Yvonne Rydin

Professor Yvonne Rydin is Chair of Planning Environment and Public Policy at The Bartlett School of Planning, University College London (UCL), where she has been based since 2006. She currently holds a 50 % part-time appointment at UCL and previously spent 16 years at the London School of Economics in the Department of Geography and Environment.

Education

• PhD in Urban and Regional Planning Studies, University College London (1984)
• BA (Hons) in Land Economy, University of Cambridge (1978)

Research Interests

Professor Rydin is an internationally recognised scholar in governing for sustainability. Her work spans urban green space management, community energy, retail planning, and post-growth urban futures. Conceptually, she mobilises network metaphors (including social capital) and discourse analysis to unpack governing processes, while also drawing on socio-technical studies to examine large-scale energy infrastructure. A long-standing strand of research interrogates knowledge production within planning, scrutinising classificatory systems such as BREEAM and sustainability indicators and exploring the implications of socio-materiality. Her forthcoming monograph Planning without Growth (Policy Press, 2025) extends her agenda on low-growth planning by investigating how embedded and new knowledges can support alternative local economic models.

Research Outputs & Trends

Since 2018 she has published extensively on post-growth planning, regulatory theory, digital tools in participation, and diverse economies. Recent articles in Planning Theory, Built Environment and Planning Practice & Research articulate critical perspectives on moving beyond pro-growth orthodoxies and re-tooling the planning profession.

Scientific Awards & Recognition

While no specific awards are listed, Professor Rydin has held numerous prestigious roles: member of the RAE 2014 panel, invited oral evidence to the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee, participant in the Raynsford Review of Planning, and repeated evaluator for the Norwegian Research Council, Finnish Academy, ESRC and FORMAS.

Advising & Grants

She has supervised collaborative Engineering Doctorate (EngD) studentships with industrial partners BRE Global and Buro Happold (2011-2020), and co-taught on the MSc Sustainable Urban Development at Oxford University’s Department for Continuing Education (2014-2018).

Labs & Teams

Professor Rydin served as Director of the UCL Environment Institute (2010-2013) and leads teaching on the postgraduate module Planning for Sustainability and Inclusion alongside Dr Yasminah Beebeejaun.