Global Urbanisms
The Global Urbanisms group at UCL Geography studies everything from urbanisation and social justice to policy and culture, generating insights to shape cities worldwide.
68% By 2050, 68% of the global population is projected to live in cities.
United Nations, World Urbanization Prospects 2018Urban studies is witnessing a phase of intense and fruitful experimentation in response to the analytical and social justice challenges posed by urbanisation. In the UCL Department of Geography, we’re at the forefront of these initiatives.
Researchers in this Group are reformulating comparative approaches to understanding cities across the world. They’re working to generate regionally-based theorisations grounded in the everyday experience of life in cities to inform wider debates.
The Group aims to create new methods that reflect the diverse histories and connections of global urban areas
- Regional Futures: The territorial politics of digitalisation-as-urbanisation in the global south (Ayona Datta)
- Making Africa Urban: The transcalar politics of large-scale urban development (Jennifer Robinson)
- Housing systems and neighbourhood change in the UK (Rory Coulter)
- Neighbourhood social infrastructure in the UK and New Zealand (Alan Latham)
- Youth geographies and ‘hustle’ economies in Kenya (Tatiana Thieme)
- Vertical Urbanism in London and Paris (Andrew Harris)
- Ecological urbanism and the extended landscapes of Chennai (Pushpa Arabindoo)
Our international approach has given us close links with a large number of researchers, public bodies and organisations based in the cities we study. The group emphasises the importance of policy and public engagement in wider debates on global urban futures.
Read the Global Urbanism Newsletter 2022.
Institutional Collaborations
Dr Andrew Harris is an urban geographer focused on art, creativity, and culture in urban restructuring, and on vertical geographies of contemporary cities. He convenes the MSc Urban Studies, co-directs the UCL Urban Laboratory, and co-leads the Global Urbanisms cluster. His research is funded by ESRC, AHRC, EPSRC, RGS, and the Leverhulme Trust, and he has held visiting fellowships in Paris and Antwerp.
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