REP Research Roundup: August 2025

Department News

Henley Business School REP Staff:

We are delighted to announce that Dr Christopher Maidment has been promoted to Associate Professor of Spatial Planning. Chris is a valued colleague contributing to research, teaching, leadership, and outreach working both in the UK and abroad. We are delighted to see his contributions rewarded and wish him the very best in his onward journey.

The Department was please to see the 2025 Undergraduate class graduate this summer. Congratulations class of 2025!

Special congratulations are due to this year’s prize winners:

• James Butters - The Real Estate Prize for Best Performance in BSc Real Estate
  
  
• James Hartland - The Real Estate Development and Planning for Best Performance in BSc Real Estate Development and Planning
  
  
• Hassan Araf – The Derwent London Prize for Best Performance in BSc Real Estate Investment and Finance in Property
  
  
• Benjamin Leetham – The Stephenson Harwood Prize for Best performing student on the Real Estate and Planning Law Module
  
  
• Maciej Grochowski – The RREF Flexible MSc Prize for Highest Average Mark on the Flexible Programme
  
  
• Will Wheeler & Taylor Wilson – The Outstanding Contribution Prize for going the extra mile to promote UG REP
  
  
• Heli Thornton & Matilda Galloway – The Special Recommendation Prize
  
  
• Ethan McDowall – The Deans Excellence Prize

Research

Bids submitted (External):

Xiaolun Yu

• Funder; Economic and Social Research Council: New Investigator Grant
• Title: Uncontrolled urban sprawl: measurement, consequences, and the role of planning and internal migration
• Total project costs: £266,200

Publications:

Chettiparamb, A. (2025) Ideology in systems theory. In: Bahmanteymouri, E., Mohammadzadeh, M. and Hillier, J. (eds.) Ideological Fantasies in Planning Theories and Practices. Taylor & Francis, Abingdon. (In press)

Abstract:

This chapter explores the concept of ideology through three theoretical lenses—Marxian, Lacanian, and Luhmann’s systems theory - to understand its implications for planning. Marxian theory views ideology as a tool of capitalist domination, fostering false consciousness. Ideological critique is necessary here to reveal material truths. Lacanian thought, rooted in psychoanalysis, sees ideology as structured by language, fantasy, and desire. Planning functions by sustaining hegemonic fantasies that are just empty signifiers. Luhmann’s systems theory offers a distinct perspective, treating ideology as a product of self-referential processes within functionally differentiated systems. Planning, in this view, is a form of steering that attempts to reduce systemic asymmetries but is inherently limited by the partiality of system observations. The chapter concludes that while Marxian and Lacanian critiques emphasize ideology’s normative dimensions, systems theory reframes ideology as an epistemological constraint thus offering a nuanced understanding of planning’s possibilities and limits in complex, self-referential social systems.

Dobson, M. (2025) Planning time and performance project - the use and impact of extensions of time (EoTs) in planning practice in England. Report. University of Reading and the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI)

This report presents the main findings from a Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) early career research grant funded project on the subject of planning time and performance. The research was commissioned and joint funded by the RTPI and RTPI South-East region and conducted independently by the University of Reading. The research focussed on the use and impact of Extensions of Time (EoTs) in the planning determination process in England. The project forms part of a wider research agenda on the role of time in and for planning, being pursued at the University of Reading (see Dobson and Parker, 2024; Parker and Dobson, 2023; 2024; 2025).Extensions of time are typically negotiated to allow more time to determine a planning application beyond the statutory timescales. They have become a frequently used tool available to planners and applicants, but to date there has been limited research on EoTs. EoTs are used here as a lens to evaluate a range of internal and external issues that additional time is trying to bridge and ‘fix’, such as planning resourcing and complexity. This topic provides a window into the operation of the planning system more generally to assist in understanding why and how issues and challenges are produced and managed in practice. Time is the resource that often gets the least attention and, despite serial claims of ‘delay’, there is little detail on what time is being used for and why? This report considers a range of planning symptoms that EoTs are masking in the decision-making process.

Lynn, T., Sturzaker, J., Parker, G. and Wargent, M. (2025) Towards everyday conceptions of justice in community-led planning. Planning Practice & Research. (in press)

This paper draws upon a novel analytical framework to review a sample of community-led plans produced across the four nations of the United Kingdom. It explores how communities interpret issues of (in)justice and how they seek to address them. Focusing on plans produced by communities categorised as more deprived, the analysis shows that discussions of abstracted notions of equality, diversity and inclusion are almost entirely absent, with communities more likely to focus on tangible issues of local importance such as access to affordable housing, health and service provision. The paper concludes by exploring the implications of these findings for understandings of justice.

PhD News:

Conference Presentation:

Zhang,Y (2025) Connectedness between real estate tokens and cryptocurrencies and REITs . Asian Real Estate Society (AsRES) International Real Estate Conference, Melbourne, July 9-11; 2025.

Supervisors: Yuan Zhao and Yiquan Gu

Shin,G (2025) Are Property Markets Prepared for Climate Change Adaptation? The Impacts of Flood Risk and Early Warning Systems on Property Values in South Korea. Asian Real Estate Society (AsRES) International Real Estate Conference, Melbourne. July 9-11; 2025.

Supervisors: Jorn van de Wettering and Xiaolun Yu