Professor Mike Raco
Chair of Urban Governance and Development
Mike Raco (B.A., Ph.D. London) is Professor of Urban Governance and Development in the Bartlett School of Planning, University College London. His background is in Planning, Geography, and Urban Studies. He has published widely on the topics of urban governance and regeneration, urban sustainability, social diversity, and the politics of urban and regional economic development.
He recently led a team at UCL on an EU-funded project named DIVERCITIES that explored the governance and management of diversity polices in London in comparison with other cities in the EU and in Canada. Recent works include: The Future of Sustainable Cities: Critical Reflections (with John Flint, Policy Press, Bristol); State-led Privatisation and the Demise of the Democratic State: Welfare Reform and Localism in an Era of Regulatory Capitalism (Routledge, London); and Regenerating London: Governance, Sustainability and Community in a Global City (with Rob Imrie and Loretta Lees, Routledge, London). He formerly lectured at King’s College London and the Universities of Reading and Glasgow.
Recent London posts
Towards an understanding of the role of debt
Given our focus on investment into residential real estate, an essential dimension is understanding how housing fits more broadly within the financialized economy of the UK (and the Netherlands and France). An important but under engaged within urban studies part of...
Community Led Regeneration: the London Case
UCL has a long-standing relationship with Just Space, an umbrella organisation for community groups across London. Whilst the WHIG project is not explicitly working with them at this stage, their work is highly relevant to understanding the planning context of London...
Hamlet Without the Prince
Hamlet Without the Prince or Why We Need More Research on How Private Sector Actors See the World.I recently gave a paper in the Department of Urban Studies at the University of Glasgow on the subject of ‘Seeing Like an Investor’. The talk was based on a paper that...