The Centre for Research in Environment and Society Research is explicitly trans-disciplinary which is indicated by the Centre's membership. The list of members follows:
David Boyd Centre Director; Professor of Construction
David Adams Lecturer in Planning
Abdul-Rasheed Amidu Lecturer in Real Estate
Claudia Carter Lecturer in Environmental Management
David Chapman Professor of Planning
Rachel Curzon Senior Lecturer in Planning
Peter Larkham Professor of Planning
Julian Lamb Senior Lecturer
Nick Morton Head, Birmingham School of the Built Environment
Mark Reed Reader in Interdisciplinary Environmental Research
Alister Scott Professor of Environmental and Spatial Planning
Ghasson Shabha Senior Lecturer
Julian Sidoli del Ceno Senior Lecturer
Nairaj Thurairajah Senior Lecturer in Quantity Surveying
Hong Xiao Senior Lecturer
Attached staff Visiting Professors and Researchers
Staff Profiles
David Adams
Lecturer in Planning
Birmingham School of the Built Environment
Tel: +44 (0) 121 331 7490
Email: david.adams@bcu.ac.uk
David is a planner whose current research focuses on questions of representation and experience of the urban realm.His research interests cut across the fields of urban form and urban design. He is particularly interested in how urban landscapes are shaped and the (continued) impacts and contested nature of post-Second World War reconstruction planning, with particular regard to Birmingham and Coventry, and is working on a PhD on this topic.
Recent Publications
Adams, D. (2013) 'Bold planning, mixed experiences: the diverse fortunes of post-war Birmingham', in Clapson, M. and Larkham, P.J. (Eds) The Blitz and its legacy: wartime destruction to post-war reconstruction Ashgate, Farnham (with P.J. Larkham)
Adams, D. (2012) 'Using web technology to increase levels of public participation in planning', Town Planning Review vol. 83 no. 6 pp. vii-xiii
Adams, D. (2011) ‘Everyday experiences of the Modern city: remembering the post-war reconstruction of Birmingham’ Planning Perspectives vol. 26 no. 2 pp. 237-261.
Larkham, P., and Adams D. (2010) ‘(Re)planning the metropolis: process and product in the post-war London’, paper presented at the Blitz and its Legacy conference, University of Westminster, September.
Adams, D. (2009) ‘Remembering the post-war reconstruction of Birmingham: everyday experiences of the Modern urban realm’, paper presented at the Annual Urban History Group Conference, ‘Crises and the city’, University of Warwick.
Adams, D. (2009) ‘Challenges to planning discourse and shifting the ‘planning gaze’’ paper presented at the AESOP annual conference, ‘Why can’t the future be more like the past', University of Liverpool, July.
Abdul – Rasheed Amidu
Lecturer in Real Estate
Birmingham School of the Built Environment
Tel: +44 (0) 121 331 7453
Email: abdul-rasheed.amidu@bcu.ac.uk
Abdul-Rasheed’s research activities focus on behavioural dimensions of the property market and investment decision-making, and the operation of property market in emerging economies. He has produced papers in the Journal of Property Research, Journal of Property Investment and Finance, Property Management and International Real Estate Review.
Of particular note is his work in the area of client influence and feedback pressure on valuations decision making, relationship between the real property market and the property stock market of emerging economies and real estate auctions analysis. He is now working on a PhD exploring valuation judgmental biases from the perspective of competence of expert valuers, seeing to demonstrate how that impacts their judgment performance in valuation problem solving.
