilience via flood resilience to create healthier residential environments.
Project Abstract
Noise pollution is the second largest environmental cause of health problems in urban residential developments. Furthermore, a positive soundscape (perceived acoustic environment) approach to urban design is rarely considered. In contrast, sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) are required within all new residential developments in Scotland and the UK, but their potential for affecting soundscapes has not been fully explored. Yet, depending on the SUDS design, the type of planting, paving, water flow movements, and attractiveness to wildlife will all influence the acoustic environment, in positive sound-enhancing ways. Integration of the urban design/planning issues of sound and water management can create healthier, cognitively restorative, and thus resilient residential environments.
Jivantika’s interdisciplinary Ph.D. is funded by the ESRC-SGSSS 1+3 year scholarship. Her research attempts to explore how SuDS can be utilized or improved to reduce noise pollution and how salutogenic (health-promoting) soundscapes can be created by SuDS in urban residential areas. In particular, the project will examine the specific SuDS water and planting design features that produce salutogenic soundscapes.
Read more: Project Destress
Connect on:
LinkedIn,
Email: jas2004@hw.ac.uk
Supervisors
Dr. van der Jagt, Sander, Prof. Scott Arthur (Institute for Infrastructure and Environment), Dr. Sarah Payne (University of Surrey)

Alan Gardner
Project title
The True Cost of Owning and Managing Commercial Property in the UKProject abstract
The project will define and publish a range of aggregated expenditure variables leading to more realistic measures of commercial property investment performance. These variables will include, but not be limited to, the true costs of maintenance and environmental issues. We will seek to open up various areas of research that can build on the initial results. The intention is to make the research relevant and usable to industry practitioners by combining theoretical research techniques with substantial practical experience in how such research is integrated in the investment planning process at portfolio and asset levels. Given the challenges resulting from the scale of refurbishment required to meet environmental/sustainability standards and other issues, we explore how various forms of anticipated expenditure will impact on expected returns over the medium term. This is particularly relevant given the expected level of long-term real interest rates and related squeeze on estimated IRR’s that commercial property faces.Supervisors
Professor Colin Jones and Professor Neil DunseAdam Stephenson
Project title
Lost worlds of welfare: Local homelessness systems in EnglandProject abstract
In England, the main response to homelessness is generally considered to be the statutory homelessness system. A series of nationally initiated and locally implemented measures have since been added to this system, including the Rough Sleeping Initiatives, the prevention approach and more recently, localisation. The research will adapt the nationally focused welfare-housing regime framework to examine the evolution and divergence of localized and systematic responses to homelessness. The paper hypothesizes that emergence and divergence of local welfare regimes. The hypothesis supposes that local regimes will be centered on the local authority, but will also other local policy actors such as welfare, housing, health, criminal justice and civic society. The hypothesized local welfare regimes will mediate national welfare, housing and homeless policy according to local priorities through the provision and commissioning of services. There services will form a localized system of services that are connected via local policy, culture and practice.Supervisors
Professor Mark Stephens and Dr Beth Watts
Ana Miret Garcia
Project title
Exploration of Public Space Vitality in new non-central residential areas. Case studies in Madrid and Edinburgh.Project abstract
My research explores the role of streets in contemporary residential neighbourhoods. It aims to examine the flourishing of street and neighbourhood vitality in new residential areas, and the role that vitality plays in resident’s everyday life. I understand street vitality as a goal to achieve by urban design through the concentration of diverse people and activities (Jacobs 1961, Montgomery 1998). This definition contrast with contemporary city life in the Western countries, which is increasingly being organized through homogeneous, enclosed and private networks (Sennett 1974, Carmona 2010) in which streets are losing their traditional purpose as social spaces of necessarily passing-through and of casual encounters between everyday activities. In this context, my work explores the case of large urban design residential projects in which certain design preconditions for vitality (such as mixed use provision or compactness) have been considered. I will develop a new definition of urban and public space vitality which will incorporate three different perspectives. Firstly, the point of view of professionals which have been involved in the planning, design and implementation processes; secondly, the point of view of local entrepreneurs; finally, the experience of local residents in their everyday lives.Supervisors
Dr Caroline Brown and Professor Ryan WoolrychYiyi Chen
Project title
Social and Spatial Dimensions of Working Long Hours: Effects on Health InequalitiesProject abstract
