my area of expertise
I offer advocacy/consulting services in relation to sensory urbanism, experiential planning and other social and cultural aspects of urban planning, housing or public space design both pre-implementation and post-evaluation.
Please use the contact page here if you are interested in discussing a project with me.
References available upon request.
Making Hayes: Community Voices on Celebrating and Improving Hayes Town Centre
In 2025 we were commissioned by Hillingdon Council to deliver a community consultation for Hayes Town Centre. With Dr Rondel and Dr Butler we provided a baseline study of social infrastructure provision and needs in Hayes Town with a particular focus on experiences by young people and engaged 335 people through a mix of creative and experiential methods.
Voices of Uxbridge
In 2023, Hillingdon council commissioned a team led by myself, Dr. Rondel, Dr. Butler and Allies and Morrison Urban Practitioners to analyse the uses, embodied experiences and perceptions of Uxbridge Town Centre. This research has underpinned the masterplan/vision for Uxbridge and the Local Plan. Over 1000 local residents and visitors were engaged through a variety of methods from focus groups, walking interviews, vox pop surveys to an interactive exhibition “Echoes of Uxbridge” (co-organised with Daniel Gutierrez-Lleida University).
Moorgate/London Wall: Green Space Area Uses and Sense of Place
In 2023 as part of a knowledge exchange sabbatical I worked in the Corporation of London at the Transport & Public Realm Projects, Environment Department and developed a pre-implementation survey of the daily rhythms of use and sensory experiences of Moorgate/London
Wall Green Space Area and immediate surroundings that produce its unique sense of place.
Reimagining Uxbridge High Street
In the summer of 2021 I was commissioned by Hillingdon Chamber of Commerce for a 12 week study (funded by the GLA’s ‘Putting Your High Street on the Map’) to produce an experiential-emotional map of the current look and feel of Uxbridge High Street. The study that I conducted with Dr Tom Butler, Dr Emma Filtness and supported by UG students analysed the experiences of 367 users (locals and visitors) of Uxbridge High Street and thereby offers unique insights into the sense of place and meanings the High Street has for individuals and communities in and around Uxbridge. Based on the findings, the report suggests activities and interventions to increase the quality of experience and time spent on the High Street and to diversify its uses for Uxbridge’s diverse population. The study tested using innovative qualitative experiential research drawing from vox pops on and observations of the High Street, community surveys, urban poetry workshops and focus groups, sensory-spatial mapping techniques and photographic inquiry.
Sensory explorations of West Smithfield
Since 2017 I have developed ongoing research around the changing sense of place of the Smithfield Market area as it becomes transformed through the City of London’s latest regeneration projects the 'Culture Mile' and the New London Museum. Funded by Brunel Research Development and in collaboration with The London Museum, I produced a report which informed the new museum’s design and curatorial content. The study analysed the changing identity of the Smithfield area, drawing on new digital and experiential methodologies quantified for the museum in a series of evocative digital maps.
In 2020 along with The London Museum I was awarded an AHRC Collaborative Techne Doctoral Studentship “Changing Places: Evaluating the socio-cultural impact and experiential change of the new Museum of London in Smithfield” pursued by Tom Butler. Based on this work I have also organised a 2 day international conference with The London Museum and The Urban Lab (UCL), see events.
Women involved in street sex work in the UK
In 2016 Prof Buckingham, Dr Marandet and myself were asked by UTurn Women’s Charity to research the everyday lives and needs of women who street sex work in order to enable the funder, and the third sector in general, to identify and provide appropriately responsive services and facilities. We conducted an extensive literature and policy review, interviewed women involved in street sex work in the East End and also talked to key stakeholders.