University of Glasgow

We're planning net-zero cities to make sustainable living a reality

Professor James White and colleagues in the UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence (CaCHE) are investigating how cities can be better planned and ‘retrofitted’ for net-zero living.

The Urban Retrofit UK research project will work with partners across the UK and internationally to investigate urban retrofit successes and challenges, including barriers to scaling up.

In a £9.5million investment by the Economic and Social Research Council (ERSC), five projects will research place-based approaches to an environmentally sustainable future, providing evidence to support local and national decision making.

Professor White, from Glasgow’s School of Social & Political Sciences, will lead a team of researchers from Cardiff University, Dalhousie University, University of Sheffield, University of the West of England and the University of Ulster as they collaborate with other UK partners to identify and examine place-based urban retrofit case studies being delivered through local planning and development systems in Belfast, Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow and Sheffield.

The team plan to co-produce a framework mapping the critical points of intervention required to close the implementation gap between national policy and local delivery. This will form the basis of a toolkit for planning authorities, property developers and communities. An international urban retrofit hubs network will also be established to share learning.

Professor James White said: “The aim of this exciting research project is to dig deep into the challenges that planners and other city stakeholders face on the journey to net-zero. It offers a fantastic opportunity to work collaboratively with community, industry and public sector partners to highlight the ways in which places can be successfully adapted to support sustainable living.”

Head of UK Research and Innovation’s Creating Opportunities and Improving Outcomes strategic theme, Professor Alison Park said: “Research that is firmly rooted in understanding local areas, underpinned by extensive collaboration, will be crucial to building resilient communities across the UK. Coastal areas are a particularly important part of this endeavour because of the specific challenges they face, including those resulting from climate change and economic inequality.

“These exciting new place-based projects are excellent examples of UKRI’s support for impactful research spanning the length and breadth of the UK.”

The five Place-based Approaches to Sustainable Living research projects will support decision-making locally and nationally through a variety of case studies across the UK.

These co-produced interdisciplinary projects will involve and benefit multiple stakeholders, including local and national policymakers, communities and practitioners. They will provide enhanced understanding of, and solutions to, the challenges and barriers to place-based sustainable living.

By improving the evidence base around environmental initiatives, the projects will result in an enhanced understanding of environmental challenges and solutions that will bolster place-based resilience; and help the UK reach its net zero targets, as well as broader environmental, biodiversity and sustainability goals.