PhD defence S.L. (Susantha) Amarawickrama

In her research, Susantha explores on how community co-finance influences residential environment quality. A good-quality living environment is unaffordable for certain social and economic groups across urban areas around the world - particularly low and low-middle-income communities. 

She observed that the dynamics behind community co-finance through multi-actor social networking have the capacity to redefine finance and it is no longer limited to money. Community co-finance covers collective resources embedded and shared in bonding, bridging and linking social networks in a supportive collaborative climate. Her research shows that community co-finance as an alternative housing financing method could play a major role in enhancing residential environment quality for low and low-middle-income households. By adopting a mixed-methods approach to analysis, this research contributes an additional element which identifies and provides fine-grained understanding from the ground up of each and every factor of community co-finance and of its positive influence on residential environment quality.

Her research is important not only to theory build but also to contribute to practice – in this case, the planning and development of good quality residential environments. Insights that emerge from this research project will be of use to policy makers and practitioners, contributing to knowledge building that can strengthen institutional resources, community resources and capacities, mainstreaming good practice and addressing institutional and administrative challenges related to housing issues.

The PhD defences will not take place publicly in the usual way. A live stream link has been provided to candidate. The ceremony will begin exactly at 10:30.