Revitalisation of the English Market Hall as a Catalyst for Sustainable Urban Regeneration Part 1 Dissertation 2026 Lemar Nassani University of Lincoln Lincoln | UK English market halls are more than buildings. They are stages for everyday life, where commerce, culture, and community have long converged to shape the civic identity of English cities. Today, as many are reimagined through sustainable regeneration, their renewed façades often conceal a quieter transformation: the gradual erosion of the social relationships that once gave these places their meaning. This dissertation asks how English market halls might be revitalised without losing the lived experiences that define them.Through interdisciplinary research, comparative case studies, and first-hand spatial observation, the study traces how changing political priorities, heritage practices, and ideas of sustainability have continually reshaped the English market hall. It argues that regeneration is not simply an architectural act, but a social one, where design mediates access, belonging, and the ways people inhabit civic space. The research reveals that conserving historic fabric alone cannot preserve civic value. A restored market hall may still lose its public soul when regeneration privileges economic performance over everyday life, replacing inclusion with exclusion and heritage with commodity.By reimagining the English market hall as a socio-spatial negotiation between heritage, identity, and society, this dissertation proposes that lasting urban continuity is measured not only by what is preserved, but by who continues to belong. It argues that truly sustainable regeneration enables historic places to remain socially inclusive, culturally resonant, and meaningfully inhabited for generations to come. Tutor(s) Amira Elnokaly Karolina Szynalska McaleaveyDr Kathleen Watt