After studying for a BA and MA in Art History and English, I discovered planning via the Masters in Civic Design (RTPI-accredited) at the University of Liverpool. I then studied for a part-time PhD on Partnerships and Regional Economic Governance (awarded 2001) whilst working as a research assistant in the Centre for Urban Development and Environmental Management (CUDEM) at Leeds Metropolitan University. After completing the PhD, I was a post-doctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Geography, University of Hull and Lecturer in Urban Planning at the University of Manchester.
I joined the Department of Urban Studies and Planning in the summer of 2004 and I am currently Director of the PhD Research School having previously been Director of Undergraduate Studies. My research interests include environmental policy and politics; cities and climate change; the politics of local and regional development; planning for new economic spaces; growth management; equity and justice in public policy; modernist urbanism; art worlds