Professor Juliet Davis MA DipArch (Cantab) R.I.B.A. PhD
Head of the Welsh School of Architecture
- DavisJP@cardiff.ac.uk
- +44 29208 75497
- Bute Building, Room 2.56, King Edward VII Avenue, Cardiff, CF10 3NB
- Available for postgraduate supervision
Overview
Responsibilities
- Head of School
- Contributor to History, Theory and Urban Design teaching
External activities
- British Book Reviews Editor for Planning Perspectives (Taylor and Francis journal) (from 2019)
- Editorial Board member of Planning Perspectives (Taylor and Francis journal) (from 2019)
- External Examiner for the London Met School of Art, Architecture and Design MA Architecture, Cities and Urbanism (2021-)
- External Examiner for the Kent School of Architecture BA (Hons) (2018-)
- External Examiner for the Leicester School of Architecture MArch (2014-2018)
- Examiner of higher degree work (at Cambridge University (2012, 2015-2018) and Bristol University (2013))
- Chartered member of the Royal Institute of British Architects
Other information
I am a Professor of Architecture and Urbanism.
Publication
2022
- Davis, J. 2022. Maintenance and repair as care with generosity. In: McVicar, M., Kite, S. and Drozynski, C. eds. Generosity and Architecture. London: Routledge, pp. 173-188.
- Butler, T., Cohen, P., Davis, J., Dorrington, D., Gardner, J. and Larkin, N. 2022. Groudbreakers - Immersive trail and guide. [Online]. London: LivingMaps Network, London. Available at: https://www.livingmaps.org/groundbreakers
- Davis, J. 2022. The caring city: ethics of urban design. Bristol: Bristol University Press.
- Davis, J. 2022. Research symposium: epidemics, planning and the city. Presented at: Epidemics, Planning and the City Symposium 2022, Virtual, 22 April 2022.
- Davis, J. 2022. Epidemics, planning and the city: a special issue of planning perspectives. Planning Perspectives 37(1), pp. 1-8. (10.1080/02665433.2022.2019982)
- Tam, L. 2022. Part III - Employment and Opportunities. In: Bernstock, P. et al. eds. State of the Legacy - Reviewing A Decade of Writing on the 'Regeneration' Promises of London 2012. UCL Urban Laboratory
2020
- Davis, J. 2020. Avoiding white elephants? The planning and design of London’s 2012 Olympic and Paralympic venues, 2002–2018. Planning Perspectives 35(5), pp. 827-848. (10.1080/02665433.2019.1633948)
- Davis, J. 2020. Education and global urbanisation. In: Taylor, H. and Wright, S. eds. Urban Schools: Designing for High Density. London: RIBA Publishing, pp. 11-21.
2019
- Davis, J. and Bernstock, P. 2019. Mega-events, urban transformation and displacement: A case study of employment and housing in London's 2012 Olympic site, 2005-2019. Presented at: RC21@Delhi: In and Beyond the City: Emerging Ontologies, Persistent Challenges and Hopeful Futures, New Delhi, India, 18-21 September 2019.
- Davis, J. 2019. Futurescapes of urban regeneration: ten years of design for the unfolding urban legacy of London’s Olympic Games, 2008–2018. Planning Perspectives 34(5), pp. 877-901. (10.1080/02665433.2018.1541757)
- Davis, J. and Groves, C. 2019. City/future in the making: masterplanning London’s Olympic legacy as anticipatory assemblage. Futures 109, pp. 13-23. (10.1016/j.futures.2019.04.002)
- Davis, J. 2019. Social housing maintenance and the ethics of care. Presented at: Festival of Maintenance, Liverpool, UK, 28 September 2019.
