Research in the Department of Real Estate and Construction

The Department of Real Estate and Construction is a major international centre for research offering a vibrant environment for students, visiting scholars and researchers.

Currently the Department has over 20 research active staff and 11 doctoral students. It has an excellent reputation for the quality of its research (2008 RAE). The Department is known for its work across a range of fields, including international land and property markets, housing policy, construction and project management and sustainable real estate and urban development.

Our teaching is backed by strong research activity. All of our academic staff are involved in academic research and/or professional/commercial consultancy work. As a Department we are highly regarded in the field of property and construction research in areas ranging from international land and property markets, through to construction and project management and sustainable real estate. Staff in the department regularly secure research funding from a range of research funding organisations including the UK's research councils, international organisations (e.g., ILO and World Bank), the European Union, as well as industry and professional bodies (e.g. RICS, IPF), all of which contributes to an annual research grant income averaging approximately £200,000 pa in recent years.

This research expertise also feeds directly into the teaching programme at all levels, from undergraduate to PhD. The Department conducts research into a wide range of topics relevant to urban land, property, project management and construction at both national and international levels. The Oxford Institute for Sustainable Development (OISD) provides a framework for the activities of the two key research groups within the Department:

• 

  OISD:RELP

  Real Estate and Land Policy Group

  The Real Estate and Land Policy Group (RELP) is engaged at the interface of planning, property markets and urban change, sustainable property and brownfield development. The related activities raise crucial issues relating to socially responsible investment in property and urban development, globalisation, land markets and urban development in developing and transition economies. In order to achieve social sustainability in urban development it also has to address the impact of new technology on the property market and urban development, challenges surrounding the conservation of historic environments, changing property markets and local economic development, housing and land policy in both developed and developing countries, valuation methodologies, construction economics and the property market.

• 

  OISD:CPM

  Construction and Project Management Group

  The Construction and Project Management Group (CPM) is engaged at the heart of sustainable construction management and with the various technologies surrounding the application of IT and artificial intelligence in construction, procurement, management of (complex) projects, knowledge management, building maintenance, construction decision making processes, scaffold and pallet rack structures to solve the challenges of creating and maintaining a sustainable built environment.

Examples of Recent and Current Research Activities

• Social dimensions of sustainable development (European Investment Bank)
• Green job creation through sustainable refurbishment in developing countries (International Labour Organisation)
• Green infrastructure: evaluation and application of policy benchmarks to growth areas (The National Trust)
• Is there demand for sustainable commercial office buildings in the UK? (Investment Property Forum)
• Modelling future take-up of low cost homeownership products (Communities and Local Government )
• Impact of climate change on brownfield land (EPSRC SUBR:IM)
• Sustainable urban Brownfield Regeneration: Integrated Management (EPSRC SUBR:IM)
• Effective property tax administration in Romania and Greece (EU)
• Sustainability tools audit (Green Profession research) (RICS)
• Preliminary studies on City Development Strategies in Iran (World Bank)
• Value impacts of wind farm technology (RICS Education Trust)
• Updating the green guide to specification (BRE and Consortium Funding)
• The role of property markets in supporting economic and social development in China (RICS)