Recent Publications
Amidu, A.-R. (2012) 'Investigating influences on real estate agents' ethical values: the case of real estate agents in Nigeria', International Journal of Strategic Property Management vol. 16 no. 3 pp. 298-315
Amidu, A.-R. (2011) 'Research in valuation decision making processes: educational insights and perspectives', Journal of Real Estate Practice and Education vol. 14 no. 1 pp. 19-33
Agboola, A.O., Ojo, O and Amidu A. (2010) ‘The Ethics of Real Estate Agents in Emerging Economies: A Cross-Sectional Survey of Agents and Service Consumers’ Perception in Nigeria’, Property Management. vol. 28 no.5 pp. 339-357
Amidu, A., and Agboola, A.O. (2009) ‘Empirical Evidence of the Influences on First-Price Bid Auction Premiums’, International Real Estate Review, Vol 12, No. 2, pp.157 – 170
Aluko, B.T., Omisore, O.E and Amidu, A., (2008) ‘Valuation of Yoruba Sacred Shrines, Monuments and Groves for Compensation’, in Simons R.A. et al. (eds.) Indigenous Peoples and Real Estate Valuation, American Real Estate Society, pp145-173
Amidu, A., Aluko, B.T. and, Hansz, J.A. (2008) ‘Clients Feedback Pressure and the Role of Estate Surveyors and Valuers’, Journal of Property Research, Vol. 25, No. 2, pp89 – 106
Amidu, A., Aluko, B.T. and Oyedele, J.B (2008) ‘Price Formation in Residential Property Market: Evidence from FGLP Auction in Nigeria’, Property Management, Vol. 26, No. 4, pp228 – 240.
Amidu, A., Aluko, B.T., Nuhu, M.B. and Saibu, M.O. (2008) ‘Real Estate Security and Other Investment Assets: A Comparison of Investment Characteristics in the Nigerian Stock Markets’, Journal of Property Investment and Finance Vol. 26, No. 2, pp151-161
David Boyd
Director of the Centre for Environment and Society Research / Professor of Construction
Birmingham School of the Built Environment
Tel: +44 (0) 121 331 7451
Email: david.boyd@bcu.ac.uk
Professor David Boyd’s research has strongly focused on numerous solar thermal heating projects including the group solar thermal project, Highlands Close in Islington which was funded by the EU. In addition, he has worked on further energy refurbishment projects including the massive operation involving 360 flats in North London.
Professor Boyd’s research interest incorporates the problems encountered in refurbishment, ways of managing obstacles and devising successful techniques for integrating new technologies into them. David Boyd is best known for his sociological and management perceptions within the construction industry and his major contribution has been to develop a model of projects as complex adaptive socio-technical systems for client and industry analysis. Work in this area has since developed with the extension of the concept of Knowledge Management with 10 construction SMEs in a DTI funded £211,000 research project. The project involved working on real and grounded events from practice in an action based research environment in the construction industry which subsequently evoked his interest the processes of learning and transferring knowledge.
David is currently completing research on expertise-in-practice funded by the AHRC which looks at eliciting perceptual knowledge and developing a technique to assist the project. David is a pioneer for the construction industry and has extensive contacts within many committees and networks in the fields of construction and sustainability. For more information on David’s work and current projects, please contact him via the telephone number or email address provided above.
Recent Publications
Boyd, D. 'Why don't public clients aggregate their purchase of construction materials over all projects to save money?', keynote address, International Congress on Construction Management Research, Montreal
Boyd, D. and Bentley, D. (2012) 'A critique of conceptions of design and management in construction projects', Construction Management and Economics vol. 30 no. 3 pp. 441-454
Boyd, D. and Xiao, H. (2010) 'Learning from cross-cultural problems in international projects: a Chinese case', Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management vol. 17 no. 6 pp. 549-562
Boyd D. (2007), Searching for a Unified Theory of Property and Construction, in proceedings of 1st Symposium Towards a Theory of the Built Environment, ISBN 9781905732296, Salford, 1 -19
Knight. T and Boyd. D (2008) An investigation into how property developers use their social networks to drive development. In: Dainty, A (Ed.), 24th Annual ARCOM Conference, 1-3 September 2008, Cardiff, UK. Association of Researchers in Construction Management, Vol. 1
Boyd D. and Chinyio E. (2006), Understanding the Construction Client, Oxford, Blackwell
Claudia Carter
Lecturer in Environmental Management
Birmingham School of the Built Environment
Tel: +44 (0) 121 331 5404
Email: claudia.carter@bcu.ac.uk
Claudia is a geographer and environmental manager with an academic and applied research background. Her research experience and interests concern:
- environmental governance issues, particularly eliciting different perspectives and values concerning environmental policy, land use planning and environmental management across different scales; civic society driven / inclusive processes; participatory monitoring and evaluation; environmental management; institutional analysis of environmental issues.