2018
- Davis, J. 2018. London 2012 and the Post-Olympics City: A hollow legacy? [Book Review]. Planning Perspectives 33(3), pp. 462-463. (10.1080/02665433.2018.1453283)
- Davis, J. 2018. Ethics of care in housing estate maintenance and regeneration: the case of the Balfron Tower in London. Presented at: 2018 IAG Urban Study Group Urban Theory Symposium: 'Cities of Care', Melbourne, Australia, June 14-15, 2018.
- Davis, J. P. 2018. The resilience of a London Great Estate: urban development, adaptive capacity and the politics of stewardship. Journal of Urbanism 11(1), pp. 103-127. (10.1080/17549175.2017.1360378)
- Davis, J. 2018. Obsolescence and transformability in London’s 2012 Olympic site. Presented at: 18th International Planning History Society Conference, Yokahama, Japan, July 15-19, 2018.
2017
- Davies, M., Davis, J. and Rapp, D. 2017. Dispersal: picturing urban change in east London. Swindon: Historic England Publishing.
- Davis, J. 2017. Cardiff's Coal Exchange: architecture and the social life of trade in 'black gold'. Presented at: Society of Architectural Historians, annual architectural conference, Glasgow, UK, 7-11 June 2017.
- Davis, J. 2017. Futurescapes of urban regeneration: ten years of planning the legacy of London’s 2012 Olympic Games. Presented at: 2nd International Conference on Anticipation 2017, London, UK, 8-10 November 2017.
2016
- Davis, J. 2016. Where did they go and how did they fare after the CPO? Evaluating the legacies of relocation for small businesses. Presented at: Evluating the legacy of the Olympic and Paralympic Games four years on, Centre for East London Studies, University of East London (UEL), London, 20 September 2016.
- Davis, J. 2016. The making and remaking of Hackney Wick, 1870-2014: from urban edgeland to Olympic fringe. Planning Perspectives 31(3), pp. 425-457. (10.1080/02665433.2015.1127180)
- Hall, S. and Davis, J. 2016. Worlding the studio: spatial experiments and the art of being social. In: Campkin, B. and Duijzings, G. eds. Engaged Urbanism: Cities and Methodologies. London: IB Tauris
2015
- Davis, J. 2015. Urban designs on deprivation: exploring the role of Olympic legacy framework masterplanning in addressing spatial and social divides. In: Viehoff, V. and Poynter, G. eds. Mega-Event Cities: Urban Legacies of Global Sports Events. Design and the Built Environment Farnham: Ashgate, pp. 63-74.
- Davis, J. 2015. The making and remaking of an urban edgeland: the role of boundaries in the planning and development history of Hackney Wick, East London 1870- 2014. Presented at: Society for American City and Regional Planning History Conference, Los Angeles, 5-8 November 2015.
2014
- Davis, J. 2014. Materialising the Olympic legacy: design and development narratives. Architectural Research Quarterly 18(4), pp. 299-301. (10.1017/S1359135515000032)
- Davis, J. 2014. A promised future and the open city: issues of anticipation in Olympic legacy designs. Architectural Research Quarterly 18(4), pp. 324-341. (10.1017/S1359135515000068)
- Adam, B. E. et al. 2014. Promise through the lens of time. Presented at: Futures in Question, Goldsmiths, University of London, 11-12 September 2014.
- Davis, J. 2014. Port City: urban and architectural designing for resilience. Cardiff University: Welsh School of Architecture. - teaching_resource
- Davis, J. 2014. Reflections on the deep structure of place: ruin and transformation, decay and construction. Architectural Research Quarterly 18(1), pp. 15-19. (10.1017/S1359135514000256)
- Davis, J., Wulff, F. and Guirnaldos Diaz, F. M. 2014. Heritage, culture and regeneration: the role of coal in the future of Cardiff Bay. Presented at: Heritage 2014: 4th International Conference on Heritage and Sustainable Development, Guimarães, Portugal, July 22-25, 2014Heritage 2014 – Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Heritage and Sustainable Development, Vol. 1. Green Lines Institute pp. 521-529.
