The Centre for Sustainable Planning and Environments (SPE)

Picture of houses Welcome to the website for the Centre for Sustainable Planning and Environments at the University of the West of England.

The Centre aims to develop understanding of how to achieve places that are environmentally sustainable, socially just and economically competitive. We are a multi-disciplinary group of researchers interested in the planning, design, use and governance of places at different scales. We undertake work in three inter-related themes:

  • Sustainable urban environments Focusing on what sustainable environments are and how they can be achieved.
  • Governance of place Focusing on enhancing international understanding of governance, urban policy, city management, and spatial planning.
  • Planning theory, policy and practice Focussing on both theoretical and practice-based aspects of planning including issues of ethics, values, knowledge, power and professionalism, as well as policy development, planning law and the UK spatial planning system.

We hope that you can find what you are looking for on this site. If you want to know more please contact us.

Professor Katie Williams, Director of the Centre for Sustainable Planning and Environments