Zhou, Ke;
(2023)
Dynamics of Place-based Decision Making: A systems approach to leverage social housing regeneration for health and sustainability.
Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).
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Abstract
Urban regeneration aims to rejuvenate the physical environment, socioeconomic conditions and environmental quality of an urban area. While regeneration measures are typically expected to improve population health, well-being and sustainability, the evidence regarding regeneration impact is mixed. Despite the availability of decisionmaking tools that emphasise sustainable development in regeneration, it is unclear how decision-making on urban regeneration can improve outcomes. This research investigates the complexities and dynamics of organisational decisionmaking regarding regeneration initiatives. It aims to uncover the interconnections between decision-making and regeneration. This research focuses on English housing associations (HAs) as critical decision-makers in social housing regeneration. The study combines multiple systems tools, including developing causal loop diagrams (CLD) from qualitative analysis, system dynamics (SD) simulation modelling and group model building (GMB) workshops. It presents three empirical models including two CLDs that investigate the dynamics of decision-making in HAs, and a theory simulation model focusing on the competition between social missions and market logic. This research stresses that attention is a limited resource in decision-making. It highlights the structural complexities between social missions (health, well-being, and sustainability) and financial considerations in regeneration initiatives. It shows that the complexities that arise from tensions in decision-making can pose a high risk of mission drift when decision-makers fail to sustain attention to social missions. Additionally, disjointed policies and regulations that fail to incorporate organisational dynamics can trigger shortterm decision-making rather than long-term decision-making. To sustain attention to social missions in regeneration, decision-makers need to focus on the structural connections between various logics in regeneration. This study develops multi-level conceptualisations of the problem of interest, thereby contributing to exploring systems approaches in urban environment-related decisionmaking and policy-making. It discusses synergies between the empirical models, and strategies to sustain decision-maker’s attention to health, well-being, and sustainability in regeneration. Areas of further research are identified.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | Ph.D |
| Title: | Dynamics of Place-based Decision Making: A systems approach to leverage social housing regeneration for health and sustainability |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © The Author 2023. Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms. Access may initially be restricted at the author’s request. |
| Keywords: | Systems thinking, Urban regeneration, Decision making, System Dynamics, Housing Associations, Causal loop diagram, Policy design, Institutional complexity, Attention based views |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment > Bartlett School Env, Energy and Resources |
| URI: | https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10175543 |
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