Centres and Institutes

Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research (CRESR)

http://www.shu.ac.uk/cresr/



The Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research (CRESR) at Sheffield Hallam Univeristy is a well established research institute undertaking research and consultancy activities in a number of areas, including housing policy, urban policy, social and economic regeneration, labour market studies, gender studies, transport policy, planning and community studies. CRESR's site is excellent, featuring full coverage of the Centre's projects and publications, with many documents available to download. [MG/RS/GAS, 3 May 2006].



ENTRY NUMBER: hou-220799-01
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United Kingdom
PRIMARY GATEWAY LISTING: Housing » Research
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Centre for Urban and Regional Studies (CURS)

http://www.curs.bham.ac.uk/



The Centre for Urban and Regional Studies (CURS), a Department in the School of Public Policy at the University of Birmingham, describes itself as "a leading international centre for research and teaching in housing, regional and local economic development, urban policy and regional and urban regeneration", combining "the worlds of practice, research and education". The CURS site provides an introduction to the Centre's main areas of expertise, together with details of undergraduate, postgraduate and research degrees, and a series of informative staff profiles. Elsewhere, a useful 'department information' section provides details of the Centre's research activities, networks and publications. Overall, the site is quite comprehensive, though it would benefit from more images to help relieve the textiness. [GAS, 7 Jul 2006].



ENTRY NUMBER: pla-270804-01
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United Kingdom
PRIMARY GATEWAY LISTING: Planning » Research
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Centre for Urban Development and Environmental Management (CUDEM)

http://www.leedsmet.ac.uk/as/cudem/



Part of the School of the Built Environment at Leeds Metropolitan University, CUDEM was formed in 1989, with its origin in planning courses first run in Leeds seventy years ago. It provides "a dynamic interdisciplinary environment engaged in high quality academic inquiry and policy-related research", while "in recent years the knowledge base has diversified into an integrated set of courses and research programmes around spatial, environmental, governance and regeneration themes". The site is relatively small but well-designed, with sections covering CUDEM's research themes, seminars, staff (including informative bibliographies and publication lists), research students, and major research projects. [GAS, 7 Jul 2006].



ENTRY NUMBER: pla-030904-02
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United Kingdom
PRIMARY GATEWAY LISTING: Planning » Research
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CL:AIRE - Contaminated Land: Applications in Real Environments

http://www.claire.co.uk/




CL:AIRE describes itself as "providing a link between the main players in contaminated land remediation in the UK, to catalyse the development of cost-effective methods of investigating and remediating contaminated land in a sustainable way." The organisation is a public/private partnership involving government policy makers, regulators, industry, research organisations and technology developers. The site is full of information, with sections covering stakeholders, projects and news, plus an excellent links page. Elegantly designed, a recent redesign has removed the site's reliance on frames, vastly enhancing its overall appearance and usability. Awarded a Sapling Commendation. [GAS, 4 Jul 2006].



ENTRY NUMBER: reg-050903-01
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United Kingdom
PRIMARY GATEWAY LISTING: Regeneration » Research
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Contaminated Land Assessment & Remediation Research Centre (CLARRC)

http://www.clarrc.ed.ac.uk/




The Contaminated Land Assessment & Remediation Research Centre (CLARRC) describes itself as "a centre of excellence for multi-disciplinary research, developing technologies for sustainable, cost effective assessment and remediation of contaminated environments, promoting their transfer to industry". CLARRC draws on the resources of groups across the College of Science and Engineering at the University of Edinburgh, the Schools of Life Sciences and Built Environment at Napier University and from the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre (SUERC). The CLARRC site is a comprehensive and valuable resource, with news, details of projects, and information on international and commercial activities. Meanwhile, a dedicated 'resources' section includes many downloadable factsheets and other documents, while an excellent links section features over 330 other sites related to the Centre's themes. Awarded a Sapling Commendation. [GAS, 15 Jan 2008].



