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Robert Cowley

Dr Robert Cowley

Senior Lecturer in Sustainable Cities

Research interests

  • Sustainable cities & communities (SDG 11)
  • Geography

Biography

Dr Robert Cowley joined the Department of Geography in 2015. His research interests relate to visions of the urban future, and the processes through which these are implemented in particular places.

He worked as Project Coordinator on a three-year research project 'Smart Eco-Cities: A Comparative Study of Europe and China'. Previously, he was Network Coordinator for the Leverhulme Trust-funded international research consortium 'Tomorrow’s City Today – an International Comparison of Eco-City Frameworks'.

More recently, he has led research exploring governance questions around future settlements on Mars, and is currently working with Westminster City Council to facilitate ongoing collaboration with King’s on local urban sustainability initiatives (as part of a five-country project led by the State University of Portland).

His PhD thesis, completed at the University of Westminster, explored the governance of ‘eco-city’ initiatives around the world. Before that, he took an MA in Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Westminster (2010). His first degree was in Modern Languages and Literature (Russian and Modern Greek) at the University of Oxford.

Research

  • ‘Smart’ and ‘eco’ urban initiatives
  • Governance of urban sustainability
  • Publics and public space
  • Sustainability transitions
  • Urban experiments

Robert’s research focuses on the proliferation of diverse ‘eco’ and ‘smart’ urban initiatives and policies around the world. In particular, he is interested in the way that these ideas travel and are translated into varying practices in different settings, the conceptual and practical tensions between the ‘eco’ and the ‘smart’, and the significance of these experimental approaches to urban development for traditional modes of planning.

Teaching

Undergraduate

  • 4SSG1008 Geography Tutorials: Critical Thinking and Techniques 
  • 4SSG1016 Geography in Action 
  • 5SSG2058 Urban Geography: Exploring the City 
  • 5SSG2065 Cities and Citizenship 

Postgraduate

  • 7SSG5002 Practising Social Research 
  • 7SSG5179 Understanding the Sustainable City 
  • 7SSG5180 Governing the Sustainable City 

Further details

See Robert's research profile

    Research

    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.

    climate change hero
    King's Climate Research Hub

    Studying climate change through the relationship between science, policy and culture, particularly in the developing world.

    News

    Collective climate action needed, King's experts tell London Climate Action Week

    As part of London Climate Action Week, King’s experts demonstrated the value of partnership to address policy gaps and improve climate change adaptation plans.

    London Climate Action Week 2022 graphics

    King's experts contribute to Lambeth's new Climate Action Plan

    King’s local borough Lambeth launches Climate Action Plan after an extensive process of collaboration with a range of stakeholders, including King’s experts.

    Image of an empty Stamford Street showing King's campus on the left.

    King's experts to work with Lambeth Council and its residents on climate change

    Local representatives and residents will be guided by King’s advisors as they investigate solutions and barriers to Lambeth becoming carbon neutral by 2030.

    climate change_promo

    Manifesto urges us to consider realities of living on Mars

    The notion of humans living on Mars is no longer purely a fantastical and distant sci-fi aspiration. 

    Manifesto for Governing Life on Mars

    Events

    29Junclimate action

    Incorporating climate into governance: Perspectives from multiple industries

    Join experts from across Social Science & Public Policy in discussing the importance of incorporating climate into governance.

    Please note: this event has passed.

    Features

    Cities, regions and built environment: Advancing climate action in the places we live

    Dr Robert Cowley from the Department of Geography looks at transformative solutions at more local levels and how these can support our cities adapt to climate...

    urban housing 1800 500

      Research

      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.

      climate change hero
      King's Climate Research Hub

      Studying climate change through the relationship between science, policy and culture, particularly in the developing world.

      News

      Collective climate action needed, King's experts tell London Climate Action Week

      As part of London Climate Action Week, King’s experts demonstrated the value of partnership to address policy gaps and improve climate change adaptation plans.

      London Climate Action Week 2022 graphics

      King's experts contribute to Lambeth's new Climate Action Plan

      King’s local borough Lambeth launches Climate Action Plan after an extensive process of collaboration with a range of stakeholders, including King’s experts.

      Image of an empty Stamford Street showing King's campus on the left.

      King's experts to work with Lambeth Council and its residents on climate change

      Local representatives and residents will be guided by King’s advisors as they investigate solutions and barriers to Lambeth becoming carbon neutral by 2030.

      climate change_promo

      Manifesto urges us to consider realities of living on Mars

      The notion of humans living on Mars is no longer purely a fantastical and distant sci-fi aspiration. 

      Manifesto for Governing Life on Mars

      Events

      29Junclimate action

      Incorporating climate into governance: Perspectives from multiple industries

      Join experts from across Social Science & Public Policy in discussing the importance of incorporating climate into governance.

      Please note: this event has passed.

      Features

      Cities, regions and built environment: Advancing climate action in the places we live

      Dr Robert Cowley from the Department of Geography looks at transformative solutions at more local levels and how these can support our cities adapt to climate...

      urban housing 1800 500