2013
- Davis, J. 2013. Legacy by design: Exploring the potential role of masterplanning in sustainable regeneration in the wake of London’s Olympics. Presented at: Annual Conference of the Royal Geographical Society, London, UK, 28-30 August 2013.
- Davis, J. and Uffer, S. 2013. Governance of resilient urban form – cases from London and New York. Presented at: Resilient Planning: Concepts, Substance, Actions: Association of American Geographers Conference, Los Angeles, CA, USA, 8-13 April 2013.
- Davis, J. 2013. The fabric of the Games: The role of governance in creating sustainable physical legacies. Presented at: An unlikely success story? Olympic cities and the London 2012 experience, Association of American Geographers, Los Angeles, CA, USA, 8-13 April 2013.
- Davis, J. and Uffer, S. 2013. Evolving Cities: exploring the relations between urban form ‘resilience’ and the governance of urban form. Project Report. [Online]. London School of Economics: London School of Economics. Available at: https://lsecities.net/publications/reports/evolving-cities/
2012
- Davis, J. 2012. Planning for evolution and posterity: London’s Olympic legacy masterplan. Presented at: Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities Lecture Series, Cambridge University, Cambridge, UK, 13 Novermber 2012.
- Davis, J. 2012. The impact of the Olympics: making or breaking communities in East London [Blog]. British Politics and Policy at LSE 2012(11 Jul)
- Davis, J. 2012. Through the blue fence to the emerald city: from the contested to the envisioned public realm. In: Powell, H. and Marrero-Guillamón, I. eds. The Art of Dissent: Adventures in London's Olympic State. London: Marshgate Press, pp. 188-295.
- Davis, J. 2012. Urbanising the event: How urban pasts, present politics and future plans shape London’s Olympic legacy. PhD Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.
2011
- Davis, J. and Hall, S. 2011. City street: a studio exploration of 'High Street 2012'. London School of Economics. - teaching_resource
2010
- Tonkiss, F., Hall, S. and Davis, J. 2010. Olympic Fringe. The London School of Economics and Political Science. - teaching_resource
- Davis, J. and Thornley, A. 2010. Urban regeneration for the London 2012 Olympics: issues of land acquisition and legacy. City, Culture and Society 1(2), pp. 89-98. (10.1016/j.ccs.2010.08.002)
- Davis, J. 2010. Using the 2012 Olympic site's history to inform conceptualisations of 'interim use' in relation to legacy plans. Presented at: Legacy Now 5 + Legacy Plus: Interim Uses and East London's Olympic Legacy, London, UK, 2-4 March 2010.
- Davis, J. 2010. The (temporary) museum of Stratford. [Curated Exhibition]. Stratford Shopping Centre, London, UK, 26 June- 1 August 2010.
- Davis, J. 2010. Interim use - a designation or towards a way of life?. In: Wainwright, O. ed. Legacy Plus: Interim Uses and East London's Olympic Legacy. London: The Architecture Foundation, pp. 12-14.
- Davis, J. 2010. 'Towards Sustainable Community'? Community, consultation and the compulsory purchase of the site for the 2012 Olympic Games. In: Bolchover, J. and Solomon, J. D. eds. Sustain and Develop., Vol. 13. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, pp. 109-120.
2009
- Davis, J. 2009. Urban catalysts in theory and practice. Architectural Research Quarterly 13(3-4), pp. 295-306. (10.1017/S135913551000014X)
- Davis, J. 2009. 'Sustainable communities'? Community, consultation and the compulsory purchase of the site for the 2012 Olympic Games. Presented at: Writing Cities, London School of Economics & Political Science, London, UK, 2-4 June 2009.
- Davis, J. 2009. For whose ‘benefit’? Exploring the role of consultation in the compulsory purchase of the site for the 2012 Olympic Games. In: Hall, S., Fernández Arrigoitía, M. and Dinardi, C. eds. Writing Cities: How do views shape words? How do words shape cities?., Vol. 1. Working Papers Volume 1 London School of Economics and Political Science, pp. 44-56.
