UCL CASA welcomes Professor Mark Tewdwr-Jones

CASA is delighted to announce the appointment of Professor Mark Tewdwr-Jones. Mark will be joining us as Professor of Cities and Regions in June 2020. 

One of the leading global authorities in urban planning and the future of cities, Professor Tewdwr-Jones will develop inter-disciplinary research and engagement capabilities on cities and regions across UCL, and enhance urban knowledge and innovation in the field of digital democracy and place-making, and the future of London. He will work with CASA and UCL colleagues to further develop activity in these fields, linked to CASA’s research programmes and the international reputation of the Bartlett.

Professor David Price, UCL Vice-Provost (Research), said: “I am delighted to welcome Mark back to UCL. He was an early enthusiast for UCL Grand Challenges, our flagship cross-disciplinary programme bringing together disciplinary expertise to tackle societal problems. He served on its advisory group, co-chaired the UCL Grand Challenge of Sustainable Cities Executive Board and led the establishment of its London 2062 project. As one of the foremost authorities globally on urban and regional planning, place, policy and engagement, Mark will play a key role in supporting UCL’s efforts to maximise the public benefit our university brings to London.”

Educated in planning, geography, politics and film history, Mark’s research fields are in cities and regions, urban planning and land use, visualising historic and contemporary urban change, and digital community participation in places. He is currently Newcastle University’s Chair of Town Planning, and was Director of Newcastle City Futures, an urban innovation and engagement platform, until 2019. NCF was an award-winning UKRI initiative housed at the university that co-designed innovative cross sectoral and collaborative initiatives in the North East to improve research, resilience, well-being and policy. It levered in £27m for partners’ innovation projects, partnered 200 organisations, and engaged with over 155,000 people in just five years.

Dr Adam Dennett, Director & Head of Department at CASA, commented: “We are really excited to have Mark come back to UCL and the Bartlett and for him to be joining CASA as Professor of Cities and Regions. Mark is a stellar academic and the Newcastle City Futures programme he established and led an exemplar for linking cutting edge urban research with local government policy and business innovation. Mark will bring with him a wealth of experience and new ideas which will help positively shape the future of not just our own great city, but I am sure many others through the extensive reach that CASA, the Bartlett and UCL enjoy.”

Mark is the author of 15 books including Urban and Regional Planning (Routledge, 2019), Spatial Planning and Governance (Macmillan, 2012), and Urban Reflections (Policy Press, 2011). Active internationally, he currently serving as Chairman of the Regional Studies Association, the learned society for the study of cities and regions globally, and he has been the recipient of distinguished visiting fellowships at a number of prestigious universities including Berkeley, Hong Kong, New South Wales, Guadalajara, Nijmegen, Pretoria, and Vienna. He was previously UK Government Advisor on planning, land use and housing issues, and was seconded to the Government Chief Scientist Foresight project on Land Use Futures. He currently chairs the Connected Places Catapult research panel. 

On his appointment, Mark said, “I am delighted to be returning to work with colleagues and friends at UCL, and am hugely excited to be joining one of the world’s best universities at the forefront of so many disciplines linked to the future of cities and regions around the world. At UCL, my aim is to support colleagues in their research excellence and look for more opportunities to work both across disciplinary boundaries and with businesses and policymakers beyond the academy. At a time of so much crisis and complexity in cities, we need to find innovative ways to understand what’s happening and harness all our talents to find solutions.” 

We look forward to welcoming Mark back to UCL and we are eager to draw on his expertise and insight in our research.

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