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Professor David Gilbert

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I am Professor of Urban and Historical Geography and Director of the Department's Social and Cultural Geography Group.  I also convene Landscape Surgery, a forum for discussion between academics, graduate students, practicing artists and others on issues concerning landscape and cultural geography more generally.

My main research interest is in the geography and history of twentieth-century London, and on urban modernity more generally. I am currently in the initial stages of a project looking at the significance of religion and faith for suburban spaces, particularly around London.  I’m also currently working on the history of the Hungerford Bridge in central London – thinking about how this can be used to open up different dimensions of the city’s story.
 
Other work on London includes two major projects: one on the relationships between fashion and urban change in post-war London (a collaboration with London College of Fashion and the V&A as part of the ESRC-AHRC Cultures of Consumption programme), that resulted in a series of publications and an exhibition on fashion and the city; and an earlier Leverhulme-sponsored project that examined the effects of imperialism on European metropolises  -- ‘Imperial Cities.’  I have also written on urban tourism and the cultures of urban planning. My earlier work concerned the historical geographies of protest, community and collective identity, particularly strikes and the British coal industry. I’m also interested in the use of counterfactual methods in Historical Geography.

I’ve a strong cluster of PhD students, for the most part focused on themes related to modern London – details of these and completed PhD projects are on my research pages. Themes include parks and gardens as cultural landscapes in the modern city, urban tourism, urban museums, urban technology, urban social and oral history, and urban planning. I’ve also supervised a number of PhDs that use new technology in expressive ways – to ‘place’ oral history, or to help public understanding of science.  I’m always keen to discuss potential projects and funding opportunities.  I currently supervise collaborative projects with the Museum of London, the Science Museum, and Botanic Gardens Conservation International at Kew.  I’ve particularly strong links with the Museum of London, where there was an earlier collaborative studentship and I’ve served the Museum as external advisor in its re-telling of the story of modern London.

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