Dr Lauren Andres
Urbanist


This personal website complements the (non regularly updated) information you may find on my staff profile at the University of Birmingham.

So who am I?

 I am an urban planner with over 15 years of experience within the field of urban transformations, including more than ten years in UK Higher Education. My research focuses on understanding ‘urban transformations’, at different spatial and temporal scales and examined through different conceptual lenses. It has a wide geographical reach: Europe (UK, France, Switzerland), South and East Africa, Brazil and Russia. I have successfully led and co-led thirteen interdisciplinary projects, with a strong European and international dimension and secured over £2M of research funding as PI and Co-I.  I have also trained planning students in the UK and in France. In both countries the teaching cohorts included home and overseas students which  has provided me with experience of addressing the challenges of very diverse students, with distinct learning skills, cultures and expectations. 
 
My research contribution has been in the field of planning and urban studies informed by interdisciplinary collaborations. This allowed me to:
  • deconstruct the ‘trajectory’ of transformation of spaces within small and large scale regeneration, exploring both past, present and future dynamics;
  • open a new field of enquiry for scholars and practitioners in decrypting urban temporalities and their role for what I have labelled weak planning and master planning;
  • reflect upon the challenges faced to implement sustainable and resilient planning at community, city and regional levels; d) developing systems thinking about cities, where planning, economic development, transport and environmental policy are viewed holistically, to tackle key economic and environmental challenges, including air pollution and
  • assess the needs and challenges of altering Higher Education planning education and the practice environment in changing and very diverse planning systems.

​To achieve this, not only do I mobilise planning history, debates and a more contemporary re-interrogations of planning concepts and theories but I also bridge disciplines across urban studies, opening  new avenues for intellectual endeavour supported by grant capture.