Architecture of Rapid Change and Scarce Resources (ARCSR) is an established research area within the teaching, research and practice of architecture. The group has made a key contribution to date, alongside initiatives at parallel institutions and organisations including charities and interest groups. It examines and extends knowledge of how the built environment is transformed with an emphasis on pressing areas of policy demand in which formal architectural and design processes tend to have little impact. This includes slum renewal, humanitarian practice, migration dynamics and social development. The focus is on situations where resources are scarce and where both culture and technology are in a state of rapid change.
The group, which has links with the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT) in Wales, The Water Trust (ARCSR) and international NGOs, has engaged in projects in India, Sierra Leone, Kosovo, Nepal, Greece and Italy.

Members:
Prof. Maurice Mitchell, ARCSR Co-ordinator
Dr Bo Tang, ARCSR Deputy Co-ordinator
Dr Nabil Ahmed
Sandra Denicke Polcher
Jane McAllister
Shamoon Patwari
Robert Barnes
Francesca Pont
Odel Jeffries
Website:
Learning from Delhi: Dispersed Initiatives in Changing Urban Landscapes - Written by Maurice Mitchell, Edited by Shamoon Patwari and Bo Tang
The Architecture of 3 Freetown Neighbourhoods: Documenting changing city topographies 2008 – 2013 - Written by Maurice Mitchell, Edited by Shamoon Patwari and Bo Tang
Referenced journals/papers
Reports/student publications
Freetown, Sierra Leone - Exhibition Catalogue
Agra and London by Studio 7
City Pockets: Secret Gardens and Railway Lands by Unit 6
Sierra Leone - Exhibition Catalogue
Edgelands: Kosovo and India by Unit 6 /Studio 7
Walking City: Agra Affinities, Mediations and Perambulations by Unit 6 / Studio 7
Agra Beyond Taj by Unit 6
Freetown Construction Manual
Community Support Empowerment Organisation (CESO) Pamphlet
Shifting Places by Unit 6 / Studio 7
Learning from Delhi - Exhibition Catalogue
Namaste Delhi by Unit 6 / Studio 7
Savda Ghevra Resettlement Colony: Landscapes of Change
Navi Mumbai Stone Quarry Settlements by ARCSR
East Yamuna Exchanges: Everyday Conversations in Space and Time by ARCSR
Agra Narratives: Everyday Conversations in Space and Time by Unit 6 / Studio 7