Connected Cities Lab

Cities are on the frontlines of the current coronavirus pandemic crisis.

COVID-19 has imposed exceptional measures of unprecedented impact in recent history and is shaking the foundations of our daily lives, from social interactions to economic relations and everyday wellbeing, in major centres the world over. It is the very ‘connected cities’ nature of our urbanised planet that facilitated the global spread of COVID-19 and foregrounds some of our biggest challenges, but city leaders are also stepping up to the test posed by the coronavirus whilst digital, social and political connections are being recast in settlements in the Global North and South.

Building on existing efforts in the areas of urban policy and health, as well as wellbeing and cities,  the Connected Cities Lab is engaging in a number of ways in the current response to COVID-19, advocating for an evidence-based, equitable and inclusive, and innovation-oriented approach to the crisis. On this page, you will find a repository of these engagements.

We also encourage consulting the work of the University’s Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, at the forefront of COVID-19 response.

We work with key stakeholders in urban governance to provide evidence, build capacity and offer advice on the global dynamics shaping the leadership of cities. We offer reliable and innovative sources of applied urban research, producing both policy material, practice-oriented education and scholarly reviews. Connected Cities Lab specialises on the ways networks, international processes and information influence urban governance, and strives to link academic research to practical needs.

We deliver education that builds upon Lab research to inform the next generation of city leaders and encourage research-led education.

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  Professor Michele Acuto, Lab Director and Professor of Global Urban Politics
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  Kate Murray, Lab Coordinator
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  Geoffrey Browne, Research Fellow In International Urban Development
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  Stephanie Butcher, Postdoctoral Fellow in International Urban Politics
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  Jennifer Dam, Project Officer on Botnar Evidence to Action
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  Pablo Fuentenebro Alonso, Postdoctoral Fellow in International Urban Politics
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  Paris Hadfield, Research Fellow in Urban Innovation
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  Thomas Jacobs, Project Officer in SDGs Cities Challenge and Innovate4Cities
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  Ihnji Jon, Lecturer in International Urban Politics
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  Hyung Min Kim, Senior Lecturer in Urban Planning
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  Anna Kosovac, Postdoctoral Fellow in International Urban Politics
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  Inderlina Mateo-Babiano, Senior Lecturer in Urban Planning
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  Cathy Oke, Enterprise Senior Fellow in Informed Cities
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  Alexei Trundle, Research Fellow in Sustainable Urban Development

Project Researchers

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  Ariana Dickey, Research Assistant in The Greater Melbourne Urban Exchange

Doctoral Researchers

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  Daniel Pejic, Architecture, Building and Planning – "Comparative Imaginations" Lab Scholarship
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  Jana Perkovic, Architecture, Building and Planning – "Politics of Global Urbanism" Lab Scholarship

Visiting Scholars and Practitioners

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  Joyati Das, Senior Visiting Fellow and Co-Lead on Botnar Evidence to Action

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  Argentine Council for International Relations
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  Barcelona Centre for International Affairs
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  The Business of Cities, The Comparative Imagination
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  Chicago Council on Global Affairs, City Diplomacy, Great Powers and Urbanization Project
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  Department for International Development
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  The Economist Intelligence Unit, The Comparative Imagination
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  Economic and Social Research Council
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  Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
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  Fondation Botnar, Evidence to Action
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  Global Challenges Research Fund
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  Global Covenant of Mayors, Innovate4Cities
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  International Science Council
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  International Sustainability Unit, Science and the Future of Cities
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  Nature Sustainability, Science and the Future of Cities
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  Perry World House
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  University College London, Knowledge in Action for Urban Equality
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  UCL Grand Challenge for Sustainable Cities, Science and the Future of Cities
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  University of Oxford
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  World Bank

Get in touch: urban research is an inherently collaborative endeavour!