There's been lots of great stuff written about African megacities such as Lagos and Kinshasa But they miss something: the rise of small-town Africa My piece this week is about how the growth of second cities and towns is transforming the continent economist.com/middle-east-an…

It's interesting to reflect on the changing politics of devolution - with some geographies inconceivable 12 months ago now being proposed by authorities and vice-versa. On the left-hand is the @LGCplus map from 2023 and on the right-hand is its map from a fortnight ago:

VIP (Very Important Paper) on what fundamentally makes a place urban! And none of the same stuff you have been hearing a lot of in recent years, this really is something new…

Fab stuff on how #people make #urbanization in Nature Cities by University of Bristol’s Sean Fox ([email protected]) + ljw calling for a clearer distinction between “urbanness” and development- absolute ⭐️five star read ⏩ (and I like what they’re doing up there at nature with the journal)

New at Nature Human Behaviour w/ Esping-Andersen, Pintro-Schmitt & Peter Fallesen: The intergenerational persistence of poverty (the link between poverty in childhood vs. adulthood) is 4x stronger in the US than in Denmark and 2x stronger than in UK/AUS. Why? nature.com/articles/s4156…

🔔Cool Job Alert!!🔔 3-Year postdoc to work w/ my brilliant colleague Laurence Hawker on his exciting new FuturePop project in partnership w/ WorldPopProject #DataScience #demography #Geography jobs.ac.uk/job/DKN532/sen…

"Temples paved the way for farms and settlements, not the other way around" - Great line from Michael Morris's new book, "TRIBAL"

Your annual reminder that cartography shapes the way we understand our (in this case political) world #maps #cartography #geography

I'm extremely grateful that "Raised to Obey: The Rise and Spread of Mass Education" (Princeton University Press) had such a strong 1st week! What is this book about? Why did I write it? Why should you care? A thread: 1/n

🛎️PhD opportunity!!🛎️ High-resolution modelling and geo-visualisation of socio-spatial inequalities in infrastructure access in England working with the brilliant Felix Agyemang & Prof Ceclia Wong The University of Manchester findaphd.com/phds/project/h…

Overcoming structural inequalities in cities through building empathy between marginalised groups and planners. It is possible and tackles major injustices. OA at npj Urban Sustainability. w Bangladeshi colleagues Lucy Szaboova Ricardo S. de Campos University of Exeter News nature.com/articles/s4294…

The December issue of Nature Cities is now live! nature.com/natcities/volu…

Don't miss out on this Nature article on how the global political economy of scientific research is evolving. nature.com/articles/d4158… The new top 200 rankings of science cities: nature.com/nature-index/s…

Pleased to share that the publisher proofs for The Political Economy of Megaprojects in Asia: State Power, Land Control, Financial Flows, and Dispossession were checked, and the edited book (w/ @urbanobserver_D) is coming soon in Feb. More details here: urbancommune.net/?p=3145

🛎️Job Alert!!🛎️ We're hiring a permanent Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in Global Development & Environment! More information on the post and how to apply here: jobs.ac.uk/job/DLL735/lec…

New Paper Alert 🔔 🔔 How has urbanisation in the Global South been modelled? mehebub sahana and I have reviewed progress and outlined key issues for future research. compass.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.11…

New vacancy: We are recruiting Assistant Prof in Urban Environmental Geography w/ expertise in any of the following: urban political ecology; climate urbanism; Black geographies/ecologies; and/or environmental inequalities and justice. Deadline: 6-Apr. See jobs.lse.ac.uk/Vacancies/W/29…

A new WaterAid UK 💦 report in partnership with academics @GeogBristol and Cardiff University has revealed how the most populated cities globally are at increasing risk of flooding and drought. Check out the BBC News (UK) report👇bit.ly/41M9K5Q #ClimateChange Katerina Michaelides Sean Fox ([email protected])

Nice to see our paper on integrating social vulnerability into global flood risk mapping hit the top 25 Social & Human Behavior Articles of 2024! Felix Agyemang Laurence Hawker @naturecomms nature.com/collections/bf…

New working paper by Kıvanç Karaman, Antonio Henriques, & myself. Contrary to conventional wisdom, we find that constrained government & state capacity were not systematically related. England stood out for combining both, which helps explain its modern econ. growth take-off. 1/15👇