The Bartlett Development Planning Unit UCL

📸 DPU Photography Competition

We’re continuing our celebration of this year’s student photography competition winners with our runner up entry.

🥈 Runner up: Jingzhi Fen, Health in Urban Development MSc
"Marrakech – Informality in the City" – Marrakech, Morocco

Jingzhi captured a striking image in Marrakech, exploring the layered realities of informality in the city. The photo offers a powerful visual reflection on how informal urban systems shape everyday life.

Stay tuned as we reveal the winning photo next! 🏆

📸 DPU Photography Competition

We’re kicking off our celebration of this year’s student photography competition winners. Over the next few days, we’ll be sharing the top three entries that captured the work done during their overseas practice engagements.

🥉 Third place: Bennedictus Bagustantyo (Benny), Urban Development Planning MSc
“Bridging Futures, Rooted in Reality” – Cebu, Philippines

From the rooftops of Cebu’s Carbon Market, the Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEX) stretches across the skyline. From here, the settlements of the residents can also be seen, which serve as a reminder that they are the enduring 'foundations' of the bridge.

Keep an eye out for our runner up and winner posts! 🔜

Congratulations to Said Mahathir on defending his thesis on religious infrastructure in London 🌟

Read more about his research on how the distribution and network of Muslim religious spaces reflect broader socio-political and economic dynamics.

🔗 https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/news/2025/jun/said-mahathir-successfully-defends-thesis-religious-infrastructure-london

Student scholarship spotlight 🌍

Sunny Kumar Gupta, an incoming Urban Development Planning MSc student, has been awarded the prestigious Inlaks Scholarship. 🏅

Each year, The Inlaks Shivdasani Foundation support outstanding young Indian graduates to pursue postgraduate study overseas at world class institutions across a range of disciplines.

Sunny’s work will focus on integrating grounded urban theory with institutional planning frameworks that not only serve communities, but work with them.

🔗 Meet the 2025 scholars: https://inlaksfoundation.org/community/updates/scholars-2025-sunny-kumar-gupta-tansi-fotedar-archis-mukhopadhyay-and-jasmeen-kaur-brar/

We look forward to welcoming Sunny to the school! 👏🎓

Scholars 2025: Sunny Kumar Gupta, Tansi Fotedar, Archis Mukhopadhyay and Jasmeen Kaur Brar In part one of our two-part series introducing the seven Inlaks Scholars for 2025, meet Sunny Kumar Gupta, Tansi Fotedar, Archis Mukhopadhyay and Jasmeen Kaur Brar.

Congratulations to Izni Bin Noor Alie on defending his thesis on Islamic governmentality and food business development in Brunei ✨

Izni's Integrated Islamic Halal Governmentality model is formulated to achieve fair and just halal governance.

🔗 Read: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/news/2025/jun/izni-bin-noor-alie-defends-thesis-islamic-governmentality-and-food-business-development-brunei

Young people, urban governance & participation 👥

A new DPU report reveals that despite their strong interest in urban issues, young people in Lebanon and Indonesia face major barriers to engagement in decision making.

💬 "This challenge will be a jumping off point for the next phase of the project, which aims to support young people to co-produce urban digital platforms with key city stakeholders."
– Professor Julian Walker, School Director

📘 Read the full report: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/news/2025/jun/new-report-bartlett-development-planning-unit-young-people-and-urban-governance

Missed our latest Dialogues in Development session? Watch the recording now! 📚

On 09 June, DPU and UCL Urban Lab hosted the book launch of 'Reconstruction as Violence in Assad's Syria', edited by Nasser Rabbat and Deen Sharp.

🎙️ Featuring Deen Sharp, Wendy Pullan, Emma DiNapoli, Sawsan Abou Zainedin, and Ammar Azzouz, with chairs Catalina Ortiz and Azadeh Mashayekhi, the discussion explored architecture, justice and the politics of rebuilding.

▶️ Watch the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ox6TM3jAAzE
🎧 Stream the recording: https://www.mixcloud.com/dpuucl/reconstruction-as-violence-in-assads-syria/

🌙 Explore 'Integrating night studies into climate science' co-authored by Alessio Kolioulis

Night time activities significantly impact climate change yet remain widely overlooked in climate research. This publication advocates for incorporating night studies into climate socioecological dynamics to develop equitable and effective adaptation and mitigation strategies, especially in cities.

🔗 Read the article: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/development/publications/2024/oct/integrating-night-studies-climate-science

Book chapter in Displaced Urbanism by Dr Giovanna Astolfo 📕

Read the publication titled 'Evictability Between Extinction and Emergence. Towards a Collectivity Otherwise', which explores various forms of displacement with a focus on the urban margins of Yangon, Myanmar.

🔗 Find out more: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003471134-9/evictability-extinction-emergence-giovanna-astolfo

MSc Building and Urban Design in Development Routledge Books

📘 Have you read our 'Urban Health: Reflections on Practice' report?

This resource examines the Overseas Practice Engagement in Marrakech, focusing on the intersection between urban development and health. It showcases not only a compilation of student led projects but also first hand research on some of the most critical community level health concerns in Marrakech.

🔗 Read the report: https://lnkd.in/e27nzebQ

New research article in Area Development Policy 🌐

'Conflict politics at the margins of the neoliberal state in the postcolonial context: the case anti-power grid movement of Bhangar in Kolkata published in the journal Area, Development and Policy' co-authored by DPU's Dr Raktim Ray (PhD).

🔗 Read the article: https://www-tandfonline-com.libproxy.ucl.ac.uk/doi/full/10.1080/23792949.2025.2500082