Western research has shown that working long hours may have profound health and wellbeing implications. The conventional Danwei organization, and the bureaucratic state-based working hour allocation systems were thought to limit the adverse health and wellbeing effects of working long hours for urban workers in pre-reform China. In the context of the market-oriented reforms in post-reform China, an unintended long working hour consequence for urban workers including migrant workers in cities is the degradation of health and wellbeing conditions. This paper uses data from a large scale 2013 individual survey in Beijing to examine the effect of having a regular working hour life style (8 hours per day, 5 days per week) on self-rated health outcomes in the context of a Chinese mega-city. The survey reported one’s self-rated health, on which we can base our perceived health assessment. The results show that having a regular working hour life style is significantly associated with better health outcomes in post-reform urban China, whereas individuals working more than 5 days per week have a significantly higher risk of poor self-rated health. This effect was more obvious after controlling for neighbourhood built environment characteristics. This association tends to be stronger among private-sector urban workers than among those who are migrant workers and employed in state sectors. Importantly, perceived health implications of those who worked longer than 5 days per week tend to be varied with housing types, access to social infrastructure and commuting patterns Findings of this study clarify the importance of conceptualizing social and spatial dimensions of working long hours into consideration and designing work-life balance policies.Supervisors
Dr Wenjie Wu and Professor Mark Stephens
Chenxi Liu
Project title
Analyse and Evaluate the Performance of Eco-community Using Ecological Footprint AssessmentProject abstract
Human and environment constitute the main part of ecological community. To achieve sustainability in an ecological community, not only the building itself has to meet the requirement of green building evaluation such as BREEAM, but also the residents’ life has to be sustainable. Using Ecological Footprint Assessment (EFA) to evaluate the eco-community in the aspects of building Life Cycle Assessment will make it comparable to other assessed eco-communities. The result of EF figures make it comparable for different projects in different places. Therefore, the strength and weakness in energy-efficiency for a certain eco-community can be determined by compare to other project with EF result.The study will focus on developing an assessment method to analyse and evaluate the performance of eco-community by referring to other reports about EFA methods, such as BedZED, Findhorn community and Steward Community Woodland.Supervisors
Dr Fionn MacKillop and Dr Fan Wang
Manlin Li
Project title
Exploring the Impact of Smart Cities on Social Inclusion among Older People Living in Urban Environments: A Case Study of Chongqing, ChinaProject abstract
The concept of Smart City has been a recent policy driver across the developing and developed world. The core of smart city focuses on how technology and data can be integrated into urban infrastructure in order to deliver more efficient lives for residents. However, most cities have revealed that smart city development failed to meet the needs of residents. In particular, concerns on supporting the lives of ageing population are widely absence in the smart city development. This research draws on the experiences of older people living in China, conducted a case study approach to understand the everyday lives of older people living in a smart city which aims to understand how social inclusion among older people can be supported within the smart city agenda. The findings identify the challenges and opportunities for older adults in terms of social inclusion, mobility and public participation. This research reflects on the potential role of technologies in responding to these challenges, limitations and ethical issues in the delivery of smart city.Supervisors
Professor Ryan Woolrych
Lisa Lavia
Project title
Soundscape, engagement and planning practices within airport expansion projects in the UKProject abstract
Soundscape management in the built environment is the study of how people respond to the sound of a place which either currently exists, is being imagined, or once it is developed. Soundscape practice advocates that stakeholders become co-specifiers/designers of projects. However, the main challenge to assessing/predicting stakeholders’ responses are subjective human factors, acknowledged to account for at least 33% of variance. Specifically, stakeholders’ subjective ’perceived control’ (PC) has been identified as directly impacting the effectiveness of certain engagement processes. PC affects human wellbeing making it a critical element to be accounted for in sustainable development. This study investigates stakeholders’ perceived control and its impact on engagement in the context of planning processes for airport expansion projects in the UK. This research builds upon existing soundscape, aviation, and noise and health findings to develop a conceptual framework for stakeholder engagement for sustainable and health promoting soundscape design and planning.Supervisors
Dr Sarah Payne and Dr Caroline Brown
Mina Sufineyestani
Project title
The Restorative Quality of Residential Housing Typologies with Natural Features at the Building Edge: A Case Study from Edinburgh, ScotlandProject abstract
This research aims to understand how natural characteristics and architectural features at the building edge can provide a connection between interior and exterior spaces and more specifically how these connections could result in restorative experiences and helping residents to have a healthy and restorative living environment through the sensory and physical access. It also, explores how residents feel about their home particularly, the opportunities they have to rest, relax and recover at home and how its design, internal and external features and favourite places at their home can help them to feel relaxed and recover from fatigue or stress, to uplift their spirits when they are in a negative mood and in total to restore their inner balance. This research involves a mixed-method i.e. both quantitative (online survey) and creative qualitative methodologies (arts- based interviews) to explore these issues, resulting in recommendations for designing future residential buildings with access to suitable micro-restorative environments. Data will be collected in two phases from residents in Edinburgh. It combines ideas from architecture, planning, environmental design and environmental phycology disciplines supported by the cross-discipline supervisory team, with implications for the development and retrofitting of residential housing stock, thus providing valuable outcomes for a wide range of academic and industrial stakeholders. Outcomes will extend psychological restoration research and contribute to the designing and planning of sustainable cities.Supervisors
Dr Sarah Payne and Professor Harry Smith