UDP Travel Bursary 2026: Isaac Auger

This year, the School of the Built Environment offered students (studying Urban Design) the opportunity to apply for an Urban Design and Planning Travel Bursary to help cover travel costs for their Dissertation fieldwork. Three students were awarded the UDP Travel Bursary and here is the report on how the bursary was used by Isaac Auger... 

Translating Historic Urban Principles into Contemporary Housing: A Comparative Study of Spatial Structure and Urban Character in Saffron Walden.

Funding from the UDP Travel Bursary allowed me to undertake multiple fieldwork trips to Saffron Walden. These trips involved a spatial and morphological analysis of my three case study sites, photographic documentation, street and block analysis, a structured visual preference survey, and a number of semi structured interviews. My research focuses on a comparative analysis between the historic town centre and two contemporary residential developments, evaluating how urban principles have been translated into modern housing schemes.

Being awarded the UDP Travel Bursary has enabled me to complete necessary fieldwork and will help to ensure that my research project is of high academic quality. I am sincerely grateful for this support.

For more information about our courses in Urban Design, click below:

BA Sustainable Urban Design and Planning

MA/PGD Urban Design

UDP Travel Bursary 2026: Varvara Barbinova

This year, the School of the Built Environment offered students (studying Urban Design) the opportunity to apply for an Urban Design and Planning Travel Bursary to help cover travel costs for their Dissertation fieldwork. Three students were awarded the UDP Travel Bursary and here is the second report on how the bursary was used from Varvara Barbinova... 

The UDP Travel Bursary gave me the opportunity to undertake fieldwork in Margate, the case study for my undergraduate research project exploring how culture-led regeneration shapes the everyday inclusion of young adults and affects their sense of belonging. Margate is a brilliant example of neighbourhood regeneration driven by the establishment of the Turner Contemporary gallery, and visiting the town gave me valuable insights into the everyday life of local residents, their engagement with the cultural institution and their perceptions of the social and economic transformations that have taken place over the past 15 years.

I was able to visit Margate twice for my research. The first trip was primarily dedicated to conducting interviews, while the second focused on on-street observations of the town’s public spaces. I explored different parts of Margate, walking through the places people use most frequently and speaking to residents who were willing to share their experience. I also documented the physical characteristics of public spaces to evaluate how the regenerated areas function in practice.

The most impactful part of the experience was the importance of engaging directly with the community. Before the fieldwork, I faced a lot of rejections and ghosting while trying to recruit participants online. People were not engaging with a stranger on the internet, and I almost lost hope. However, once I arrived in Margate, I met so many wonderful people who were happy to learn about my research, share their experience, and become part of my project.

The bursary also strengthened my confidence as an independent researcher. Organising interviews in person, conducting field observations, meeting local residents and discussing my research pushed me outside of my comfort zone. But I am grateful that I had this opportunity, as I enjoyed the experience much more than if I had simply stayed behind my laptop.

I am extremely grateful that I was given this support that made this research possible.

For more information about our courses in Urban Design, click below:

BA Sustainable Urban Design and Planning

MA/PGD Urban Design

UDP Travel Bursary 2026: Rehma Saeed

This year, the School of the Built Environment offered students (studying Urban Design) the opportunity to apply for an Urban Design and Planning Travel Bursary to help cover travel costs for their Dissertation fieldwork. Three students were awarded the UDP Travel Bursary and here is the first report on how the bursary was used from Rehma Saeed... 

I applied for the UDP Travel Grant 2026 because I believed it would enhance my dissertation research on the importance of climate-adaptive urbanism in the UK, with a specific focus on London, by allowing for trips to London to conduct site visits and interviews in person rather than relying solely on secondary sources.

I was awarded £90 towards this travel. While the panel initially suggested some interviews could be conducted online, I discussed this with my supervisor, and we agreed that an in-person site visit and interview would provide stronger and more contextually grounded data.

My interview with Kristen Guida (Head of Climate and Community Resilience at GLA).

The site visit allowed me to observe conditions directly relevant to my research, including areas of London affected by overheating and surface-water flooding. This gave practical context to the risks discussed in policy documents and the London Climate Resilience Review and clarified how climate vulnerability is unevenly distributed across the city.

