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Professor Philip Hubbard
Professor Philip Hubbard

Professor Philip Hubbard

Professor of Urban Studies

Research interests

  • Community
  • Geography
  • Sociology

Biography

Phil Hubbard has a Geography BA (1990) and PhD (1994) from the University of Birmingham, and has worked in the Departments of Geography at Gloucestershire University, Coventry University and Loughborough University.

From 2010 until 2017, he was in the inter-disciplinary School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Work at the University of Kent, serving as Head of School and Associate Dean for Research in the Faculty of Social Sciences. 

Research

  • Cities and social change
  • Sexuality and space
  • Urban consumption 
  • Legal geography 

Phil is particularly interested in the city as a site of social conflict. His work draws on theories of the city developed in urban geography and urban sociology, and also engages with debates in socio-legal studies given my particular interests in the way urban 'disorder' is regulated.

Empirically, this has been manifested in studies exploring how community opposition to particular ‘unwanted’ land uses (eg brothels, lap-dance clubs, asylum holding facilities, student housing, empty shops) shapes governmental and regulatory responses. He is particularly known for setting international agendas in the study of the relationship between gender, sexuality and the city via research on the spatial governance of sex work (summarised in 'Cities and Sexualities', Routledge, 2013). 

A major theme running through much of his work has been a focus on questions of displacement and spatial justice, something that is particularly relevant in the context of London's housing crises and the ongoing gentrification of much of the capital. This is evident in his Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)-sponsored research on the impacts of estate renewal in London, as well as studies of the impacts of retail gentrification on working-class communities (the latter summarised in his monograph 'The Battle for the High Street'Palgrave, 2017).  

Further details

See Phil's research profile

    Research

    London - small flats 2018 price submission
    No space like home: the geography of micro-apartments in London

    Studying micro-apartments and their impact on affordable homes and people's living spaces in London.

    Project status: Ongoing

    DID_Urban_Development_HERO
    Urban Futures research group

    Examining urban futures through a conceptual, analytical and methodological lens that questions what cities are and how they work.

    News

    Report highlights creative role of cultural policy in 'post-COVID' city recovery

    A new report from King’s in collaboration with the World Cities Culture Forum analyses how city policymakers around the world supported culture through the...

    report cover with title and image of child wearing facemask playing in busy street

    Urban Futures Group Explores Increasing Use of 'Micro-Apartments'.

    Researchers from the King’s College London looked at how homes in London having been shrinking and why the COVID-19 pandemic may increase the use of...

    Block of Flats

    Reimagining our post-pandemic cities

    Has the pandemic presented an opportunity to reset our cities for the better?

    High rise residential buildings in London

    Risky business: new study shows the impact of Rio 2012 on the oldest profession

    The crackdown on sex work leading to and during the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro was counterproductive says new study led by King's College London, the...

    Crackdown on sex work, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    The 2016 Rio Olympics made sex work more dangerous

    The crackdown on sex work leading up to and during the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro resulted in prostitutes being put in higher levels of danger, finds...

    sex work rio olympics

    Events

    18OctCouple walking through London street

    Who governs the City? Privatised London in the 21st century

    Professor Mike Raco (UCL) will discuss his recently published book (with Frances Brill), London: the privatised city (Agenda publishing).

    Please note: this event has passed.

    10NovStuart Leech image (Hole in barbed wire)

    Identity and belonging at the frayed edge of England

    Part of the ESRC Festival of Social Science, Phil Hubbard (author of Borderland: identity and belonging at the edge of England) and Patrick Wright (author of...

    Please note: this event has passed.

    01JunCity works

    Pushed to the Margins: Roundtable Discussion on Gentrification in London

    Chaired by Dr Phil Hubbard of the Urban Futures Group, this event will examine findings from a new report published by the Runnymede Trust and CLASS into...

    Please note: this event has passed.

    29Jandrops of water

    The battle for a beach: Blue legalities, wet ontologies and coastal conflict

    Join Professor Phil Hubbard (King's College London) for this talk.

    Please note: this event has passed.

    Features

    The fight between Tate Modern and its wealthy neighbours reveals the gentrification of the skies

    In the 1950s and 1960s, tower blocks were reserved for social housing tenants. Such “streets in the sky” were subsequently vilified as sites of social...

