Extending an Integrated Urban Simulation Model for Healthy, Sustainable Cities (Ref: SSEHS/JW26)

The challenge

Cities are at the heart of some of the most pressing challenges of our time. How we design urban environments and transport systems shapes people's exposure to air pollution, noise, and traffic injury, as well as their opportunities for physical activity, access to green space, and equitable access to housing. At the same time, cities must rapidly decarbonise and adapt to a changing climate — responding not just to shifts in travel behaviour but to price shocks, extreme weather, and growing inequalities.

Evidence to guide policy decisions in this space requires tools that can capture these complex, interconnected systems. That is exactly what this project offers.

The research

You will join a team at Loughborough University that has developed one of the most sophisticated integrated urban simulation platforms in the world. The SILO–MITO-MATSim modelling suite links land use, travel behaviour, and transport network assignment to simulate how the built environment shapes individual exposure to health risks and benefits — from air pollutants and noise to physical activity and green space access.

This PhD offers you the opportunity to extend the modelling suite in a direction that excites you, with a focus on generating policy-relevant evidence. Possible directions include — but are not limited to:

• Climate adaptation and behaviour: modelling how extreme weather, indirect price shocks, and climate-driven disruption affect travel and health outcomes
• Decarbonisation and fleet electrification: dynamically representing the transition to electric vehicles and its unequal health and cost impacts across households
• Housing, wealth, and health inequalities: extending the dwelling model to capture how housing affordability and neighbourhood conditions shape health
• Air quality and exposure modelling: improving the dispersion modelling that sits between transport emissions and personal exposure
• Activity-based travel modelling: transitioning from a tour-based to a full activity-based model to better capture how people organise their daily lives
• Transport costs and cost of living: representing the financial pressures on households and their implications for travel choices and health

Your supervisor

You will be supervised by Professor James Woodcock, who brings over 15 years of experience translating research into real-world policy impact. His work has informed decisions at the Department for Transport, Transport for London, Active Travel England, Transport Wales, Public Health England, the World Health Organization, and C40 Cities. The Manchester model involves and ongoing collaboration with Transport for Greater Manchester.

Alongside academics and researchers from across Loughborough and the East Midlands you will also have the opportunity to collaborate with leading international research groups, such as TU Munich, TU Graz, the University of Utrecht, ISGlobal (Barcelona), and TU Berlin.