ENTRY NUMBER: reg-130205-01
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United Kingdom
PRIMARY GATEWAY LISTING: Regeneration » Research
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Global Urban Research Unit (GURU)

http://www.ncl.ac.uk/guru/



Based at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, GURU describes itself as "a major new force in global urban research", and incorporates the three former urban research centres in the University's School of Architecture Planning and Landscape: CARDO, CREUE and CUT. The GURU site uses colour-coding to distinguish the new unit's four research themes - Territorial Governance and Spatial Planning; Cities and International Development; Neighbourhood Diversity and Social Inclusion; and Urban Technology Design and Development. The site's content includes up-to-date news and events; information about each theme; details of people, projects and publications; and an excellent section of downloadable 'Electronic Working Papers'. The site has a reasonable appearance, but the main site uses frames (four of them, no less), and is quite confusing to navigate. Equally, the colour coding and profileration of GURU logos is rather manic in places. Happily, a no frames version, with the same content but fewer logos, is also provided. [GAS, 7 Jul 2006].



ENTRY NUMBER: pla-210503-02
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United Kingdom
PRIMARY GATEWAY LISTING: Planning » Research
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Local Economic Policy Unit (LEPU)

http://www.lsbu.ac.uk/lepu/



The Local Economic Policy Unit (LEPU) at London South Bank University provides research and consultancy to both organisations and businesses in the social policy and built environment sector, and is "committed to engaging the practitioner community to foster effective local economic development". The design of LEPU's website is clean and intuitive, with sections covering news, staff, links, and the Unit's extensive programme of regular seminar and Masterclass events. Pages devoted to 'Research and Consultancy' and 'Project Experience' offer a helpful introduction to LEPU's areas of work, though it would be useful if these sections could be expanded to include more detailed project summaries or downloadable reports. [GAS, 7 Jul 2006].



ENTRY NUMBER: reg-060306-01
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United Kingdom
PRIMARY GATEWAY LISTING: Regeneration » Research
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Metropolitan Design Center

http://www.designcenter.umn.edu/




Formerly known as the Design Center for American Urban Landscape, the Metropolitan Design Center (MDC) describes itself as "an endowed centre that investigates how design can be used to make the metropolitan landscape more livable and sustainable. It examines urban design across metropolitan areas through projects, research, and education. The Center's work involves collaborations with faculty, nonprofits, and civic groups in the areas of metropolitan development, metropolitan green space, housing and active and healthy cities". The site is a rich and interesting resource - it includes extensive background about the Center, an excellent projects section with lots of photographs and downloadable PDF material, and an impressive 'reference centre' - this includes links to research, educational materials and information at the Design Center and other organisations, as well as useful resources such as downloadable Design Center publications, links to sources for information and events, and a great range of 'livable community fact sheets'. On top of all this, the site also features a terrific Image Bank - this is a searchable, downloadable database of approximately 20,000 Design Center images of the metropolitan landscape, including many low-level oblique aerial photos, and focusing on the Twin Cities area of Minnesota where the Center is based. Overall, the amount of quality material available on this site is staggering - truly a first class resource. Awarded a Sapling Commendation. [GAS, 4 Apr 2007].



ENTRY NUMBER: urb-230805-01
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United States
PRIMARY GATEWAY LISTING: Urban Design » Research
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The Regeneration Institute

http://www.cf.ac.uk/cplan/ri/



The Regeneration Institute is a joint venture initially between Cardiff University's Schools of City and Regional Planning and Social Sciences. According to its website, the Institute "acts as a vehicle for research in area-based regeneration, embracing academic and policy-related research at both local and international levels". In particular, "the multi-disciplinary Institute aims to be a focus for good policy and practice in the field of regeneration and a resource for local communities. The wide range of expertise at the University will become more easily accessible to organisations that are engaged in the social, economic, environmental and cultural dimensions of regeneration". The site's content is a little limited so far, though it does feature an introduction to the Institute's research themes and people, plus news and events. Links and publications are promised for later. [GAS, 7 Jul 2006].



ENTRY NUMBER: reg-310804-01
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United Kingdom
PRIMARY GATEWAY LISTING: Regeneration » Research
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Taub Urban Research Center

http://urban.nyu.edu/



The Taub Urban Research Center at New York University's Wagner School explores issues and challenges affecting cities and metropolitan regions. The Center issues reports and conducts forums that include participants from government, business, nonprofit organisations and the academic community. As well as information about the Center and its staff, this reasonably attractive site has an impressive archive of research reports available to download, plus a useful section of planning-related links. [GAS, 7 Jul 2006].



ENTRY NUMBER: pla-270701-02
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United States
PRIMARY GATEWAY LISTING: Planning » Research
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Housing >> Centres and Institutes

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