Professor Ian  Gordon

Professor Ian Gordon

Emeritus Professor of Human Geography

Department of Geography and Environment

Telephone
+44 (0)20 7107 5384
Room No
CKK 5.13
Connect with me

Languages
English
Key Expertise
migration

About me

Ian joined the Department as Professor of Human Geography in September 2000. Prior to this he spent eleven years as Professor of Geography at Reading University, before which he taught in Interdisciplinary Studies at the University of Kent, where he directed the Urban and Regional Studies Unit.

His main research interests have been in urban development and policies, spatial labour markets, migration and spatial interaction, particularly in the context of major metropolitan regions. He led the team carrying out the London 'integrative city study' for ESRC's Cities, Competitiveness and Cohesion programme. In April 2004 he was the academic convenor for the Leverhulme International Symposium at the LSE on The Resurgent City. 

He is currently a member of: the Mayor's Outer London Commission; and the Department of Communities and Local Government's Regeneration and Economic Development Analysis Expert Panel.

His publications include The London Employment Problem (with Buck and Young, Oxford U.P., 1986), Unemployment, Regions and Labour Markets (edited, Pion, 1987), European Factor Mobility (jointly edited, Macmillan, 1989) Divided Cities: New York and London in the contemporary world (edited with Fainstein and Harloe, Blackwell, 1992) Territorial Competition in an Integrated Europe (edited with Cheshire, Avebury, 1995), Working Capital: life and labour in contemporary London (with Buck, Hall, Harloe and Kleinman, Routledge, 2002), and Changing Cities: Rethinking urban competitiveness, cohesion and governance (edited with Buck, Harding and Turok, December 2004).

For information about the London: Economic Competitiveness project please click here.

Expertise Details

applied urban economics; migration; regional development; urban policy

Research areas

Neighbourhood effects on social outcomes

Analysis and modelling of open spatial labour markets

Political economy of the 'global city' idea

The practical significance of industrial 'clusters'

Tourism places

Multi-level governance in metropolitan regions

Urban policy and territorial competition

Immigration and cities

Weighting functions in spatial econometrics

Selected publications

  • Gordon, Ian. (2014) Fitting a quart in a pint pot? Development, displacement and/or densification in the London region. Migration and London's Growth. Ed. Ben Kochan. London, LSE London: 41 - 55. ISBN 978-1-909890-11-4
  • Gordon, Ian. (2014) Migration and the case for a higher National Minimum Wage in London. Migration and London's Growth. Ed. Ben Kochan. London, LSE London: 107-116. ISBN 978-1-909890-11-4
  • Gordon, Ian and Overman, Henry (2012) A tale of two cities. RSA Journal, winter 2012, 26-29. ISSN : 0958-0433
  • Gordon, Ian (2012) London: beyond the city state. In: Ward, Michael and Hardy, Sally, (eds) Changing gear: is localism the new regionalism. Smith Institute, London, pp. 46-55
  • London's Place in the UK Economy 2009/10, London: City of London Corporation, 2009 (with Tony Travers and Christine Whitehead)
  • 'Off-Shoring of Work and London's Sustainability as an International Financial Centre', pp. 373-384 in Karlsson, C. et al (eds.) New Directions in Regional Economic Development, Berlin:Springer, (with Colin Haslam, Phil McCann, and Brian Scott-Quinn), 2009.
  • 'Local Authorities and the Downturn: A review of issues, experience and options', SERC Policy Paper 3, Spatial Economics Research Centre, (with Tony Travers and Christine Whitehead); also published by DCLG REDA Panel, 2008.
  • 'Policy for Mixed Communities', SERC Policy Paper 2, Spatial Economics Research Centre, (with Paul Cheshire, and Steve Gibbons), 2008.
  • 'Density and the Built Environment', Energy Policy, 36, 4652-6, 2008.
  • 'Territorial Competition in China and the West', Regional Studies, 42. pp. 1-18, (with Crison Chien), 2007.
  • 'Finding Institutional Leadership for Regional Networks: The case of  London and the Greater South East', in W. Salet (ed.) Synergy in Urban Networks,  Hague: Sdu Uitgevers, 2007. 
  • '"London Economy and Employment", and "Conclusion": Does bigger mean better?' B. Kochan (ed.) London: Bigger and Better?, London: LSE London, 2006 (with Tony Travers and Christine Whitehead), 2006.
  • 'How Should We Write about London; the Working Capital view', City, 10, 185-196, 2006. 
  • 'Urban size, spatial segregation and educational outcomes',  Urban Studies, 43, 213-236, (with Vassilis Monastiriotis), 2006.
  • 'Innovation, Agglomeration and Regional Development', Journal of Economic Geography, 5, 523-543, (with Phil McCann), 2005.
  • Off-shoring and the City of London, London: City of London Corporation, 2005, (with Colin Haslam, Phil McCann and Brian Scott-Quinn), London's Place in the UK Economy, 2004 (with Jan Stockdale, Tony Travers, and Christine Whitehead, London, City of London Corporation
  • 'London: Competitiveness, cohesion and the policy environment' (with Buck, Hall, Harloe et al) and 'Does Spatial Concentration of Disadvantage Contribute to Social Exclusion?', in M. Boddy and M. Parkinson (eds.) City Matters Policy Press, 2004.
  • 'Cities, Competitiveness, Cohesion and Governance - a sketch of "the new conventional wisdom"' (with Nick Buck), 'Integrating Cities', 'How Urban Labour Markets Matter' (with Ivan Turok), and 'Moving Beyond the Conventional Wisdom' (with Nick Buck, Alan Harding and Ivan Turok) , in N. Buck, I.R.Gordon, A. Harding, and I. Turok (eds.) Changing Cities: Rethinking urban competitiveness, cohesion and governance. Palgrave, December 2004
  • 'The Resurgent City: What, where, how and for whom?', Planning Theory and Practice, 5:3, September 2004.
  • 'Three into One: Joining up the Greater South East', Town and Country Planning, 72:11, 342-343, 2003.
  • 'Global Cities, Internationalisation and Urban Systems', in P. McCann (ed.) Industrial Location Economics, Elgar, 2002.
  • 'Unemployment and Spatial Labour Markets: Strong adjustment and persistent concentration', in R. Martin and P. Morrison (eds.) Geographies of Labour Market Inequality, Routledge, 2002.