Simon began his career as an engineer before beginning his academic life pursuing studies in the humanities and cultural sociology. Situated within schools of architecture and planning, Simon has focussed upon sustainable urbanism where his interdisciplinary and international research connects architecture with urban planning, the property sector with utilities, academia with industry. He has established links with academics in North America, Asia and Europe and has held research fellowships in Tokyo, Paris, Berlin, Graz, Leuven, California and Singapore.

Simon has published around sixty refereed article, over thirty book chapters and six books. He has been responsible as a principal or co-investigator for around £4.5 million of research income (£2.5 million as PI) derived from a variety of sources including RCUK, European and industry funds. These funds have been spread across the social sciences, the arts and humanities and engineering, as well as across both environmental (Global Environmental Change) and economic themes (Cities and Economic Competitiveness).

His collaborations, particularly with industry, have helped to secure:

£25 million from Tesco to establish the Sustainable Consumption Institute (SCI) at The University of Manchester.

£750, 000 from the Oglesby Charitable Trust to establish the EcoCities programme to deliver a blueprint for action on climate adaptation in Greater Manchester

Research Interests

Simon’s research agenda is underpinned by the development and application of theoretical and methodological insights (science and technology studies, cultural studies, urban and environmental sociology) to studies of architecture, urban planning, design and urban technical infrastructures in order to yield new perspectives, particularly around the issue of sustainable urbanism.

Simon was a pioneer in the application of a socio-technical methodological approach which treats the social and the technical, and nature and culture as inextricably linked in processes of co-evolution. As a result, his work has identified new forms of hybrid urbanism located in shifting design priorities and changing development and network management practices. His work has also increased the understanding of the path-dependency of low-carbon environmental innovation and identified the ways in which alternative logics of ecological design have their roots in competing interpretations of the environmental problem, imagined futures and suggested pathways to sustainable cities.

His work has enhanced the understanding of the contextual framing and contested nature of low-carbon, sustainable design and development. By examining the relationships between diverse technical design strategies and competing conceptions of ecological place-making, he has explored the conceptual and policy challenges involved in seeking to make buildings, networks and cities ‘greener’.

PhD Supervision Interests

I have successfully supervised a variety of inter-disciplinary PhD projects in the field of urbanism and socio-technical-ecological change and am happy to discuss proposals that connect to my field.