Biography
Professor Samer Bagaeen is a highly accomplished leader in town planning, resilience, and stakeholder engagement. He joins UCEM in 2025 as Professor and Head of Town Planning.
Samer has worked across higher education, the private and public sectors, and philanthropy. He presently holds the role of Technical Director in Town Planning & Stakeholder Capability at Arcadis, where he combines technical expertise with strategic communication to support complex planning and infrastructure challenges. Previously, Samer served as an Associate Director with the Rockefeller Foundation’s 100 Resilient Cities programme, working out of King’s Cross in London and supported cities globally on their resilience journeys delivering a number of integrated city resilience strategies for cities in EMEA.
In academia, Samer comes to UCEM from the University of Kent where he holds the role of Professor of Planning & Resilient Systems and Programme Director for the MA Urban Planning & Resilience, roles he has held since 2018. He is also a Visiting Professor at Imperial College London.
Samer is deeply involved in shaping the future of planning and surveying through various advisory roles. He is a member of the Academic Advisory Group for the Real Estate Data Foundation, the RICS Land and Resources Technical Expert Working Group, and the Advisory Group for the BAME Planners Network. In addition, he is a Design Council Expert, contributing to the Council’s Design for Planet Mission.
His leadership extends to governance and innovation in professional institutions. Samer is an elected Trustee of the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) and Chair of the RTPI’s Policy, Practice & Research Committee in 2025. He is also Chair of the RTPI’s International Committee, a role he has held since 2023. He previously served as a Trustee and Policy Council Member at the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA). He was re-elected to the TCPA’s Policy Council in 2024.
Samer is also a Non-Executive Board Member on the South East Regional Board of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and a past officer of the RICS where he looked after thought leadership partnerships.
Samer’s roles across academia, advisory boards, and professional institutions reflect his dedication to advancing innovation, resilience, and inclusivity in planning, infrastructure, and the built environment. He was awarded the Freedom of the City of London in 2023.
Appointments
- Vice Chair of the RTPI Partnership Board for the Joint Distance Learning Consortium, Leeds Beckett University
- External Examiner for the RICS Accredited Programme BSc (Hons) Property Development and Planning, Nottingham Trent University
Qualifications
Memberships
Publications
Bagaeen, S. (2025) ‘Gated Homes’, in K. Walsh and E. Stratford, ‘The Routledge Book of Home’ (2025), London: Routledge
Bagaeen, S. (2017) ‘A tourism revolution? The case of Bahrain in the GCC’ in M. Stephenson and A. al-Hamarneh (eds.) International Tourism and the Gulf Cooperation Council States, London: Routledge
Bagaeen, S. (2015) ‘Beyond gated communities: urban gating, soft boundaries and networks of influence and affluence’ in S. Bagaeen and O. Uduku (eds.) (2015) Beyond Gated Communities, London: Routledge
Bagaeen, S. (2015) ‘Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates and Qatar: Middle Eastern complexity and contradiction’, in G. Squires and E. Heurkens (eds.) (2015) International Approaches to Real Estate Development. Routledge
Coca-Stefaniak, A. and Bagaeen, S. (2014) Sustaining urban regeneration – is effective place management the answer? In X-Change culture science (ed.) Living Tomorrow, Remaprint, Vienna
Bagaeen, S. (2012) ‘Forces for good: making the most of military land for public benefit’, in the Proceedings of Defence Sites: Heritage and Future, 300pp (Print ISBN: 978-1-84564-590-8, eISBN 978-1-84564-591-5), WIT Press
Bagaeen, S. (2010) ‘Gated urban life or kinship and social solidarity: the rise of gated communities in the Middle East’, in Bagaeen, S. and Uduku, O. (eds.) Gated Communities: Social sustainability in contemporary and historical gated developments. London: Earthscan