    London skyline

    'We shall fight on the beaches': invasion rhetoric and the anti-asylum discourse in Boris's Britain

    Professor Phil Hubbard reflects on the discourse in the media and politics around the images of refugees arriving on Kent's beaches.

    Refugees welcome on Dover cliffs (banner image)

    Suella Braverman's talk of a refugee 'invasion' is a dangerous political gambit gone wrong

    Phil Hubbard, Professor of Urban Studies, discusses the language used by Home Secretary about refugees coming to the UK.

    houses of parliament

    Coronavirus could turn cities into doughnuts: empty centres but vibrant suburbs

    Most COVID-19 lockdowns were accompanied by sobering news from the UK’s high streets.

    Oxford Street hero

    How COVID-19 might change the way we live and work for good

    Professor Phil Hubbard looks at whether the COVID-19 pandemic will reverse the recent trend of creating smaller homes and change the way we design urban...

    urban housing 1800 500

      Research

      London - small flats 2018 price submission
      No space like home: the geography of micro-apartments in London

      Studying micro-apartments and their impact on affordable homes and people's living spaces in London.

      Project status: Ongoing

      DID_Urban_Development_HERO
      Urban Futures research group

      Examining urban futures through a conceptual, analytical and methodological lens that questions what cities are and how they work.

      News

      Report highlights creative role of cultural policy in 'post-COVID' city recovery

      A new report from King’s in collaboration with the World Cities Culture Forum analyses how city policymakers around the world supported culture through the...

      report cover with title and image of child wearing facemask playing in busy street

      Urban Futures Group Explores Increasing Use of 'Micro-Apartments'.

      Researchers from the King’s College London looked at how homes in London having been shrinking and why the COVID-19 pandemic may increase the use of...

      Block of Flats

      Reimagining our post-pandemic cities

      Has the pandemic presented an opportunity to reset our cities for the better?

      High rise residential buildings in London

      Risky business: new study shows the impact of Rio 2012 on the oldest profession

      The crackdown on sex work leading to and during the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro was counterproductive says new study led by King's College London, the...

      Crackdown on sex work, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

      The 2016 Rio Olympics made sex work more dangerous

      The crackdown on sex work leading up to and during the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro resulted in prostitutes being put in higher levels of danger, finds...

      sex work rio olympics

      Events

      18OctCouple walking through London street

      Who governs the City? Privatised London in the 21st century

      Professor Mike Raco (UCL) will discuss his recently published book (with Frances Brill), London: the privatised city (Agenda publishing).

      Please note: this event has passed.

      10NovStuart Leech image (Hole in barbed wire)

      Identity and belonging at the frayed edge of England

      Part of the ESRC Festival of Social Science, Phil Hubbard (author of Borderland: identity and belonging at the edge of England) and Patrick Wright (author of...

      Please note: this event has passed.

      01JunCity works

      Pushed to the Margins: Roundtable Discussion on Gentrification in London

      Chaired by Dr Phil Hubbard of the Urban Futures Group, this event will examine findings from a new report published by the Runnymede Trust and CLASS into...

      Please note: this event has passed.

      29Jandrops of water

      The battle for a beach: Blue legalities, wet ontologies and coastal conflict

      Join Professor Phil Hubbard (King's College London) for this talk.

      Please note: this event has passed.

      Features

      The fight between Tate Modern and its wealthy neighbours reveals the gentrification of the skies

      In the 1950s and 1960s, tower blocks were reserved for social housing tenants. Such “streets in the sky” were subsequently vilified as sites of social...

      London skyline

      'We shall fight on the beaches': invasion rhetoric and the anti-asylum discourse in Boris's Britain

      Professor Phil Hubbard reflects on the discourse in the media and politics around the images of refugees arriving on Kent's beaches.

      Refugees welcome on Dover cliffs (banner image)

      Suella Braverman's talk of a refugee 'invasion' is a dangerous political gambit gone wrong

      Phil Hubbard, Professor of Urban Studies, discusses the language used by Home Secretary about refugees coming to the UK.

      houses of parliament

      Coronavirus could turn cities into doughnuts: empty centres but vibrant suburbs

      Most COVID-19 lockdowns were accompanied by sobering news from the UK’s high streets.

      Oxford Street hero

      How COVID-19 might change the way we live and work for good

      Professor Phil Hubbard looks at whether the COVID-19 pandemic will reverse the recent trend of creating smaller homes and change the way we design urban...

      urban housing 1800 500