CIB is pleased to announce the winner of the CIB Best Doctoral Dissertation 2025 is Esraa Elmarakby of University of Salford Manchester, UK.
Shortlisted candidates were each invited to present their research dissertation to a panel of judges appointed by CIB,with Esraa’s dissertation on Socio-Spatial Framework to Improve Air Quality in Transit-Oriented Development judged the successful submission.
In addition, two runner-up prizes were also awarded to
- Thilini Weerasuriya of Western Sydney University, Australia – Developing a Blockchain-Based Post-Contract Work and Payment Certification Framework for Construction Projects
- Akila Rathnasinghe of Northumbria University, UK – An Integrated Whole-Life Solution for Modular Housing in the United Kingdom: A Platform-Based Ecosystem Narrative
On winning the award Esraa said:
“This award comes at a defining moment, affirming that the journey I began a few years ago still has so much more to uncover, to build, and to give back. It tells me that the work ahead truly matters, and that people are not only watching, but genuinely listening.”
What it means to win the award
We asked Esraa what winning the CIB Best Dissertation award means to her –
Winning this award would be a significant milestone in my academic journey, giving my research greater visibility and credibility. It would provide a platform to share my findings with a wider audience and influence how planners design future climate-resilient cities.
This recognition would help me establish new collaborations with researchers, practitioners, and policymakers working on pressing issues such as climate change and environmental resilience. It would also strengthen future funding applications, allowing me to expand my work on air-quality challenges in urban environments and translate my findings into practical tools, guidelines, and policies that directly benefit communities.
Dissertation overview
Cities today are growing hotter, more polluted, and more challenging to live in, and many of these challenges are shaped by how we design our cities. My dissertation asks a simple but urgent question: How does the design of our cities influence the heat we feel, the air we breathe, and our everyday well-being? This question led me to examine Transit-Oriented Development (TOD), a planning model used worldwide to create walkable, high-density mixed-use neighbourhoods built around public transport. TOD promises cleaner, low-carbon cities by encouraging people to walk more, cycle more, and rely less on cars.
But when I looked closely at TOD neighbourhoods in Manchester, one of the UK’s most traffic-congested cities, a surprising pattern emerged. By combining satellite remote sensing, air-quality measurements, community surveys, and interviews with planners and experts, I found that TODs can unintentionally create environmental stress. The same design features that make these areas efficient and compact can also trap heat between tall buildings, reduce airflow through narrow streets, and increase pollution from constant stop-and-go traffic. What is meant to be a sustainable urban form can, if not properly planned, become hotter and more polluted for the people living and working there.
To understand and address these challenges, I developed a new socio-spatial framework that connects five key forces shaping environmental quality in TODs: land-use planning, traffic patterns, travel behaviours, governance, and community engagement. My findings show that TODs can only achieve their sustainability goals when climate resilience is intentionally built into their design.
This research matters because cities around the world are rapidly adopting TOD as a climate solution, yet without understanding its hidden trade-offs, we risk designing neighbourhoods that look sustainable on paper but feel uncomfortable and unhealthy in reality. My work offers a pathway forward, demonstrating how rethinking street layouts, enhancing traffic flow, incorporating vegetation, and engaging communities more deeply in planning can transform TODs into cooler, cleaner, and more livable places.
Ultimately, my dissertation turns TOD from an idealistic planning model into a practical, science-based blueprint for creating urban futures where people can truly thrive.