- Davis, J. 2009. ‘Sustainable communities’? Community, consultation and the compulsory purchase of the site for the 2012 Olympic Games. In: Solomon, J. and Bolchover, J. eds. Sustain and Develop., Vol. 13. New York: 306090 Books, pp. 109-120.
2008
- Davis, J. 2008. Re-imagining Bishopsgate goodsyard. Architectural Research Quarterly 12(1), pp. 12-25. (10.1017/S1359135508000894)
2007
- Davis, J. 2007. Envisioning regulation. Presented at: Regulating Design: The Practices of Architecture, Governance and Control, London, UK, 11-12 Novermber 2007.
0
- Davis, J. . The resilience of a London great estate. Presented at: International Planning History Society Conference: History, Urbanism, Resilience, Holland, 17 - 21 July 2016.
Articles
- Davis, J. 2022. Epidemics, planning and the city: a special issue of planning perspectives. Planning Perspectives 37(1), pp. 1-8. (10.1080/02665433.2022.2019982)
- Davis, J. 2020. Avoiding white elephants? The planning and design of London’s 2012 Olympic and Paralympic venues, 2002–2018. Planning Perspectives 35(5), pp. 827-848. (10.1080/02665433.2019.1633948)
- Davis, J. 2019. Futurescapes of urban regeneration: ten years of design for the unfolding urban legacy of London’s Olympic Games, 2008–2018. Planning Perspectives 34(5), pp. 877-901. (10.1080/02665433.2018.1541757)
- Davis, J. and Groves, C. 2019. City/future in the making: masterplanning London’s Olympic legacy as anticipatory assemblage. Futures 109, pp. 13-23. (10.1016/j.futures.2019.04.002)
- Davis, J. 2018. London 2012 and the Post-Olympics City: A hollow legacy? [Book Review]. Planning Perspectives 33(3), pp. 462-463. (10.1080/02665433.2018.1453283)
- Davis, J. P. 2018. The resilience of a London Great Estate: urban development, adaptive capacity and the politics of stewardship. Journal of Urbanism 11(1), pp. 103-127. (10.1080/17549175.2017.1360378)
- Davis, J. 2016. The making and remaking of Hackney Wick, 1870-2014: from urban edgeland to Olympic fringe. Planning Perspectives 31(3), pp. 425-457. (10.1080/02665433.2015.1127180)
- Davis, J. 2014. Materialising the Olympic legacy: design and development narratives. Architectural Research Quarterly 18(4), pp. 299-301. (10.1017/S1359135515000032)
- Davis, J. 2014. A promised future and the open city: issues of anticipation in Olympic legacy designs. Architectural Research Quarterly 18(4), pp. 324-341. (10.1017/S1359135515000068)
- Davis, J. 2014. Reflections on the deep structure of place: ruin and transformation, decay and construction. Architectural Research Quarterly 18(1), pp. 15-19. (10.1017/S1359135514000256)
- Davis, J. 2012. The impact of the Olympics: making or breaking communities in East London [Blog]. British Politics and Policy at LSE 2012(11 Jul)
- Davis, J. and Thornley, A. 2010. Urban regeneration for the London 2012 Olympics: issues of land acquisition and legacy. City, Culture and Society 1(2), pp. 89-98. (10.1016/j.ccs.2010.08.002)
- Davis, J. 2009. Urban catalysts in theory and practice. Architectural Research Quarterly 13(3-4), pp. 295-306. (10.1017/S135913551000014X)
- Davis, J. 2008. Re-imagining Bishopsgate goodsyard. Architectural Research Quarterly 12(1), pp. 12-25. (10.1017/S1359135508000894)
Book sections
- Davis, J. 2022. Maintenance and repair as care with generosity. In: McVicar, M., Kite, S. and Drozynski, C. eds. Generosity and Architecture. London: Routledge, pp. 173-188.
