Transition Engineering Lab on the Housing Ecosystem. The Problem of Finding an Affordable, Decent Place to Live, within a Net Zero Community. A breakthrough in the accelerated transition of cities to net zero, thriving environments.

This project will be based at Heriot Watt Orkney campus.

Rapid emissions reductions[1] require transition of personal transport and freight, and reduction of energy in buildings and embedded in vehicles, and construction in urban areas. All these emissions sources converge in complex ways in the urban form and activity systems. Research in urban geography, transport and urban design have been highlighting the complex problems with the car-dominated human geography, equity and wellbeing, and current institutions’ inability to solve these problems.[2] Transport planning delivers automobile mobility and road-centred urban forms[3] through a complex interplay of profit taking, politics of public infrastructure, land speculation and property development.[4] The car-dominated cities are a wicked problem, and we will apply Transition Engineering to develop projects that shift net zero futures into view.[5]

This research project asks the question: “How can we engineer the just and resilient transition of cities?   The subject area is designing and developing a virtual exploration and digital economy interface that delivers a system by which urban residents and businesses fit into the urban form, downshift the need for cars and fossil energy use and regenerate urban environments?”

People gravitate to urban places because of the rich activity web. The urban activity web includes work, school, food, outdoor spaces, community and social activities, and government and medical services. Our preliminary investigations have shown that the ability of households to find a residential location that is affordable and situated within their activity webs, so that they do not require a personal vehicle, is severely limited under the current market and development institutions.

We propose to apply the Transition Engineering Lab Process to design and demonstrate a new kind of “PlaceFinder” Data Exchange, Modellization and Observatory (DEMO) platform  can improve the probability that a household can fit within their activity web. It is possible to build a GIS interactive interface based on Google Maps that allows residents to build their activity web using some kind of entertaining or informative interaction. Once the activity web is mapped, residents can explore their adaptive capacity for being able to enjoin a car-free lifestyle and to “shop” for virtual properties that optimise their affordable activity web. The aggregate data from the PlaceFinder DEMO platform will be essential for modelling housing availability, public and  business opportunities and to drive investment. Development zones, transition of car transport infrastructure, and policies can be informed by the aggregate results. The game aspect of the PlaceFinder DEMO will create the transition experience of the city.

The research will be carried out with Aquatera and Urban Tide who will provide the route to commercial development at scale. Aquatera have experience in GIS data and applications for environmental assessment of renewable developments. Aquatera are partners with the Islands Centre for Net Zero (ICNZ). EMEC is the project manager for the ICNZ including the Transition Lab PlaceFinder_DEMO project.

M1- Background Research into the system (market, regulation, social capacities) for gaining access to housing.  

M2- Frameworks for performance metrics.

M3-   Carry out the InTIME Design for the housing crisis wicked problem and fully develop the PlaceFinder DEMO concept

M4-   Implement the concept with a commercial partner and test functionality.

M5-  Analyse the data and improve the DEMO

M6-   Critical examination of the results and developing conclusions.

M7-    Conduct business and council workshops for the Scottish Highlands and Islands

M8 – Publish and disseminate the findings

 

The supervisory team brings the following skill sets to the project:

Susan Krumdieck: Energy Transition Engineering, Transport systems, Transport as an energy system, Urban form and energy, Community activity systems

Funding

The project is funded for 3.5 years and covers the PhD fees and provides a stipend (currently £18,662 per annum). The project will be carried out as part of the Islands Centre for Net Zero (ICNZ) Transition Lab activities based in the Scottish Islands, and located at the HWU Orkney ICIT campus, and with future collaboration with the HWU Net Zero GRI. The project will be part of the Entrepreneurial effort of the ICNZ and will be aimed at commercialisation of the developed IP.

Eligibility

This project is available to UK and International students. The successful candidate will have a B.Sc. (2:1 or higher) and M.Sc. (distinction) or equivalent, and ideally additional experience in computer science, engineering, ideally with some experience of applying these skills to other disciplines (e.g. in social sciences, transport, urban form, buildings and built environment, community activities). You will have good programming skills, preferably in Python, ArcGIS, game development or other advanced programming languages. Knowledge of transportation engineering, building energy science, or freight supply chain would be beneficial. You will be highly self-motivated and confident enough to seek out solutions beyond the current team if required. You must be able to describe complex issues to the range of stakeholders.

 

How to apply

To apply you must complete our online application form. 

Please select PhD Environment and include the full project title, reference number and supervisor (Prof SP Krumdieck) on your application form. Ensure that all fields marked as ‘required’ are complete.

Once have entered your personal details, click submit. You will be asked to upload your supporting documents. You must complete the section marked project proposal; upload a supporting statement documenting your reasons for applying to this particular PhD project, and why you are an ideal candidate for the position.  You will also need to provide a CV, a copy of your degree certificate/s and relevant transcripts.

You will be asked to enter details of an academic referee who will be able to provide a technical reference.

You must also provide proof of your ability in the English language (if English is not your mother tongue). We require an IELTS certificate showing an overall score of at least 6.5 with no component scoring less than 6.0, or a TOEFL certificate with an overall score of at least 85, including reading 20, listening 19, speaking 20 and writing 21. Alternatively, if you have received an English-taught Bachelors or Masters degree from one of the countries listed on the UK Government Guidance under ‘Who does not need to prove their knowledge of English’, and it was obtained less than two years from your intended start date, you should provide evidence of your award that clearly states it was delivered and assessed in English language.

 

Please contact Prof Susan Krumdieck (S.Krumdieck@hw.ac.uk) for further information or an informal discussion.
 

Time-lines

Applications will be reviewed as they are received until a successful candidate has been appointed. Applicants will ideally be available to start in May 2024 but must be available to start by September 2024.