Biography
Chris has worked at the forefront of UK urban policy – and with cities internationally – for over 20 years. He recently stood down after 15 years as Director of Core Cities UK, a collaboration between the major UK cities outside London, during which he helped lead a nationwide process of decentralisation and devolution to urban areas.
Chris works as a consultant and advisor on urban issues, including with 3Ci, the Cities Commission for Climate Investment. He founded Urban Psyche, a company which brings the tools of psychology to bear on urban living. Chris is also a Visiting Professor at Strathclyde University Institute for Future Cities, Fellow at the Heseltine Institute for Public Policy and Practice at Liverpool University, Advisory Board Member of Boston Massachusetts University Initiative on Cities, and Chair of Fusion21, a construction procurement company founded as a social enterprise.
Prior to this he was a Director of the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, and was seconded to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister to establish the Academy for Sustainable Communities, a national regeneration skills agency.
Earlier in his career he worked in local government, as a psychiatric social worker, in education, culture and community work. He is author of several publications and books, the latest being ‘Psychology & The City: The Hidden Dimension’, co-authored with Charles Landry.
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