- Tam, L. 2022. Part III - Employment and Opportunities. In: Bernstock, P. et al. eds. State of the Legacy - Reviewing A Decade of Writing on the 'Regeneration' Promises of London 2012. UCL Urban Laboratory
- Davis, J. 2020. Education and global urbanisation. In: Taylor, H. and Wright, S. eds. Urban Schools: Designing for High Density. London: RIBA Publishing, pp. 11-21.
- Hall, S. and Davis, J. 2016. Worlding the studio: spatial experiments and the art of being social. In: Campkin, B. and Duijzings, G. eds. Engaged Urbanism: Cities and Methodologies. London: IB Tauris
- Davis, J. 2015. Urban designs on deprivation: exploring the role of Olympic legacy framework masterplanning in addressing spatial and social divides. In: Viehoff, V. and Poynter, G. eds. Mega-Event Cities: Urban Legacies of Global Sports Events. Design and the Built Environment Farnham: Ashgate, pp. 63-74.
- Davis, J. 2012. Through the blue fence to the emerald city: from the contested to the envisioned public realm. In: Powell, H. and Marrero-Guillamón, I. eds. The Art of Dissent: Adventures in London's Olympic State. London: Marshgate Press, pp. 188-295.
- Davis, J. 2010. Interim use - a designation or towards a way of life?. In: Wainwright, O. ed. Legacy Plus: Interim Uses and East London's Olympic Legacy. London: The Architecture Foundation, pp. 12-14.
- Davis, J. 2010. 'Towards Sustainable Community'? Community, consultation and the compulsory purchase of the site for the 2012 Olympic Games. In: Bolchover, J. and Solomon, J. D. eds. Sustain and Develop., Vol. 13. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, pp. 109-120.
- Davis, J. 2009. For whose ‘benefit’? Exploring the role of consultation in the compulsory purchase of the site for the 2012 Olympic Games. In: Hall, S., Fernández Arrigoitía, M. and Dinardi, C. eds. Writing Cities: How do views shape words? How do words shape cities?., Vol. 1. Working Papers Volume 1 London School of Economics and Political Science, pp. 44-56.
- Davis, J. 2009. ‘Sustainable communities’? Community, consultation and the compulsory purchase of the site for the 2012 Olympic Games. In: Solomon, J. and Bolchover, J. eds. Sustain and Develop., Vol. 13. New York: 306090 Books, pp. 109-120.
Books
- Davis, J. 2022. The caring city: ethics of urban design. Bristol: Bristol University Press.
- Davies, M., Davis, J. and Rapp, D. 2017. Dispersal: picturing urban change in east London. Swindon: Historic England Publishing.
Conferences
- Davis, J. 2022. Research symposium: epidemics, planning and the city. Presented at: Epidemics, Planning and the City Symposium 2022, Virtual, 22 April 2022.
- Davis, J. and Bernstock, P. 2019. Mega-events, urban transformation and displacement: A case study of employment and housing in London's 2012 Olympic site, 2005-2019. Presented at: RC21@Delhi: In and Beyond the City: Emerging Ontologies, Persistent Challenges and Hopeful Futures, New Delhi, India, 18-21 September 2019.
- Davis, J. 2019. Social housing maintenance and the ethics of care. Presented at: Festival of Maintenance, Liverpool, UK, 28 September 2019.
- Davis, J. 2018. Ethics of care in housing estate maintenance and regeneration: the case of the Balfron Tower in London. Presented at: 2018 IAG Urban Study Group Urban Theory Symposium: 'Cities of Care', Melbourne, Australia, June 14-15, 2018.
- Davis, J. 2018. Obsolescence and transformability in London’s 2012 Olympic site. Presented at: 18th International Planning History Society Conference, Yokahama, Japan, July 15-19, 2018.
