Is the Northern Powerhouse dead?
·3 mins
The past few weeks have been full of speculation as to the future of the Northern Powerhouse, the plan to create strong links between urban areas in northern England.
Blog posts
I’ve been blogging for about five years, mostly about my work and projects. Some links in older posts may be broken – I’m in the process of gradually fixing these.
2016
University campuses can be a testbed for smart cities
·4 mins
India wants 100 of them.
The future is local (and so are global challenges): the example of Rotterdam
·3 mins
A recurring theme of this blog is how cities, rather than nations, will be on the front line tackling global challenges in the future.
Resilient cities, resilient sectors
·3 mins
Whilst working for UNESCO in Vietnam we hosted a training programme for senior Ministry of Education and Training staff on disaster risk reduction, looking at the role of policy makers in times of crisis.
Is connectivity important for universities?
·5 mins
The central paradox of the modern metropolis is that ‘proximity has become ever more valuable as the cost of connecting across long distance has fallen’, writes Ed Glaeser in Triumph of the City.
The difference 33 years can make
·2 mins
The returns to primary education (whether social or private) are the highest among all educational levels… Top priority should be given to primary education as a form of human resource investment.
Are interregional relations the new international relations?
·4 mins
Relations between regions will be the new international relations.
History, policy and development
·3 mins
Having studied both history and international development, I’m always interested in work that bridges the two.
The Paradise Group and other unrelated musings
·3 mins
A new “Russell Group type” alliance of the top universities in Africa will bring together 15 universities from 8 countries.
Brain drain and mobile talent: where international development and higher education overlap
·4 mins
Development practitioners call it brain drain.