Richard Lorch

Richard Lorch

Richard Lorch is an architect, researcher, writer and editor-in-chief of Buildings & Cities. He was the former editor-in-chief of Building Research and Information and executive editor of Climate Policy.

He is a visiting professor at University College London and Politecnico di Milano. He works on organisational / policy responses to climate change - mitigation and adaptation paths - and the environmental impacts of the built environment and building performance at different scales from the individual building to neighbourhood to city.  

As editor, his key concerns are fair, robust peer review assessment and feedback processes, author support and the diffusion and take-up of research and new knowledge by ‘end users’ - promoting two-way dialogue and co-production between stakeholders, practitioners, policy makers and the academic community.

Latest Commentaries

Time to Question Demolition!

André Thomsen (Delft University of Technology) comments on the recent Buildings & Cities special issue ‘Understanding Demolition’ and explains why this phenomenon is only beginning to be understood more fully as a social and behavioural set of issues. Do we need an epidemiology of different demolition rates?

Where are Women of Colour in Urban Planning?

Safaa Charafi asks: is it possible to decolonialise the planning profession to create more inclusive and egalitarian urban settings? It is widely accepted that cities are built by men for other men. This male domination in urban planning results in cities that often do not adequately address challenges encountered by women or ethnic and social minorities. Although efforts are being taken to include women in urban planning, women of colour are still under-represented in many countries, resulting in cities that often overlook their needs.