- Davis, J. 2017. Cardiff's Coal Exchange: architecture and the social life of trade in 'black gold'. Presented at: Society of Architectural Historians, annual architectural conference, Glasgow, UK, 7-11 June 2017.
- Davis, J. 2017. Futurescapes of urban regeneration: ten years of planning the legacy of London’s 2012 Olympic Games. Presented at: 2nd International Conference on Anticipation 2017, London, UK, 8-10 November 2017.
- Davis, J. 2016. Where did they go and how did they fare after the CPO? Evaluating the legacies of relocation for small businesses. Presented at: Evluating the legacy of the Olympic and Paralympic Games four years on, Centre for East London Studies, University of East London (UEL), London, 20 September 2016.
- Davis, J. 2015. The making and remaking of an urban edgeland: the role of boundaries in the planning and development history of Hackney Wick, East London 1870- 2014. Presented at: Society for American City and Regional Planning History Conference, Los Angeles, 5-8 November 2015.
- Adam, B. E. et al. 2014. Promise through the lens of time. Presented at: Futures in Question, Goldsmiths, University of London, 11-12 September 2014.
- Davis, J., Wulff, F. and Guirnaldos Diaz, F. M. 2014. Heritage, culture and regeneration: the role of coal in the future of Cardiff Bay. Presented at: Heritage 2014: 4th International Conference on Heritage and Sustainable Development, Guimarães, Portugal, July 22-25, 2014Heritage 2014 – Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Heritage and Sustainable Development, Vol. 1. Green Lines Institute pp. 521-529.
- Davis, J. 2013. Legacy by design: Exploring the potential role of masterplanning in sustainable regeneration in the wake of London’s Olympics. Presented at: Annual Conference of the Royal Geographical Society, London, UK, 28-30 August 2013.
- Davis, J. and Uffer, S. 2013. Governance of resilient urban form – cases from London and New York. Presented at: Resilient Planning: Concepts, Substance, Actions: Association of American Geographers Conference, Los Angeles, CA, USA, 8-13 April 2013.
- Davis, J. 2013. The fabric of the Games: The role of governance in creating sustainable physical legacies. Presented at: An unlikely success story? Olympic cities and the London 2012 experience, Association of American Geographers, Los Angeles, CA, USA, 8-13 April 2013.
- Davis, J. 2012. Planning for evolution and posterity: London’s Olympic legacy masterplan. Presented at: Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities Lecture Series, Cambridge University, Cambridge, UK, 13 Novermber 2012.
- Davis, J. 2010. Using the 2012 Olympic site's history to inform conceptualisations of 'interim use' in relation to legacy plans. Presented at: Legacy Now 5 + Legacy Plus: Interim Uses and East London's Olympic Legacy, London, UK, 2-4 March 2010.
- Davis, J. 2009. 'Sustainable communities'? Community, consultation and the compulsory purchase of the site for the 2012 Olympic Games. Presented at: Writing Cities, London School of Economics & Political Science, London, UK, 2-4 June 2009.
- Davis, J. 2007. Envisioning regulation. Presented at: Regulating Design: The Practices of Architecture, Governance and Control, London, UK, 11-12 Novermber 2007.
- Davis, J. . The resilience of a London great estate. Presented at: International Planning History Society Conference: History, Urbanism, Resilience, Holland, 17 - 21 July 2016.
Exhibitions
- Davis, J. 2010. The (temporary) museum of Stratford. [Curated Exhibition]. Stratford Shopping Centre, London, UK, 26 June- 1 August 2010.
Monographs
- Davis, J. and Uffer, S. 2013. Evolving Cities: exploring the relations between urban form ‘resilience’ and the governance of urban form. Project Report. [Online]. London School of Economics: London School of Economics. Available at: https://lsecities.net/publications/reports/evolving-cities/
Thesis
- Davis, J. 2012. Urbanising the event: How urban pasts, present politics and future plans shape London’s Olympic legacy. PhD Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.
