Policy Press

Social Geography and Urban Studies

We publish a wide range of topical titles in this subject area. Have a browse through the different categories on the left to get a flavour of what is covered.

We are particularly well-known for our atlases on social geography and inequality which have featured widely in the media – look out for The human atlas of Europe and People and places in 2016.

Showing 1-12 of 111 items.

Contesting Aviation Expansion

Depoliticisation, Technologies of Government and Post-Aviation Futures

This book analyses the strategies used by public authorities to expand the UK aviation industry in relation to growing political opposition and the negative impacts on local communities and climate change. The authors promote a radical rethinking of our attitudes to flying, laying the ground for a more sustainable future.

Policy Press

The Short Guide to Town and Country Planning 2e

This fully updated short guide discusses the planning system, processes, legal constructs and approaches, taking into account the recent regulatory changes within the UK nations. It explores the interactions of government and society with the planning system, encouraging the reader to adopt a reflective and inquisitive outlook.

Policy Press

The Caring City

Ethics of Urban Design

This original study makes a compelling case for a more ethical approach to urban development and management. Countering the conventional, neoliberal thinking of urban planners and academics, it uses case studies to show how a philosophy of caring can promote the wellbeing of our cities’ many inhabitants.

Bristol Uni Press

The Environments of Ageing

Space, Place and Materiality

Providing the first UK assessment of environmental gerontology, this book enriches current understanding of the spatiality of ageing. It contextualises personal experience in national and local spaces and places, considers the value of intergenerational and age-related living and global to local concerns for population ageing in light of COVID-19.

Policy Press

Dementia and Place

Practices, Experiences and Connections

Giving voice to the lived experiences of people with dementia across the globe, this text highlights the challenges presented as dementia care shifts to a community setting. Contributors address the social aspects of environment and, using a unique 'neighbourhood-centred’ perspective, provide an innovative guide for policy and practice.

Policy Press

Estate Regeneration and Its Discontents

Public Housing, Place and Inequality in London

Using original interviews with estate residents in London, Watt provides a vivid account of estate regeneration and its impacts on marginalised communities in London, showing their experiences and perspectives. He demonstrates the dramatic impacts that regeneration and gentrification can have on socio-spatial inequality.

Policy Press

Youth Migration and the Politics of Wellbeing

Stories of Life in Transition

Drawing on accounts of unaccompanied migrant young people becoming adult, this book offers a political economy analysis of wellbeing in the context of migration and demonstrates the urgent need for policy reform.

Bristol Uni Press

Understanding Affordability

The Economics of Housing Markets

Written by two distinguished housing economists, this ambitious book tackles one of the most important socio-economic issues facing households today. Drawing from theoretical and empirical frameworks, the authors challenge conventional wisdoms in housing economics and policy and offer innovative recommendations to improve housing affordability.

Bristol Uni Press

Creating Community-Led and Self-Build Homes

A Guide to Collaborative Practice in the UK

Examines ‘self-build housing’ and ‘community-led housing’, discussing the commonalities and distinctions between these in practice, and what could be learned from other initiatives across Europe.

Policy Press

Rethinking Urbanism

Lessons from Postcolonialism and the Global South

This book provides new insights into popular understandings of urbanism that emanate from European and North American cities. Myers uses a wide range of case studies from lesser studied cities across the Global South and Global North to present evidence for the need to reconstruct our understanding of ‘good’ urban environments.

Bristol Uni Press

Ethnic Segregation Between Schools

Is It Increasing or Decreasing in England?

This book uses up-to-date evidence to interrogate contemporary patterns of ethnic and social segregation at a school-level, looking at how the changing geographies of ethnic segregation reflect those of social segregation.

Bristol Uni Press

The Property Lobby

The Hidden Reality behind the Housing Crisis

The complex and self-serving nexus behind the UK’s housing crisis is laid bare in this passionate book from Bob Colenutt. Investigating the network of landowners, house-builders, financial backers and politicians, he reveals how we have been forced to accept the cycle of low supply and high prices, and proposes solutions to the housing emergency.

Policy Press