Dr Chathuranganee Jayakody (Chathu) is a Senior Lecturer in the Built Environment and Apprenticeships at the Department of Architecture and Built Environment, Birmingham City University (BCU), UK. Her research sits at the intersection of urban planning, spatial design, disaster resilience, sustainability, and social inclusion, with a particular focus on how planning and design interventions can create more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable public open spaces, shared-space streets, and planning approaches that address the needs of displaced and underserved communities while strengthening social cohesion.
Chathu is Joint Chief Editor of the International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment. She has an established research publication record, with more than 20 scholarly publications.
Before joining BCU, Chathu was a lecturer at the Manchester School of Architecture (MSA), University of Manchester, UK. She previously worked as a Senior Tutor in Planning and Environmental Management at the School of Environment Education and Development (SEED), University of Manchester. She was also a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Huddersfield and a research member at the Global Disaster Resilience Centre. Prior to joining academia, Chathu worked within the Planning and Building Control Department at Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council, UK. She has also contributed to large-scale housing development initiatives and the relocation of underserved communities through the Sustainable Township Programme in Sri Lanka.
- Practical frameworks, tools and innovative built-environment solutions for resilient neighbourhoods
- Urban planning and spatial analysis
- Urban and spatial design
- Disaster resilience and risk-informed planning
- Resilient public-space planning and design
- Community-centred and participatory research
- Displacement and resettlement planning
- Social cohesion and inclusive urban development
- Sustainable development and resilient communities
- Qualitative research and Grounded Theory
- PhD in Architecture and the Built Environment, University of Huddersfield (2019)
- FHEA (Fellow of the Higher Education Academy) (2021)
- MSc in Urban Design, University of Salford (2012)
- BSc (Hons) in Town and Country Planning, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka (2009)
FHEA (Fellow of the Higher Education Academy) (2021).
- Architectural Technology - BSc (Hons)
- Construction Management with a Foundation Year - BSc (Hons)
- Quantity Surveying with a Foundation Year - BSc (Hons)
- Urban resilience and disaster-resilient planning
- Sustainable and resilient public open spaces
- Adaptive Public Open Spaces
- Climate-related disaster-induced displacement
- Resettlement and sustainable housing for displaced communities
- Social cohesion between displaced and host communities
- Built environment responses to displacement and humanitarian challenges
- Shared space and inclusive urban design
Chathu currently supervises three PhD candidates at BCU and internationally. Her areas of supervisory expertise encompass urban planning and spatial analysis; urban and spatial design; disaster resilience and risk-informed planning; resilient public-space planning and design; community-centred and participatory research; social cohesion and inclusive urban development; and sustainable development and resilient communities. In addition, she has examined PhD and Master’s dissertations in the UK and internationally.
Chathu’s list of publications can be found on her Google Scholar profile and Pure profile.
