Historical Urbanism is an AHRC-funded interdisciplinary research project that aims to understand how urban design influenced by historical and heritage data can be used to address issues such as ethnic/religious/class segregation in cities, as well as contributing to environmental sustainability and better public health. The project team is made up of academic researchers from Ulster University with interests in history, policy, architecture and design, planning, psychology, and peace and conflict studies. They are joined by project partners in local government departments of planning, regeneration and the environment; partners in the museums and heritage sector, and creative social entrepreneurs who provide digital fabrication skills to people living in an area of high unemployment and low educational attainment.
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1970s public housing development in the
Fountain estate in Derry-Londonderry
Photo: Dr Adrian Grant
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The project begins from the premise that good urban design should be cognisant of the needs of the people who live in, and use, the space in question. Therefore, urban design and regeneration projects should build from and be respectful of emotional connections to space and place formation. We intend to explore these connections through a historical prism by focusing on emotional memory and the connections people feel to the spaces in which they have lived, worked and socialised throughout their lives. The resultant research data will then be used to facilitate collaborative work between the researchers, case study area residents, local stakeholders, and planners, designers and architects.
The research team are Adrian Grant (Principal Investigator), David Coyles (Co-Investigator) and Brandon Hamber (Co-Investigator). Working closely with Derry City and Strabane District Council and the The Nerve Centre. The project runs from January 2019 — January 2021.
