Jennifer Angus, a graduate planner at property adviser GVA in Bristol, has received a highly prestigious national award from the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) for her MSc Urban Planning Dissertation project.
Jennifer’s thesis was selected as the winning entry in the ‘Excellence in Spatial Planning Research’ student category. The dissertation investigated whether ‘meanwhile’ uses have been embraced by English local authorities as a legitimate approach to planning and urban development in uncertain economic and social conditions. Also referred to as temporary, interim or pop-up uses, ‘meanwhile’ use involves the conscious utilisation of vacant land or buildings as an alternative to leaving spaces stagnant and unused.
This could include the use of empty high street shops or vacant, brownfield sites awaiting long-term redevelopment. Though largely viewed as a stopgap solution, the study highlighted examples of innovative practice with a particular focus on Bristol City Council, though it also noted opportunities to take a more strategic approach to the practice in order to harness its full potential to activate cities and their under-used spaces. The judges said it was an original and innovative submission on a subject which is an emerging policy issue.
Dr Michael Short, a senior lecturer in Planning and Urban Conservation who supervised Jennifer, said: “The award is well deserved, as Jennifer’s work is both ground-breaking and innovative. The research is not only of the best academic standard, it also provides crucial evidence for planners and the ever-changing planning system to address.”
Jennifer received her award at the annual UK and Ireland Planning Research Conference which attracts academics and practitioners from across the world.
She joined the GVA planning team in April and graduated with distinction from UWE’s MSc Urban Planning in June.
