In August 2024, the RTPI issued a call to early career researchers to submit research proposals for an ECR Grant to fund a year-long planning project on any topic of relevance to the planning profession.
The grants this year are being funded by five RTPI English regions: South West, South East, North West, North East and West Midlands. Volunteer assessors from each of these regions came together in October to decide which projects to fund, based on the key criteria of project quality and likely usefulness of research outputs for the planning profession including practitioners, policy-makers and academics.
Now in our third year of providing these grants, the Institute has been delighted to see an increased number and quality of proposals submitted on a broad range of topics, of which three have been picked to receive a grant.
Project topic: Planning for social connectedness
RTPI Licentiate member Dr Hannah Grove of Kellogg College, University of Oxford will explore how built environment factors alter the social connectedness of older adults. The intention is to enhance the evidence base for planners on this topic, so they can improve the quality of urban places for the increasing number of older people who experience social isolation.
Through varied and innovative approaches, Dr Grove will conduct a study of the existing and ideal social worlds of older people outside their homes. The study will consider the role of the built environment in creating opportunities or barriers for social connectedness. It will then identify built environment interventions which could enhance the social experiences of older people in urban contexts. It will use this evidence to develop recommendations for planning policy. The project also involves Re-engage, a national charity whose mission is to reduce the social isolation of older people, as a research partner who will assist in recruiting participants.
Dr Grove said “I am delighted to be working with the RTPI, along with Re-Engage to carry out this research. The built and social environment plays a very important role in shaping everyday experiences and the ability to age well in place, and many older adults experience challenges related to social isolation while ageing in their communities. For planners to respond more effectively to this, we need to better understand the lived realities of older people experiencing social isolation and identify their social wishes and aspirations. This research will provide insight into how we can improve our local environments to enhance social connectedness”.
This project is due to start in Spring 2025 and is subject to final contract agreement.
Project topic: Planning for public health
Dr Meadhbh Maguire MRTPI will investigate how planning policies aimed at improving public health spread between local authorities in England. Dr Maguire is a Senior Policy Planner currently on secondment from Aberdeenshire Council and working part time with NESTA and Public Health Scotland. She will carry out this project as an independent researcher.
Using the specific case of takeaway food outlet regulation, the project will examine planning-policy clustering in relation to health within a cluster of four local government areas within the Northeast of England. The research will include interviews with planning and public health professionals who have been involved in the adoption of takeaway management zones to examine the key drivers of these policies. It will explore how health-focussed planning policy clusters form, and the extent to which these are distinct from other non-health focussed planning policies.
Dr Maguire said “There is growing recognition that the planning system should utilise its role to promote healthier environments and have effective tools to prevent the proliferation of health-harming products within the built environment. While local government areas with planning policies regulating takeaway food outlets are geographically widespread, those with health-focused planning policies specifically have been found to cluster together. By examining one such cluster in North East England, the research aims to identify the key drivers and barriers of health-focussed planning policy diffusion. The findings are likely to be of interest to planners and public health officials seeking to take forward health-focussed planning policies.”
Project topic: Digital skills in planning
Charlotte Morphet MRTPI of Leeds Becket University will research digital planning skills in the education of planners and the expectations of employers, with support from Birmingham City University. The current cohort of planning students have grown up in the digital age, yet there is limited understanding of the digital skills and knowledge they possess, and how these evolve through planning education and align with expectations of their future employers. The research aims to offer fresh perspectives on the practical implementation of digital planning by understanding this. Insights into this alignment could help improve the way digital planning skills are taught in planning schools; and help clarify what support needs to be provided after university.
Data will be collected through a digital survey distributed to planning schools, RTPI Young Planners and Young POS (part of the Planning Officers Society), and EDI networks within planning (e.g. BAME Planners Network, Women in Planning and Neurodiversity in Planning). Focus groups will be conducted in four English regions - North East, West Midlands, South West and Greater London - with planning employers and will seek to understand their expectations regarding skills, knowledge, and experience required in this area.
Charlotte Morphet said "I am excited to receive this research grant and to be working with the RTPI and Birmingham City University. Understanding planning students' digital skills and how that aligns with employers' expectations could provide helpful insight for integrating more digital ways of working in planning practice and the profession."