- human-nature relationship, especially landscape perceptions and values; joined-up and participatory spatial planning; meaning, influence and significance of nature in people’s lives.
- methodology, interdisciplinary approaches to research and environmental management; innovative methods and cross-cutting approaches to address complex problems; reflective and critical appraisal; links to theory and theory development.
Her ongoing research includes collaboration in the RELU-funded project 'Managing change at the rural-urban fringe'. Her previous work included projects at the local, national and European levels relating to environmental values, catchment management, creative approaches to participation and social perspectives in environmental management.
Past posts included Project Leader/Social Scientist at the Forestry Commission’s Research Agency - Forest Research (Farnham, England; 2006-2011); Researcher in the Socio-Economic Research Group (SERG) of the Macaulay Institute (Aberdeen, Scotland; 2002-2006), Research Associate in the Department of Land Economy at the University of Cambridge (1998-2001). For more information about Claudia’s work and current research, please contact her via the email address or telephone number provided above.
Recent Publications
Carter, C. and Scott, A.J. (2011) 'Spatial planning - new opportunities for environmental governance', Government Gazette (October) pp. 46-47.
Selman, P., Carter, C., Lawrence, A. and Morgan, C. (2010) ‘Re-connecting with a recovering river through imaginative engagement’, Ecology and Society vol. 15 no. 3.
Castán Broto V., Burningham, K.,Carter, C. and Elghali, L. (2010) ‘Stigma and attachment: performance of identity in an environmentally degraded place’, Society and Natural Resources vol. 23 no. 10 pp. 952-968.
Carter, C. and Pycroft, A. (2010) ‘Getting out: offenders in forestry and conservation work settings’, in Brayford, J., Cowe, F. and Deering, J. (eds) What else works? Creative work with offenders Willan, Uffculme.
Lawrence, A. and Carter, C. (2009) ‘Human behavioural and institutional change’, in Read, D. et al. (eds) Combating climate change - a role for UK forests. An assessment of the potential of the UK’s trees and woodlands to mitigate and adapt to climate change The Stationery Office, Edinburgh.
Scott, A., Carter, C., Brown, K. and White, V. (2009) ‘“Seeing is not everything”: exploring the landscape experiences of different publics’, Landscape Research vol. 34 no. 4 pp. 397-424.
David Chapman
Professor of Planning and Development
Birmingham School of the Built Environment
Tel: +44 (0)121 331 5411
Email: david.chapman@bcu.ac.uk
David Chapman’s research is an extension of his multidisciplinary background in the fields of architecture, planning, landscape and urban design, with the three inter-linked themes of Spatial Planning, Place-making and Transdisciplinary Integration. The challenges for synthesis between these complex spatially diverse and practically interrelated concerns are the central focus of his work.
Research concerning the integration of actions between interests, actors and disciplines in the built environment have taken educational and practical perspectives, and these have been informed by the opportunities and challenges presented for Spatial Planning and Place-making. For more information on David Chapman’s work and current projects, please contact him via the telephone number or email address provided above.
Publications
Chapman, D.W. (2012) 'Constructing places: integrating disciplines in built environment education', paper presented at the International Congress on Construction Management Research, Montreal
Chapman, D.W. (2011) 'Engaging places: localizing urban design and development planning', Journal of Urban Design vol. 16 no. 4 pp. 511-530
Chapman. D.W. (2009) 'Knowing our Places? Contexts and Edges in Integrating Disciplines in Built Environment Education', Journal for Education in the Built Environment, Vol. 4, Issue 2, December 2009 pp. 9-28 (20) ISSN: 1747-4205 (Online)
Chapman. D.W. (2008) Forward to Cassar, G. (2008) Planning Matters, Publishers Enterprise Group, Malta
Rachel Curzon
Senior Lecturer in Planning
Birmingham School of the Built Environment
Tel: +44 (0) 121 331 7486
Email: rachel.curzon@bcu.ac.uk
Rachel’s research interests include decision-making, stakeholder engagement, partnership working, corporate social responsibility and sustainability issues. Her PhD focused on analysing the processes and characteristics associated with varying levels of stakeholder engagement. Through this and other research at a local, national and European level expertise in surveys, interviews and case study, further analysis has been developed.
