Staff involved: Paul Cheshire, Christian Hilber, Rosa Sanchis-Guarner, Charles Palmer, Ted Pinchbeck
Urban development and land use regulation affect the environment in manifold ways. While it seems obvious that urban form and regulations - via influencing transport behaviour and the built environment - matter for environmental change, little is known about the exact mechanisms that govern the relationship. In this project we explore some of these channels.
A first sub-project provides a global perspective. We exploit a worldwide panel of cities to analyse the link between urban development and air pollution (Hilber and Palmer).
In a second sub-project (Hilber, Palmer & Pinchbeck) we investigate the impact of preservation policies (Conservation Areas and Listed Buildings) on domestic energy consumption in England.
We first analyse the impact of rising national gas prices on energy efficiency installations and domestic energy consumption. Next, we explore to what extent energy savings in buildings are adversely affected by preservation policies.
A final sub-project (Cheshire, Hilber, Sanchis-Guarner) focuses on the retail market and explores the impact of Town Centre First Policies on average shopping distance and travel times.