A cross university research project, led by the School's Chair in Global City Futures, Professor Ya Ping Wang, has been awarded a grant of £7.1 million to create a Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) Centre for Sustainable, Healthy and Learning Cities and Neighbourhoods (CSHLC). 

The Centre will strengthen research capacity among urban researchers, government officials and policy makers in developing countries and the UK, and conduct comparative studies of urbanisation and urban neighbourhoods to address the challenges caused by large-scale rural to urban migration.

Professor Wang will work with colleagues in Urban Studies, Education, and Health and Wellbeing, alongside international partners including the University of Rwanda, Nankai University in China, and the University of the Philippines. The project will study urban transformations in both large and small cities in the following countries: South Africa – Cape Town and Johannesburg; Tanzania – Dar es Salaam and Ifakara; Rwanda – Kigali and Butare; India – Delhi and Meerut; Bangladesh – Dhaka and Khulna; China – Chongqing and Datong; Philippines – Manila and Batangas.

The Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) is a £1.5bn fund which supports cutting-edge research and innovation that address the global issues faced by developing countries. It forms part of the UK Government’s Official Development Assistance commitment and is overseen by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. 

First published: 26 July 2017

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