All Outputs (83)

The accessibility of wild swimming spots in England (2025)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

Wild swimming, defined as swimming for pleasure in natural waters, has increased in popularity among UK residents since the emergence of Covid-19, with an estimate of 2.1 million people preferring to swim in open water, e.g. lakes, lochs, rivers and... Read More about The accessibility of wild swimming spots in England.

Renting in the informal city: The role of dignity in upgrading backyard dwellings in Cape Town, South Africa (2023)
Journal Article

In South Africa, informal rental accommodation constructed in the backyards of formal houses is the fastest growing housing segment. These backyard dwellings (BDs) are makeshift structures made from timber frames, metal sheets or wooden planks. Despi... Read More about Renting in the informal city: The role of dignity in upgrading backyard dwellings in Cape Town, South Africa.

Making demands on government: Theorizing determinants of backyard residents' collective action in Cape Town, South Africa (2023)
Journal Article

Informality is growing with Africa's rapid urbanization. Much like residents of other types of informal housing, backyard dwellers face overall poor living conditions and political marginalization. However, backyard residents are in an ambiguous lega... Read More about Making demands on government: Theorizing determinants of backyard residents' collective action in Cape Town, South Africa.

Towards a combined physical and social evaluation of climate vulnerability in coastal urban megacities (2023)
Journal Article

Coastal urban megacities across Asia face significant risks from climate change, including coastal flooding, high temperatures, urban heat island impacts and air pollution. These hazards are associated with negative impacts on infrastructure, communi... Read More about Towards a combined physical and social evaluation of climate vulnerability in coastal urban megacities.

Co-designing a social robot in a special educational needs school: Listening to the ambitions of autistic children and their teachers (2022)
Journal Article

Social robots have the potential to support autistic school children with their wellbeing. This research reveals how a co-design approach with autistic children and their teachers was undertaken. Focus groups with autistic children and teachers colla... Read More about Co-designing a social robot in a special educational needs school: Listening to the ambitions of autistic children and their teachers.

50 ways to regeneratively reimagine our High Streets. A co-creating workshop. (2022)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

This co-authoring workshop provides a collectivist space for participants who have been involved in radical rethinking of High Streets/Main streets internationally to work together and contribute to the future and imagined role of these spaces. Tradi... Read More about 50 ways to regeneratively reimagine our High Streets. A co-creating workshop..

“It’s important to think of Pepper as a teaching aid or resource external to the classroom”: A social robot in a school for autistic children (2022)
Journal Article

For a period of 3 weeks in June 2021, we embedded a social robot (Softbank Pepper) in a Special Educational Needs (SEN) school for autistic children. The robot’s behaviours and integration into the school were co-designed with the children and teache... Read More about “It’s important to think of Pepper as a teaching aid or resource external to the classroom”: A social robot in a school for autistic children.

Physical comfort in our homes: An architectural perspective (2022)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

The current paper investigates the relationship between the physical comfort in homes (warmth, light, and ventilation) and inhabitants' psychological well-being. In particular, the paper looks at users' perception of home, and the role of satisfactio... Read More about Physical comfort in our homes: An architectural perspective.

Health, economic and social development challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic: Strategies for multiple and interconnected issues (2022)
Journal Article

The COVID-19-pandemic-related economic and social crises are leading to huge challenges for all spheres of human life across the globe. Various challenges highlighted by this pandemic include, but are not limited to, the need for global health cooper... Read More about Health, economic and social development challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic: Strategies for multiple and interconnected issues.

Impact of coastal disasters on women in urban slums: A new index (2022)
Journal Article

Coastal hazards, particularly cyclones, floods, erosion and storm surges, are emerging as a cause for major concern in the coastal regions of Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, India. Serious coastal disaster events have become more common in recent decades... Read More about Impact of coastal disasters on women in urban slums: A new index.

A multi-data geospatial approach for understanding flood risk in the coastal plains of Tamil Nadu, India (2022)
Journal Article

The coastal plains of Tamil Nadu, India, are prone to floods, the most common disaster experienced in this region almost every year. This research aims to identify flood risks in the coastal plain region of Tamil Nadu, delineated through a watershed... Read More about A multi-data geospatial approach for understanding flood risk in the coastal plains of Tamil Nadu, India.

Are current UK coastal defences good enough for Tomorrow? An assessment of vulnerability to coastal erosion (2022)
Journal Article

Coastal vulnerability and its physical, economic and social consequences at national and international scales is of high scientific, political and policy interest. Anthropogenic climate change and coastal erosion threaten the very fabric of a society... Read More about Are current UK coastal defences good enough for Tomorrow? An assessment of vulnerability to coastal erosion.

The second wave of COVID-19 and beyond: Rural healthcare (2022)
Journal Article

There are increasing signs that SARS-CoV-2 has started to spread to rural areas in India. It impacts people’s health, lives, and public health infrastructure that is already strained from a lack of resources. The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic in... Read More about The second wave of COVID-19 and beyond: Rural healthcare.

The great lockdown in the wake of COVID-19 and its implications: Lessons for low and middle-income countries (2022)
Journal Article

Concern for public health has been growing with the increasing volume of cases of COVID-19 in India. To combat this pandemic, India has implemented nationwide lockdowns, and unlocking phases continue with certain restrictions in different parts of th... Read More about The great lockdown in the wake of COVID-19 and its implications: Lessons for low and middle-income countries.

Nurturing architecture: Education, research and practice for health and wellbeing (2021)
Journal Article

Nurturing Architecture explores how an ethos of care, of providing nourishment and supporting growth and development, might be understood as a founding principle for architectural education and practice. The term allows multiple interpretations, whic... Read More about Nurturing architecture: Education, research and practice for health and wellbeing.

Practicing Flânerie: Imagined and applied walking strategies in Pretoria/Tshwane, South Africa (2021)
Book Chapter

In late 2019, a poetry-writing “walkshop” in Pretoria/Tshwane, South Africa, was organized in collaboration with two local arts organizations. In this chapter, the walkshop is contextualized within debates on flânerie in South African cities, and att... Read More about Practicing Flânerie: Imagined and applied walking strategies in Pretoria/Tshwane, South Africa.

Indicators of healthy architecture: Lessons for practice from a systematic literature review (2021)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

This themed paper develops the findings of Indicators of Healthy Architecture—a Systematic Literature Review (https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-020-00469-z) including consideration of implications for built environment practitioners and how this informs... Read More about Indicators of healthy architecture: Lessons for practice from a systematic literature review.

UNICEF guidance on AI for children: Application to the design of a social robot for and with autistic children (2021)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

For a period of three weeks in June 2021, we embedded a social robot (Softbank Pepper) in a Special Educational Needs (SEN) school, with a focus on supporting the well-being of autistic children. Our methodology to design and embed the robot among th... Read More about UNICEF guidance on AI for children: Application to the design of a social robot for and with autistic children.

Renting in the makeshift city: Governance, politics and technologies of backyard rental housing in Cape Town, South Africa (2021)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

Renting is an important yet often forgotten reality of the 'makeshift city'. Millions of poor households rely on cheap rental accommodation in informal settlements, townships or inner-city buildings to get a foothold in the city. Informal rental acco... Read More about Renting in the makeshift city: Governance, politics and technologies of backyard rental housing in Cape Town, South Africa.

Building the business case for Healthy Cities; Counting the cost of diseasogenic cities (2021)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

The presentation examines the economic implications of the relationship between the design of cities and urban areas and the resultant health outcomes for the human population. There is now good evidence linking the design of urban areas to differing... Read More about Building the business case for Healthy Cities; Counting the cost of diseasogenic cities.