Websites
- Butler, T., Cohen, P., Davis, J., Dorrington, D., Gardner, J. and Larkin, N. 2022. Groudbreakers - Immersive trail and guide. [Online]. London: LivingMaps Network, London. Available at: https://www.livingmaps.org/groundbreakers
teaching_resource
- Davis, J. 2014. Port City: urban and architectural designing for resilience. Cardiff University: Welsh School of Architecture. - teaching_resource
- Davis, J. and Hall, S. 2011. City street: a studio exploration of 'High Street 2012'. London School of Economics. - teaching_resource
- Tonkiss, F., Hall, S. and Davis, J. 2010. Olympic Fringe. The London School of Economics and Political Science. - teaching_resource
- Davis, J. 2012. Through the blue fence to the emerald city: from the contested to the envisioned public realm. In: Powell, H. and Marrero-Guillamón, I. eds. The Art of Dissent: Adventures in London's Olympic State. London: Marshgate Press, pp. 188-295.
Research
Research interests
- Planning history
- Urban Design (theory and practice)
- Urban regeneration
- Mega event cities
- Urban futures (including utopian, sustainable and alternative futures)
- Housing and communities (including affordable housing and ideas of community)
- Care, care ethics
I am an architect and scholar whose teaching and research lie mainly in the fields of Planning History and Urban Design. Three main interests inform my academic research.
First, I am interested in the role of urban/ architectural design in urban regeneration - in how the pasts and futures of sites of renewal are constructed and envisioned in this contexts, in how design is used to transform the image of places and the significance of this for existing communities/ inhabitants, in the use of 'iconic' or landmark buildings to draw new attention to places, in the impacts of piecemeal or comprehensive redevelopment and in how transformation unfolds as a process over time. I am particularly interested in the design and use of megaevents such as the Olympic in the transformation of cities, and in the transformation of industrial/ post-industrial urban landscapes.
Second, though in a related way, I am interested in how design anticipates the future, whether as a realm of open possibilities, of creative or speculative opportunity and/or of risk and uncertainty. Design is, of course, always future oriented and always involved in responding to anticipated futures and making futures. However, those futures may be recognised as more or less open, more or less certain, more or less controllable from a present standpoint. Linked to this, I am interested in the crucial role of governance and financing, as well as design, in the development of responses to distant or long-term challenges such as climate change.
Third, I am interested in how Urban Design shapes care practices and relations in cities and also in how it may embody an ethic of care in attending to the needs of human and more-than-human life both now and in the future. My research in this area encompasses design for accessibility, the design of urban atmospheres and design that may be seen to foster place attachment.
The first and second interests developed in the context of and are reflected in my AHRC-funded doctoral thesis 'Urbanising the Event', which I completed at the London School of Economics and Political Science in 2011. This examined the processes of envisioning and making a long-term legacy of urban regeneration for the 2012 Olympic site in East London, an area of the capital associated historically with industry and represented officially as one of the most deprived anywhere in the UK. Publications arising from this include a book, 'Dispersal: Picturing Urban Change in East London' (the publication of which was supported by a grant from the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art), and numerous articles focussed on different aspects of the history of planning and design for London's legacy since 2004 which have been published in peer-reviewed journals including arq, Planning Perspectives and Futures. These interests are also reflected in recent and ongoing research aimed at exploring the construction of the past through planning, focussing on the fate of historical buildings from the era of the city of Cardiff's coal trading boom and the combination of beliefs, views and ideas shaping their place in plans for the future.
The third interest is demonstrated particularly by my current book 'Care and the City: Ethics of Urbanism.' Responding to growing understandings of issues of care in 'extitutional' settings, the potential of informal care in urban spaces and the growing literature on inclusive design and wellbeing in cities, this considers the ways in which Urban Design might be thought of in terms of care – as fostering care relations and practices and also embodying an ethic of care. Across eight chapters and through twelve globally distributed case studies, it develops an argument about the nature of caring design and caring cities. It is due to be published by Bristol University Press in 2021.
