Paul Watt joined the Department of Sociology as a Visiting Professor in 2023 and will be there until 2026. He also studied in the Department (MPhil. Sociology, University of London). Paul is Emeritus Professor of Urban Studies at Birkbeck, University of London, where he worked until 2023. He previously held posts at the University of Wolverhampton, University of East London, and Buckinghamshire New University. Paul is a member of the editorial board of ‘City’.
Research interests
Paul is an urbanist whose research examines the inter-relationship between social inequalities, space and place in contemporary cities. Paul's research interests include social housing, urban regeneration, gentrification, neighbourhoods and communities, homelessness, housing activism, the 2012 London Olympic Games, and suburbanisation. His most recent book is Estate Regeneration and Its Discontents: Public Housing, Place and Inequality in London (Policy Press, 2021).
Paul is currently working on two research projects. The first - 'Living at Regenerated Neighbourhoods in London' - is funded by a British Academy, Small Research Grant. The second – ‘The History and Regeneration of an East London Housing Estate’ – focusses on the history and redevelopment of the Carpenters’ estate in the London borough of Newham.
Books
Watt, P. (2021) Estate Regeneration and Its Discontents: Public Housing, Place and Inequality In London. Bristol: Policy Press.
Watt, P. and Smets, P. (Editors) (2017) Social Housing and Urban Renewal: A Cross-National Perspective. Bingley: Emerald.
Cohen, P. and Watt, P. (Editors) (2017) London 2012 and the Post-Olympics City: A Hollow Legacy? Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Watt, P. and Smets, P. (Editors) (2014) Mobilities and Neighbourhood Belonging in Cities and Suburbs. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Butler, T. and Watt, P. (2007) Understanding Social Inequality. London: Sage.