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Staff Profile

Professor Geoff Vigar

Professor of Urban Planning

  • Address: School of Architecture Planning and Landscape
    Newcastle University
    Henry Daysh Building
    Claremont Road
    Newcastle upon Tyne
    NE1 7RU
Background

Roles and Responsibilities

Qualifications:

PhD: The Politics of Paradigmatic Policy Change and the Greening of UK Transport Planning, Department of Geography, University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

Postgraduate Diploma, City and Regional Planning. University of Wales College of Cardiff.

BSc(Hons) Town Planning Studies, University of Wales College of Cardiff

Research

Research Interests

My research focuses on the following:

  • UK planning practice, ideas of the public interest, professionalism, knowledge and expertise with regard to built environment professions, and the role of the private sector
  • citizen engagement in planning and particularly citizen-led approaches using digital and offline methods.
  • archival and future-oriented methods to interpret the modernist legacy in both northern English new towns and city-edge commercial/ office park dominated landscapes
  • the politics of urban infrastructure policy, practice, regulation and financing. Work is currently focused on equality and inclusion with regard to the accessibility of the built environment focused especially on health-promoting travel (mental/ physical), liveable neighbourhoods and public transit accessibility. .


Research Roles

I was Research Director in APL from April 2012- Feb 2018. I led APL's submission to REF2014 which was the best performing Unit of Assessment at Newcastle by the widely preferred measure of intensity-adjusted GPA. APL was 4th nationally [out of 45] by this measure and also in terms of research power. I directed the Global Urban Research Unit between 2006 and 2012. 


Postgraduate Supervision

Geoff is Deputy Director for PGR in the school and was Postgraduate Research Director from 2003-2006. . He welcomes applications for post-graduate study that mesh with his research interests. To date he has supervised 21 PhD candidates to completion and examined 20. He currently mentors 4 students:  

  • Bobbie Bailey, Creating socio-technical processes to support place-based innovations in the reimagining of underused urban spaces, [EPSRC Digital Civics DTC with Clara Crivellaro]
  • Nic Cook, Cripping active travel futures: How are disabled people represented and included in the practice of doing active travel policy? (with Natalia Villamizar Duarte and Janice McLoughlin)
  • Robin Edge, Transport, Accessibility and the Built Environment: a neurodiversity perspective (with Zander Wilson, sponsored by the Motability Foundation).
  • Elliot Rooney, The political economy of water service delivery in Addis Ababa, (with Cat Button and Jaime Amezaga)
Teaching

Undergraduate Teaching

TCP1028: Disciplinary perspectives on planning

TCP2028: Urban Infrastructures

 

Postgraduate Teaching

TCP4002 / 4003 Practice Issues Report/ Presentation

TCP8025 Linked Research Project

TCP8902 The Reflexive Practitioner

TCP8034 Planning and Sustainability

Publications