Related to all three interests, I am currently guest-editing a special issue of the journal Planning Perspectives entitled 'Epidemics, Planning and the City' which sets out to explore how cities have confronted epidemics in the past through planning and development, and what lessons this offers for cities today adapting to the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
I speak regularly at conferences including those convened by the International Planning History Society (IPHS) and the Society of Architectural Historians (SAH).
I am involved in Cardiff University's interdisciplinary 'Future Matters Research Group' led by Emeritus Professor Barbara Adam and the Sustainable Places Institute. Within the Welsh School of Architecture, I am a member of the 'Urbanism' and 'History and Theory' research groups.
I am happy to receive enquiries and applications from potential PhD students interested in any of the above themes.
I am also very interested in possibilities to develop my research through research collaborations involving academic and/or industry partners. As a result of my research and professional backgrounds combined, I have skills in planning history, in undertaking and analysing expert interviews, in the spatial analysis (including mapping and photography) and in Urban Design theory and practice.
Teaching
I have taught at various levels of the school and in various courses since arriving in 2012. I give lectures on city/town planning history and theory including the Garden City Movement and New Urbanism, on the ideas of urban thinkers such as Ebenezer Howard, Le Corbusier, Jane Jacobs and Richard Sennett, on research methods related to design-based projects and dissertations, and on issues of contemporary urban design (social inclusivity, regeneration, resilience, community, comprehensive versus incremental change, and displacement/gentrification).
I have taught design in studio where the aim is to engage students critically in the dynamics and politics of urban projects and sites. Recent projects include a studio focussed on one of the planned communities forming part of the 2012 Olympic legacy in East London.
I have several PhD students working on topics broadly connected with my research interests, including contested heritage in Barcelona and politics of regeneration in Valencia.
Biography
Biography
I received my architectural education at Cambridge University, graduating in 1995 with a first-class degree (and the Edward S. Prior Prize for design) and, in 1999, with a Commendation for the Diploma in Architecture (RIBA Part II). I became a registered architect in 2001 and a Chartered Member of the RIBA in 2005. I worked at Stanton Williams Architects in London between 1995 and 1997, focusing predominantly on the extension and modernisation of the Royal National Theatre but also on Kew Gardens' Millennium Seed Bank.
At Eric Parry Architects (1999 – 2005), I worked on a number of projects including public realm improvements in the London Borough of Lambeth, an extension to the Wimbledon School of Art and the regeneration of St Martin-in-the-Fields in Trafalgar Square. I began to teach design in 2004, running the first year of the undergraduate design programme at Cambridge University (2004-2005) and, subsequently, running studios at Canterbury School of Architecture and the London School of Economics (LSE) (2008-2011).
I was an LSE Fellow between 2008 and 2011, co-leading the MSc City Design and Social Science studio at the Cities Programme. I completed an Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) PhD at the LSE in 2011. I took up a Senior Lectureship in Architecture at Cardiff University in late 2012 and was promoted to Reader in 2017. Since 2012, I have taught across the school's undergraduate programmes and I am currently the school's Director of Postgraduate Teaching and Co-Director of the MA Urban Design. I became Head of School in August 2021.
Supervisions
Main expertise
I am interested in supervising PhD students in the areas of:
- Planning History
- Urbanism
- Urban Design: history and theory
Supervision experience
Three current PhDs (four as first supervisor)
One completed PhD
Additional supervision interests
She is broadly interested in topics of:
- planning and design for urban change (practices, issues, alternatives)
- Regeneration (landscapes and housing)
- Post-Industrial Transformation/ Transition
- mega event cities and transformative urban legacies
- urban improvement: concepts and applications
- Making Urban Futures
- ethics and citymaking
In terms of research methods, she is particularly interested in visual research (design analysis, photography and maps) and historical research.
Current supervision

Ms Dilara Yaratgan
Research student