Judging by the research projects they carry out on urban studies as well as their approach, I find this research centre very interesting. I hope to follow them up. Find bellow the general description from their website:

The Max Lock Centre is an international development research and consultancy group based in the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment at the University of Westminster.

We focus on international sustainable development in all parts of the world, including: public policy and professional practice in urban and regional planning, poverty reduction, management and governance in the built environment, community empowerment and building resilience and the creation of sustainable livelihoods at neighbourhood, city and regional levels.

The Max Lock Centre is committed to the principle of ‘Planning by People’. Drawing on the concepts of civic diagnosis, community participation and sustainable development, the Centre continues the tradition of multi-disciplinary grassroots planning, developed over the last 50 years by the Max Lock Group both in the UK and overseas.