Rachel was involved in a two year European Commission Leonardo Programme (Europark) working with 12 partners across Europe to design and implement a training strategy which addressed issues of sustainable development. The outcome of the project was an e-learning facility and good practice manual published in English and Italian. In addition to this, Rachel is an Associate Editor for the International Journal of Green Economics which aims to establish effective communication between policy makers, government agencies, academic and research institutions and foster understanding and create solutions across all aspects of the economy and society.
She is also a reviewer for the International Journal of Learning. For more information about Rachel’s work and current research projects, please contact her via the email address or telephone number provided above.
Publications
Curzon, R.L. (2009) Processes and Characteristics of Land Use Change: Stakeholders, Decision Making, Conflict and Compromise in the Restoration of Former Mineral Sites in the UK (unpublished PhD thesis, Birmingham City University)
Curzon, R. (2009) 'Perceptions of stakeholder engagement – just what is it really?' International Journal of Green Economics vol. 3 no. 2
Curzon, R.L. (2008) Integrating stakeholders in major projects Faculty Working Paper no. 7, Faculty of Law Humanities, Development and Society, Birmingham City University (with D. Boyd)
Peter Larkham
Professor of Planning
Birmingham School of the Built environment
Tel: +44 (0) 121 331 7422
Email: peter.larkham@bcu.ac.uk
Peter has a variety of research interests that cover different aspects of urban form. He has a long-standing interest in conservation, and in recent years has been focusing on the replanning and reconstruction of British towns after the Second World War. He has published numerous papers in his field and built a worldwide reputation.
Peter was even interviewed for a Chinese newspaper on post-catastrophe reconstruction after the 2008 earthquake. Professor Larkham is currently working with Joe Nasr on aspects of heritage in the reconstruction plans, and the heritage of the reconstructed areas and buildings as they now become considered for redevelopment. Edited books on aspects of reconstruction are in progress with John Pendlebury (Newcastle and Erdem Erten (Izmir), and one with Mark Clapson (Westminster), The Blitz and its legacy, was published in early 2013.
He is Associate Editor for the international journals Planning Perspectives and Urban Morphology and is an active member in the international organisations that support them: the International Planning History Society and the International Seminar on Urban Form. Peter also has wide experience as a PhD supervisor and examiner. For more information on Peter’s work and current projects, please contact him via the email address or telephone number provided above.
Recent Publications
Larkham, P.J. (2013) 'Bold planning, mixed experiences: the diverse fortunes of post-war Birmingham', in Clapson, M. and Larkham, P.J. (Eds) The Blitz and its legacy: wartime destruction to post-war reconstruction Ashgate, Farnham (with D. Adams)
Larkham, P.J. (2013) The Blitz and its legacy: wartime destruction to post-war reconstruction Ashgate, Farnham (edited with M. Clapson)
Larkham, P.J. (2012) 'Exhibiting the city: planning ideas and public involvement in wartime and early post-war Britain', Town Planning Review vol. 83 no. 6 pp. 647-668 (with K.D. Lilley)
Larkham, P.J. (2012) 'Decision-making under duress: the treatment of churches in the City of London during and after World War II', Urban History vol. 39 part 2 pp. 285-309 (with J.L. Nasr)
Larkham, P.J. (2011) 'Drawing lines on maps: morphological regions and planning practices', Urban Morphology vol. 15 no. 2 pp. 133-151 (with N. Morton)
Larkham, P.J. (2010) 'Developing concepts of conservation: the fate of bombed churches after the Second World War', Transactions of the Ancient Monuments Society vol. 54 pp. 7-34
Larkham P. (2009) ‘Thomas Sharp and the Post-War Replanning of Chichester: Conflict, Confusion and Delay’, Planning Perspectives vol. 24 no. 1 pp. 51-75
Larkham P. (2008) ‘Reconstruction Planning and the Small Town in Early Post-War Britain’, Planning Perspectives vol. 23 no. 3 pp. 291-321 (with J.R. Pendlebury)
Larkham P. (2008) ‘Conservation and Heritage: Concepts and Applications for the Built Environment in the UK’, Journal of Urban and Regional Planning vol. 1, no. 3 pp. 165-185 (in Chinese translation)
Mark Reed
Reader in Interdisciplinary Environmental Research
Birmingham School of the Built Environment
Mark is an interdisciplinary environmental researcher specialising in knowledge exchange and stakeholder participation. He moved to Birmingham City University from Aberdeen and consolidates CESR's research in environmental issues, with his own significant profile including working with Alister Scott andcolleagues on the recent RELU project, and being involved with the National Ecosystems Audit follow-on project. "I welcome the opportunity at Birmingham City University to extend my work to cover wider built environments”.
