Research Topics

It is important that the policies and programmes included in the South East Plan are based on the latest available data. The Assembly is therefore undertaking new research in a wide range of different areas.

A list of research reports is available here.

Major research topics include:

Economy - The Assembly is researching a number of economic issues that will impact on policies in the South East Plan. These include forecasts of labour demand, employment projects and retailing.

Housing - A key issue in the South East Plan will be improving access to housing in terms of numbers, affordability, type, size, location and tenure. Areas being researched by the Assembly include housing need, housing markets, housing distribution and housing projections.

Transport - The Assembly undertook a substantial transport research programme when the Regional Transport Strategy was being prepared. Additional work is now being carried out covering transport modelling, European benchmarking and ports. Access previous research reports.

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Urban Renaissance - Promoting and delivering an urban renaissance is a key theme in the South East Plan, so the Assembly is researching issues such as housing density and suburban change.

Waste - Preparation of the Regional Waste Management Strategy included a substantial research programme. Additional work is now being done by the Assembly on topics including hazardous waste. Access previous research reports.

Cross-cutting Issues - A number of issues, such as strategic environmental assessments and sustainability appraisals, will impact on the whole of the South East Plan rather than individual policy areas. Research is underway to ensure the Assembly has the latest information on these issues. Work is also being done on spatial options for the region and the impact of the Aviation White Paper.

Information on the Appropriate Assessment of the draft South East Plan is now available.

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Inter-regional issues - Many South East Plan issues also affect adjoining regions, so work is being done to gauge the inter-regional implications of issues such as London commuting and movement of waste between regions.

Sub-regional study areas - The Assembly and its partners have identified ten sub-regional study areas in the South East where research will be carried out to determine whether there is a need for specific policies within the Plan. These studies will draw extensively on earlier work, particularly structure plan reviews, community strategies and local plans/local development documents.

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