Andrew Ivins

Publication

• Date
• Type

Research

My PhD research seeks to explore how consultation data is valued by local planning authorities, alongside other forms of data, in complex decision making. Drawing on the philosophy of critical realism, this research links the interaction of institutions and organisational structures, the agency of practitioners, and how political rationalities and local context present themself in a framework of value determination. The research argues that if planning decision-making is concerned with the facts that matter, it is important to understand how the facts that matter are established.  

Research grants awarded

Public Health Wales Research Grant - 'Delivering public health and well-being priorities through development plans in Wales'. Awarded for project period: February 2025 - March 2025. Principal investigator: Dr Neil Harris. Co-investigators: Dr Matthew Wargent, Andrew Ivins

Royal Town Planning Institute Early Career Small Research Grant - 'Families, free-time, and car dependency: identifying the qualities of family and leisure mobility decisions'. Awarded for project period: February 2023 - September 2023. Principal investigator: Andrew Ivins. Co-investigator: Dr Justin Spinney

Conference presentations and workshops

'Determining the facts that matter in complex decision-making: a critical realist framework of identifying valid knowledge in planning', presented at the UK & Ireland Planning Research Conference 2026, 07-09 September 2026, Cardiff, UK.

'Mobilities of care and the economy of qualities', presented at the Royal Geographical Society Conference 2026, 01-04 September 2026, London, UK.

'Determining the facts that matter in complex decision-making: a critical realist framework of identifying valid knowledge in planning', presented at the World Planning Schools Congress 2026, 30 June - 03 July 2026, Helsinki, Finland.

'The importance of load carrying and accompanied journeys in family and leisure mobility decisions: implications for transport planning and vehicle design', presented at the UK & Ireland Planning Research Conference 2023, 04-06 September 2023, Glasgow, UK.

'Families, free-time, and car dependency: identifying the qualities of family and leisure mobility decisions', workshop delivered at the RTPI Cymru Wales Planning Conference 2023, 22 June 2023, Cardiff, UK.

'How public participatory data becomes valued (or not): framing the value making process', presented at the UK & Ireland Planning Research Conference 2022, 05-07 September 2022, Manchester, UK.

Blogs

'The challenges of family and leisure car dependency' by Andrew Ivins. Blog published by the RTPI, 15 November 2024. Available at: https://www.rtpi.org.uk/blog/2024/november/andrew-ivins-the-challenges-of-family-and-leisure-car-dependency/ 

Book reviews

'Posthuman Architectures: a catalogue of archetypes' by Jacopo Leveratto. Review published in Urban Design Journal, Issue 164, Autumn 2022.

Teaching

My current (2026/27) teaching includes

Undergraduate teaching and supervision

• Year 1 - Property, Urban Development and Regeneration (module leader)
• Year 2 - Engaging Communities 
• Year 3 - Planning theory and practice
• Year 3 - Planning Research Project (module leader)

Postgraduate teaching and supervision

• Digital Planning and Development
• Critical planning practice and research (module leader)
• Dissertation supervisor

My previous teaching has included

Undergraduate

• Year 1 - Key issues in urban planning
• Year 1 - Society, diversity, and planning
• Year 1 - Making knowledge: evidence and practice
• Year 1 - Designing places and plans
• Year 3 - Digital planning

Postgraduate

• Live project for eco-city deveopment
• Planning for sustainability

Biography

Qualifications

• Fellow of Higher Education Academy (FHEA), Cardiff University, UK (2023)
• MSc Social Science Research Methods (Environmental Planning), Distinction, Cardiff University, UK (2021)
• BA (hons) History, University of Wales Swansea, UK (2006)