Resources, Infrastructure Systems and built Environments

Department of Civil & Structural Engineering

Mr Hadi Arbabi

PhD Student

Contact

harbabi1@sheffield.ac.uk
0114 222 5728

Department of Civil and Structural Engineering
Sir Frederick Mappin Building
Mappin Street,
Sheffield,
S1 3JD

Profile

Hadi is an Architectural Engineering graduate currently working towards his PhD under the supervision of Prof. Martin Mayfield where his research involves the assessment of infrastructural needs and economic production/energy consumption balance of the local authorities and travel-to-work areas in England & Wales through the lens of urban scaling laws focusing on potential urban agglomeration opportunities for a more sustainable future.

He also is keen on teaching and has ongoing commitments and experience as teaching assistant and co-supervisor for undergraduate modules [CIV172/MEC162/CIV6012/CIV6014/ARC6818] and summer research projects.

Hadi’s broader research interests include but are not limited to urban metabolism, network analysis of intra- and inter-city flows, infrastructure and planning, city morphology and consumption patterns.

Recent activities and achievements

Current project

The project explores the application of a model of universal urban features, developed within the complexity and allometry tradition based on persistent power law scaling of urban characteristics with population, in determining suitable infrastructural, energetic, and planning strategies for the urban network in the UK on a comparative basis. The aim of the project is then to use the model to identify and examine relative potential beneficial agglomeration opportunities between neighboring urban territories and infrastructural strategies, i.e. densification and improvements of the transport network, that would help improve their overall performance and contribute to the debate on the infrastructural and planning needs at different scales in England and Wales.

Achievements 

2015-Summer     Mappin Medal and Premium for Greatest Distinction Shown by Candidate Reading for a Degree in the Department of Civil & Structural Engineering, Sheffield, UK

2015-Spring     Faculty of Engineering Scholarship for Post-Graduate Research in the Department of Civil & Structural Engineering, Sheffield, UK

2013-Fall     CIBSE Yorkshire Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement, Sheffield, UK

Publications

J1 Arbabi, H.; Mayfield, M. Urban and Rural—Population and Energy Consumption Dynamics in Local Authorities within England and Wales. Buildings 2016, 6, 34.

DOI: 10.3390/buildings6030034

C2 Arbabi, H.; Mayfield, M. Urban and Rural – An Exploratory Look at Population and Energy Consumption in Local Authorities within England and Wales. In Regional Urbanism in the Era of Globalisation; Huddersfield, United Kingdom, 3-5 February 2016.

C1 Arbabi, H.; Lazarov, B. R.; Mayfield, M. Renewable Energy Technologies in Campus-Sized Developments: A Spatial Study. In CIBSE Technical Symposium 2015; CIBSE: London, United Kingdom, 2-3 April 2015.

Qualifications

MEng Architectural Engineering Design (Class One Honors)

Research project(s)

What is Sheffield made of?

To move towards improved resource efficiency in the built environment it is crucial to have an understanding of existing building stocks and material flows so that options to optimise these can be explored and implemented. However, this information is not currently available at the data resolution required so that all...

Population, Growth, and Energy Demand: a Look at Scaling Effects and Agglomeration in the Northern Powerhouse

The recent drive to boost economic growth in the North of England rests upon the premise that through agglomeration effects achieved via better transport infrastructure and connectedness, the 15 million people of the “Northern Powerhouse” could begin to rival London’s economic performance. This, however, raises an immediate challenge: how much...

Publication(s)

Tan, L.M.; Arbabi, H.; Li, Q.; Sheng, Y.; Densley Tingley, D.; Mayfield, M.; Coca, D. (2018). Ecological network analysis on intra-city metabolism of functional urban areas in England and Wales. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 138 (), pp. 172-182. (Full Text)., Abstract: The UK has one of the world’s most urbanised societies where nearly 83% of the total population lives in cities. The continuing population growth could lead to increases in environmental pollutions and congestion within cities. The framework of urban metabolism uses an analogy between cities and...
Arbabi, H.; Mayfield, M.; Dabinett, G. (2018). Urban performance at different boundaries in England and Wales through the settlement scaling theory. Regional Studies, (Full Text)., Abstract: The relationship between transport-led agglomeration and economic performance is evaluated in an English and Welsh context. We examine the effects of scale, i.e., inter- versus intra-city mobility infrastructure, on urban size–cost performance. An additional contribution of this paper lies in its...
(2016). Urban and Rural—Population and Energy Consumption Dynamics in Local Authorities within England and Wales. Buildings, 6 (3), (Full Text)., Abstract: The formulation of feasible and pragmatic policies that mitigate climate change would require a thorough understanding of the interconnectivity that exists between environment, energy, and the composition of our settlements both urban and rural. This study explores the patterns of energy...
(2015). Influence of Anthropic and Spatial Characteristics of Cities upon Their Energy Metabolism, Abstract: The equivalent land mass required to simply sustain the demands of urban areas and cities have surpassed their own size. Considering that cities are responsible for nearly 76% of the total global energy consumption, it is vital to discover and understand the factors influencing energy consumption...