For more information on Mark’s work, see the following links:
Latest papers
Reed, M. (2013) 'Anticipating and managing future trade-offs and complimentarities between ecosystem services', Ecology and Society vol. 18 no. 1 DOI: 10.5751/ES-04924-180105 (with K. Hubacek and colleagues)
Reed, M. (2012) 'What does the futuree hold for semi-arid Mediterranean agro-systems? exploring cellular automata and agent-based trajectories of future land-use change', Applied Geography vol. 35 pp. 474-490 (with D. Nainggolan and colleagues)
Reed, M. (2012) 'Knowledge exchange: a review and research agenda for environmental management', Environmental Conservation DOI: 10.1017/S037689291200029X
Knowledge management for land degradation assessment
Monitoring land degradation and sustainable land management from local to global scales
What is social learning?
Latest outreach
Making good ideas infectious: a short film about knowledge exchange
Look Again music video
Sustainable Uplands documentary
The King’s Dream children’s book
Top Twitter Tips for Academics
Latest presentations
Social media for research impact
Working with end users of research
How to become an effective knowledge manager
How to do stakeholder analysis
Payments for Peatland Ecosystem Services
Participatory development – the case of land degradation in southern Africa
Current projects
Sustainable Uplands: transforming knowledge for upland change (RELU)
Assessing and valuing peatland ecosystem services for sustainable management (NERC Valuing Nature Network)
Involved: what makes stakeholder participation in environmental management work? (British Academy)
Ecocycles: Interacting impacts of land use and climate changes on ecosystem processes (NERC/EU)
Payments for Ecosystem Services best practice guidelines (DEFRA)
Alister Scott
Professor of Environmental and Spatial Planning
Birmingham School of the Built environment
Tel: +44 (0) 121 331 7551
Email: alister.scott@bcu.ac.uk
Follow Alister on Twitter
Alister is a social scientist, geographer and chartered planner with research interests centred around the changing nature of governance and partnerships. His research particularly focuses on the ways sustainable development has been conceptualised and operationalised.
Alister's research work explores themes including specialist sustainable rural land use, spatial planning, public engagement and landscape problems. He is currently leading two work packages for the National Ecosystems Assessment and has just completed a research-council funded project 'Managing change at the rural-urban fringe' as part of the RELU initiative (Rural Economy and Land Use).
Alister’s previous roles have included Acting Science Leader Socio-Economic Research Programme (SERP) for the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute, Area Board Member for Scottish Natural Heritage, Director of Research for the Centre of Planning and Environmental Management at the University of Aberdeen and Director of Environmental Planning at the University of Waikato. He has evaluated policy processes and networks with a particular interest in governance and stakeholder involvement.
His work stresses the importance of the policy networks and social learning aspects of rural diversification, rural development and landscape designation and Alister has also been at the forefront of landscape research including the implementation of the European Landscape Convention. Alister has undertaken cross-territory comparisons and has also developed novel research approaches to capture the views of different public(s) through the lens of experience to be used to support interaction between stakeholders. He is in demand as a keynote speaker on spatial planning and has contributed to policy debates in, for example, the House of Commons magazine. For more information on Alister’s work and current projects, please contact him via the telephone number and email address provided above.
Read Alister's response to the National Planning Framework.
Recent Publications
Scott, A.J. (2013) 'The best laid plans', House magazine (of the House of Commons) 21 March p. 33
Scott, A.J. (2012) 'Getting active at the interface: how can sustainability reesearchers stimulate social learning?', in Wals, A.E.J. and Corcoran, P.B. (eds) Learning for sustainabilty in times of accelerating change, Wageningen Academic Publishers, Wageningen (with Glass, J. and Price, M.).
