Julia Atkins

Senior Research Fellow. Spatial Planning and Housing Studies Centre, Department of Social Sciences (DASS)

Education and Academic Qualifications

BSc (Occupational Psychology), University of Wales
MSc (Social Policy and Planning), London School of Economics

Career

Julia has operated at a senior level in local and regional government. As a director of one of the country’s leading social research teams, the London Research Centre (LRC), she managed a programme of policy research work for local and central government and a range of other organisations. Uniquely, LRC staff were all local government officers.

Julia has initiated and coordinated large and complex work programmes in housing, homelessness and social exclusion; set up processes to collect quantitative and qualitative data, and to analyze and disseminate this information for both policy development and evaluation. She has had responsibility for multi-disciplinary teams and for cross cutting strategy development, special area development, capital investment programmes, and the assessment of social and urban conditions at national, regional and local levels. She also has extensive experience of being commissioned and of commissioning projects.

London still benefits from the ‘building blocks’ of key information and analysis she initiated with her teams, first in the Greater London Council and maintained through the London Research Centre (LRC) into the newly created Greater London Authority in the 2000s. These data and information were used in the development of the first Mayor’s spatial development, housing and other strategies.

Research Interests and Expertise

• London: communities and place
• Housing and homelessness
• Social and demographic issues
• Housing policy and strategy development

• Research and survey methods

Current Teaching and Administrative Responsibilities

She is currently assisting in the development of postgraduate courses in spatial planning and setting up a research and consultancy capacity within the Spatial Planning and Housing Studies Centre based in DASS. In 2010 Julia will be teaching on the MA Housing and Social Inclusion course and the new Foundation course on Housing Planning and Development.

Previous Work Experience

Regional Development Agency National Secretariat, Consultant, 2007

Responsible for policy briefings, inter-agency liaison, analysis and evaluation of the work of RDAs.