The interview component was central to the value of this trip. I met with the Head of Community and Climate Resilience at the Greater London Authority at her office, and she provided practitioner insight that would not have been accessible through documentary analysis alone. Visiting her office was valuable not only for the research itself but also as a student in this field; being shown around and seeing how things operate in practice was an experience I genuinely cherish.

Her perspective on the institutional and cultural barriers to climate adaptation in Britain has directly informed several arguments in my analysis chapters. Overall, the bursary enhanced my data collection process and was a genuinely valuable addition to my research, giving it a level of practical grounding that secondary sources alone could not have provided and I am grateful for this opportunity.

Dense tarmac and concrete surfaces with minimal tree canopy,
illustrating urban heat island (UHI) vulnerability
directly outside the interview site at Palestra House.

Riverside walkway near Blackfriars Bridge consisting of a tree-lined path
and vertical greening on adjacent buildings, contrasting with the
tarmac-dominated conditions on Blackfriars Road and illustrating
small-scale mitigation efforts within London’s blue-green infrastructure strategy.

For more information about our courses in Urban Design, click below:

BA Sustainable Urban Design and Planning

MA/PGD Urban Design

Urban Design End of Year Show 2026: EVOLUTION

 

For 2026, the theme of the Urban Design End of Year Show was: EVOLUTION. 

Students from MA Urban Design and the BA (Sustainable) Urban Design and Planning have explored the idea of evolution in the built environment. I went along a few days after it opened to take some photos...

Find out more about our courses here:

MA Urban Design 

BA (Sustainable) Urban Design and Planning 

Urban Design 2024: first year competition

Laura Novo de Azevedo recently organised an 'in module' competition for the first year module 'Cities in Historic Contexts'. The brief was: create and Illustrate your idea of a good place which reflects the learning in the module. You will use any means that you'd like to explore such as AI, collage, photography, physical model, sketchup or video to visually show what a good place looks like from your professional perspective. Describe the qualities of this place in max 100 words (or use voice recording if creating a video). 

And the results: it was a very interesting exercise where students could quickly explore concepts around placemaking with the use of creative methods. AI seemed very powerful in providing quick sketchy responses whilst the use of video added a personal dimension that we didn't see in the AI submissions. it was very good to have a selection of different media. Congratulations to everyone that took part and especially to the following...

Overall winner: Eliza Allen 

2nd place: James Rumble

3rd Place: Gabriel Sankersingh

And...honourable mention for creativity: Lucas Pimentel

See all the entries on Padlet.

Click here for more information about the BA Urban Design, Planning and Development at Oxford Brookes. 

Urban Design End of Year Show 2024: CO-DWELLING WITH NATURE

For 2024, the theme of the Urban Design End of Year Show is: CO-DWELLING WITH NATURE. 

Students from MA Urban Design, the MArchD Urban Design and the BA Urban Design, Planning and Development have explored the idea of co-dwelling with nature in the built environment. The show is open until 5 July from 10am to 4pm each day and is located on the second floor of the Abercrombie Building on our Headington campus. Come and take a look!

Click here for further details.

I went along a few days after it opened to take some photos...

Don't forget to visit! The show is open until Friday 5 July from 10am to 4pm each day and is located on the second floor of the Abercrombie Building on our Headington campus. 

Urban Design End of Year Show 2023: Experimentation

“Without the possible, the desirable is little more than a dream. Without the desirable, the possible is boring” (Jacob F, Of Flies, Mice and Men, 1998).

For 2023, the theme of the Urban Design End of Year Show is: EXPERIMENTATION. 

Students from MA Urban Design, the MArchD Urban Design and the BA Urban Design, Planning and Development have explored experiments and visions to improve the material and immaterial organisation of built environments. The show is open until Sunday 9 July from 10am to 4pm each day and is located on the second floor of the Abercrombie Building on our Headington campus. Come and take a look!

Click here for further details.

I went along a few days after it opened to take some photos...

Don't forget to visit! The show is open until Sunday 9 July from 10am to 4pm each day and is located on the second floor of the Abercrombie Building on our Headington campus.