Scott, A.J. (2011) 'Focussing in on focus groups: effective participative tools or cheap fixes for land use policy?', Land Use Policy vol. 28 pp. 684-694.
Scott, A.J. (2011) 'Beyond the conventional: meeting the challenges of landscape governance within the European Landscape Convention?', Journal of Environmental Management vol. 92 pp. 2754-2762,
Scott, A.J. (2010) 'A black hole in planning', Planning issue 1888, 1 October p. 6
Scott, A.J. (2010) 'Spatial planning encounters a black hole', Town and Country Planning July/August pp. 326-327
Scott, A.J., Carter, C., White, V. and Brown, K. (2009) 'Seeing is not everything: exploring the landscape experiences of different publics', Landscape Research vol. 34 no. 4 pp. 397-424
Scott, A.J., Shorten, J., Owen, R. and Owen, I.G. (2009) 'What kind of countryside do we want: perspectives from Wales UK', Geojournal DOI 10.1007/s10708-009-9256-y online
Scott, A.J. and Shannon, P. (2007) 'Planning for rural development in Scotland: a new role for Local Landscape Designations', Planning Theory and Practice vol. 8 no. 4 pp. 509-528
Julian Sidoli del Ceno
Senior Lecturer
Birmingham School of the Built Environment
Tel: +44 (0) 121 331 7429
Email: julian.sidolidelceno@bcu.ac.uk
Julian is a barrister who researches primarily in the fields of alternative dispute resolution, construction, housing and property law. He is particularly interested in the philosophical and jurisprudential aspects of mediation and matters concerning housing rights and professional practice. He has extensive experience as a practitioner of ADR. Current projects include a study of the jurisprudence of mediation, and a narrative account of housing law. Julian is a peer reviewer for a number of journals and conferences. He is happy to receive proposals for research or collaborative work in any of these areas.
Recent Publications
Sidoli del Ceno, J. (2013) 'Construction mediation as a developmental process', International Review of Law vol. 2013:1 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.5339/irl.2013.1
Sidoli del Ceno, J. (2012) 'Selective licensing and resident satisfaction in social housing: a UK case study', International Journal of Law in the Built Environment vol. 4 no. 2 pp. 126-139
Sidoli del Ceno, J. (2012) 'Mediation and the judiciary: negotiation is niot enough', Nottingham Law Journal vol. 21 pp. 146-150
Sidoli del Ceno, J. (2011) 'An investigation into lawyer attitudes towards the use of mediation in commercial property disputes in England and Wales', International Journal of Law in the Built Environment vol. 3 no. 2 pp. 182-198
Sidoli del Ceno, J. (2011) 'Litigate to adjudicate: the unintended effects of the Housing Act 2004', Arbitration: the International Journal of Arbitration, Mediation and Dispute Management vol. 79 no. 3 pp. 248-259
Sidoli del Ceno, J. (2011) 'Unequivocal actions and surrender by operation of law', Landlord and Tenant Review vol. 14 no. 5 pp. 192-196
Niraj Thurairajah
Senior Lecturer
Birmingham School of the Built Environment
Tel: +44 (0) 121 202 2409
Email: niraj.thurairajah@bcu.ac.uk
Niraj has a variety of research interests covering people and process-related aspects of the built environment. His interests include:
- Education in the built environment: he was an Academic Coordinator in the UK Higher Education Academy's Centre for Education in the Built Environment (CEBE) before moving to Birmingham City University. He managed and contributed to various accelerating change agenda initiatives to foster collaboration and dialogue between industry, HE and professional bodies, thus encouraging the provision of more relevant education for the futurte and improving the quality of student output.
- Disaster resilience: he is part of the CIB Task Group 63 on Disasters and the Built Environment, and is interested in capacity-building for disaster mitigation, response and reconstruction; disaster risk reduction; and skateholder management. He has contributed to RICS-funded disaster resilience projects focusing on developing knowledge management capacity for disaster management in the built environment.
