Jon Kellett

Biography

Jon is an urban planner who has worked in the UK and Australia. He is passionate about his role as both a teacher and researcher and is motivated by a desire to carry out research in areas that are relevant to improving the sustainability of cities. He believes that the best urban policy is informed by evidence and strives through his teaching and research to make a difference to the cities in which he lives and works. Jon is an urban planner who has worked in the UK and Australia. He is passionate about his role as both a teacher and researcher and is motivated by a desire to carry out research in areas that are relevant to improving the sustainability of cities. He believes that the best urban policy is informed by evidence and strives through his teaching and research to make a difference to the cities in which he lives and works.

Research Interest

As an urban planner I am interested in the way that cities develop and how they contribute to the quality of human life as well as how they impact on the environment. In this latter regard I have a long standing research interest in the energy demand of cities and the variety of ways this demand is met along with the environmental implications of particular energy policies. This interest led me to be interested in climate change and how cities, as major energy consumers and greenhouse gas emitters, can mitigate their impacts by adopting energy efficiency measures and employing renewable technologies into their energy mix. Following on from this aspect I became interested in how cities might adapt more generally to a changing climate. My second research interest concerns the mechanisms by which urban development occurs. Government investment in infrastructure, private sector investment in new property and the interactions and synergies between these two major forces is a growing area of my research activity. A common theme that unites all of my research is its applicability to policy. I strive to ensure that my work is disseminated to a professional audience and to government and try to take every opportunity to use the outcomes of my research to inform policy making.