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Prof Mark Tewdwr-Jones
Professor of Cities and Regions
Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis
Faculty of the Built Environment
- Joined UCL
- 1st Mar 2013
Research summary
With a background in urban planning, geography, political science and film, Mark is the author of major contributions to disciplinary, inter-disciplinary, methodological and outreach fields in the academy, linking social science to science and health, new technology to user experiences, the visual understanding of urban and regional change, and evidence-based policy. He has written extensively on these issues, including his seminal contributions through his books The Planning Polity, Spatial Planning and Governance, Urban Reflections, The European Dimension of British Planning, Planning Futures, and Urban and Regional Planning (with Sir Peter Hall, now in its sixth edition). In total, he has produced 17 books and 80 international journal papers, won £25m in research income, levered in £65m for university initiatives, and supervised successfully 30 PhD students. He is currently writing about urban and regional futures, urban open innovation, digital planning engagement, and the role of higher education in the region.
He was the founding Director of Newcastle City Futures, a successful civic ideas factory housed at Newcastle University 2014-19 linking research to societal & business needs that generated collaborative & innovative ideas for all sectors across the city and partnered 200 organisations. It levered in £33m for partners, shaped 40 urban and regional innovation projects, & engaged over 155k people in urban change debates.
He is committed to knowledge exchange, communicating academic ideas to broader audiences including governments, businesses and public bodies. He has 25 years of film and television experience including working on the BBC series Unbuilt Britain, Britain from Above, and The Planners, and Channel News Asia’s Perspectives.
Teaching summary
Mark has taught undergraduate and postgraduate modules for almost 30 years. His specialisms cover aspects of urban and regional planning, development and infrastructure, the politics and governance of places, planning history and the history of cities, and the cinematic and photographic depiction of places.
Education
- Birkbeck College
- Other higher degree, Master of Arts | 2003
- Cardiff University
- Doctorate, Doctor of Philosophy | 1998
- University of Wales, College of Cardiff
- Other Postgraduate qualification (including professional), Diploma | 1992
- University of Wales, College of Cardiff
- First Degree, Bachelor of Science (Honours) | 1990
Biography
Mark is UCL Bartlett Professor of Cities and Regions at the Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis, University College London. He was previously Professor of Town Planning at Newcastle University (2012-20), and Professor of Spatial Planning and Governance at UCL (2001-12).
Mark has been a Visiting Professor at Berkeley California, Hong Kong, UNSW Sydney, Western Sydney, Pretoria, Guadalajara, Nijmegen and Dublin. He is a recognised authority and has written extensively on place innovation, urban planning, urban and regional history, digital place connectivity, the politics and governance of the city, public engagement, and the use of land.
Mark chairs the Connected Places Catapult Research Panel & the Regional Studies Association.
He was a member of the RTPI General Assembly 2006-8, the UK Chief Scientist’s Land Use Futures Foresight project where he was seconded to the Government Office for Science 2008-11, is a former advisor to UK Government ministries DEFRA and MHCLG, & served on the NICE NHS spatial planning & health programme in 2009-10. He advised the UK Chief Scientist's Future of Cities Foresight project 2013-16. He was international advisor to the Shanghai municipal government's Bund redevelopment in 2010-13. He was advisor to the Scottish Government/RTPI Scotland's National Planning Framework in 1999-2000, and chaired the Mid and West Wales Regional Planning Forum in 1998-2000. For his contribution to cities & planning, he was elected an Academician of the Academy of Social Sciences in 2011, awarded fellowship of the RTPI in 2013 & is the recipient of 4 awards for Newcastle City Futures.