Bagaeen, S. and Uduku, O. (2010) ‘Gated histories: An introduction to themes and concepts’, in Bagaeen, S. and Uduku, O. (eds.) Gated Communities: Social sustainability in contemporary and historical gated developments. London: Earthscan
Uduku, O. and Bagaeen, S. (2010) ‘Afterword’, in Bagaeen, S. and Uduku, O. (eds.) Gated Communities: Social sustainability in contemporary and historical gated developments. London: Earthscan
Frey, H. W. and Bagaeen, S. (2010) ‘Adapting the city’, in Jenks, M. and Jones, C. (eds.) Dimensions of the Sustainable City. Springer, pp. 163-182
Bagaeen, S. and Woods, L. (2008) ‘Sustainability in the city region: Towards a new way of thinking, planning and managing in Glasgow’ & ‘Sostenibilidad en la region urbana: construyendo enscenarios para el desarrollo sostenible en Glasgow’, in Schoonjans, Y. et al. (eds.) Readings on Sustainability and Heritage – architecture and urban culture in Latin America and Europe, Brussels, 2008 (ISBN: 9789081323819), pp.167-193 (English and Spanish)
Bagaeen, S. (2007) ‘Sustainable urban development: Urban intensification in the city region, in Proceedings of the Housing Symposium 3, published by the Arriyadh Development Authority, Saudi Arabia, Print ISBN 9960 9914 07
Bagaeen, S. (2006) ‘Urban sustainability in the city region’, in Urban Culture in Focus (Volume 2) Trans Urban (eds.). Vienna: Verlag des Instituts fur Verleichende Architekturforschung (English and Thai), pp. 88-97
McCarthy, J. and Bagaeen, S. (2015) ‘Good practice in planning education’, Town and Country Planning, vol. 84, no. 1, pp. 39-44
Bagaeen, S. (2014) ‘Between a rock and a hard place: Housebuilding in Brighton and Hove’, in Planning Theory and Practice, vol. 15, no. 4, pp. 596-602
Bagaeen, S. (2014) ‘Travails in the politics of housing’, Town and Country Planning, vol. 83, no. 12, pp. 554-558
Coca-Stefaniak, A. and Bagaeen, S. (2013) ‘Strategic management for sustainable high street recovery’, Town and Country Planning, vol. 82, no. 12, pp. 532-537
Bagaeen, S., Talbot, J. and Myers, C. (2013) ‘Sharing planning research findings with practitioners’, Town and Country Planning, vol. 82, no. 9, pp. 394-399
Mullins, S. and Bagaeen, S. (2012) ‘Issues and Challenges emerging from a frontrunner Neighbourhood Plan: The case of Ringmer in East Sussex’, Town and Country Planning, vol. 81 no. 7/8, pp. 325-329, ISSN 0040-9960
Gilbert-Smith, A. and Bagaeen, S. (2012) ‘Consultation lessons from the New Forest’, Town and Country Planning, June, vol. 81, no. 6, pp. 287-290, ISSN 0040-9960
Dobson, J. and Bagaeen, S. (2012) Forces for good: making the most of military land for public benefit, Town and Country Planning (April, vol. 81, no. 4, pp. 192-195), ISSN 0040-9960
Bagaeen, S. (2011) ‘Understanding power dynamics in the planning process: the case of a retail development in Glasgow’, in the International Journal for Sustainable Society, vol. 3, no. 4, pp. 356-384
Bagaeen, S. (2007) ‘Brand Dubai: The instant city; or, the instantly recognisable city’, International Planning Studies, Vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 173-197
Bagaeen, S. (2006) ‘Brownfield sites as building blocks for sustainable urban environments: A view on international experience in redeveloping former military sites’, Urban Design International, Vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 117–128
Bagaeen, S. (2006) ‘Redeveloping former military sites: competitiveness, urban sustainability and public participation’, Cities, Vol. 23, no. 5, pp. 339-352
Bagaeen, S. (2006) ‘Housing condition in the in the Old City of Jerusalem: An empirical study’, Habitat International, Vol. 30, no. 1, pp. 87-106
Bagaeen, S. (2006) ‘Evaluating the effects of ownership and use on the condition of property in the Old City of Jerusalem’, Housing Studies, Vol. 21, no. 1, pp. 135-150
Frey, H. W., Ferguson, N. S., Bagaeen, S., Woods, L. (2006) ‘Suburbia Reconsidered: Form, Mobility and Sustainability’, Built Environment, Vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 250-266
Bagaeen, S. (2004) ‘Political conflict, town planning and housing supply in Jerusalem: The implications for the built environment in the Old City’, City (vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 197-219)