- Leadership and cultural transformation: his PhD identified leadership as the source of beliefs and values that forms shared assumptions of organisational culture. His research recommended leadership practices to embed and transmit a collaborative culture to address behavioural challenges in construction partnering projects.
He has published over 30 publications, is involved in research bids, and has managed several research and employer engagement projects such as ORBEE, ACBEE, ExcelDL, ISLAND I & II, CKE and H2B innovation grants.
Publications
Thurairajah, N. (2012) 'Usability and impact of BIM on early estimation practices: a cost consultant's perspective', paper presented at the International Congress on Construction Management Research, Montreal
Thurairajah, N., Underwood, J. and Williams, A. (2009) 'Improving performance through HEI-Industry engagements in the built environment', Industry and Higher Education vol. 23 no. 1 pp 39-49.
Williams, A. and Thurairajah, N. (2009) Work based learning: working the curriculum University of Salford, Salford.
Haigh, R., Amaratunga, D., Baldry, D., Pathirage, C. and Thurairajah, N. (2009) Increasing the effectiveness of disaster management strategies by sharing knowledge and good practice RICS, London.
Thurairajah, N., Lees, M. and Williams, A. (2009) ACBEE Phase IV – Intellectual capital perspective in employer engagements University of Salford, Salford.
Hong Xiao
Senior Lecturer
Birmingham School of the Built Environment
Tel: +44 (0) 121 331 7473
Email: hong.xiao@bcu.ac.uk
Hong Xiao’s research focuses on performance and management behaviour in the construction industry, which evolved from an international contractor performance comparison. Due to the distinctive differences between national cultures and their construction practices, contractors in different countries are able to identify their respective strengths and weaknesses and learn from each other to improve their performance.
With the awareness that reflection served as a method of learning from mistakes, it led to the collaboration between Hong Xiao and Professor David Boyd in the research of knowledge management. A simple yet robust approach to knowledge management, called Knowledge-Event Management, was subsequently developed to allow tacit knowledge be captured, transferred, shared and disseminated within an organisation as well as among the industry.
Hong’s research extends then to the cross cultural analysis in international construction projects for gaining understanding about how cultural differences would impact on participants’ relationship and project performance. For more information on Hong Xiao’s work and current projects, please contact him via the email address or telephone number provided above.
Publications
Xiao, H. and Boyd, D. (2010) 'Learning from cross-cultural problems in international projects: a Chinese case', Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management vol. 17 no. 6 pp. 549-562
Xiao, H. and Boyd, D. (2008) 'Analysing Cultural Problems in International Projects', in Dainty, A (Ed.) Proceedings of the 24th Annual ARCOM Conference, 1-3 September 2008, Cardiff, UK. Association of Researchers in Construction Management, Cardiff, vol. 1, pp. 423-31.
Visiting Staff
Professor J.W.R. Whitehand (Visiting Professor) is Emeritus Professor of urban geography at the University of Birmingham. He has worked closely with Peter Larkham and Nick Morton, and is Editor of Urban Morphology, the refereed journal of the International Seminar on Urban Form.
Alan Wenban-Smith (Visiting Professor) is a senior planning practitioner with interests in transport and spatial planning. He runs his own planning consultancy, Urban & Regional Policy.
David Seymour (Visiting Professor), formerly of the University of Birmingham, has research interests in lean construction and the construction profession.
Dr Barbora Lipovská (Leverhulme Visiting Research Fellow) is funded by the Leverhulme Trust for 2012 to work on rural community, space and land use issues. She has recently completed her PhD at the Agricultural University of Nitra, Slovakia. She had previously visited the Centre for 3 months during her PhD research.
Dr Joe Nasr (Visiting Research Fellow) is associated with the Centre for Studies in Food Security at Ryerson University, Toronto. He is currently interested in urban agriculture, having co-authored Carrot City: creating places for urban agriculture, and coordinates the peripatetic Carrot City exhibition. He also works on reconstruction planning history with Peter Larkham.
Dr Toofan Haghani (Visiting Research Fellow) continues to develop his interests in urban form and fractal representations, working with Peter Larkham. He is currently a design practitioner based in Tehran. See fractalmorphology.com.