Research

URBANITES: HUMAN HABITAT (RE)DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH GROUP

In Urbanites research group we examine the interplay between urban forms and human experience. We specifically focus on the implications of major urban development and redevelopment processes on planning cultures, urban living, social diversity, and displacement. Urbanites research group also explores and advances versatile qualitative methodologies in urban planning research and practice by developing and implementing new approaches to data collection, data analysis, and representation of research outcomes.
Urbanites research group hosts a multidisciplinary group of urban researchers – social scientists, architects, and urban planners. This variety of paradigms and epistemologies establishes fertile foundations for interdisciplinary research, enriching a better understanding of socio-spatial relations and how to make better urban spaces for social and environmental well-being. Alongside our reflection of how urban planning ought to maintain and nourish urban residents, we also develop critical statements regarding urban redevelopment as it is practiced nowadays. We investigate the multi scalar complexities of urban development and regeneration actions and policies by juxtaposing them against social and spatial justice issues. Urbanites strive to contribute to the development of ethical planning, which considers environmental, social, cultural, psychological and economic needs as they are represented in diverse manners among different groups and landscapes.