Dr Ian Cook

Ian's research focuses on cities, with a particular emphasis on five issues: (1) pedestrian underpasses and the urban subterranean, (2) policy mobilities; (3) sex work; (4) fictional cities and crime; and (5) the temporality of cities:

• Pedestrian underpasses and the urban subterranean - Together with Clare Wiper, Ian is working on a research project exploring people's experiences of underpasses in Newcastle upon Tyne. In addition, he is currently writing about the portrayal of the urban subterranean in crime fiction. 
• Policy mobilities - Perhaps his best known work is on policy mobilities which looked at the construction and movement of models of best practice, often in the field of urban development and urban regeneration (e.g. Business Improvement Districts, suburban developments, waterfront regeneration, sporting mega-events) as well as sex work. A key part of this research involved looking at the methods through which policymakers learn about policies elsewhere, focusing in particular on study tours, conferences and award ceremonies.
• Sex work - Ian has worked on a number of projects about sex work, many with an urban focus. These projects include ones looking at how clients of sex work are policed (and the use of John Schools in the UK); the international circulation of sex work policy models; the role of platforms within contemporary sex work; and activism by sex work academics. 
• Fictional cities and crime - Ian is examining the ways in which crime dramas and crime fiction represent cities. He has explored this through an analysis of the crime drama Breaking Bad and is currently analysing these issues in Ian Rankin's long-running John Rebus novels.
• The temporality of cities - He is currently writing about the relationship between time and cities. Here he is exploring the role of time in the policing of urban sex work as well as how the issue of time runs through urban crime fiction.   

• Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
• Platforms, sex work and their interconnectedness, Swords, J., Laing, M., Cook, I. 1 Mar 2023, In: Sexualities
• The Rebus guided tour: Edinburgh, UK, Cook, I., Rowe, M. 14 Mar 2023, 50 Dark Destinations, Bristol, Policy Press
• "Maybe I’m a quiet activist": sex work scholars and negotiations of ‘minor’ academic-activism, Laing, M., Cook, I., Baker, T., Calder-Dawe, O. 1 Apr 2022, In: Sexualities
• Time and detective novels: exploring the past and the night in Ian Rankin’s John Rebus series, Cook, I. Apr 2022, In: Clues: A Journal of Detection
• Victims, witnesses and the criminal justice system, Davies, P., Cook, I. Nov 2021, An Introduction to Criminology, London, SAGE
• Conferences, award ceremonies and the showcasing of ‘best practice’: A case study of the annual European Week of Regions and Cities in Brussels, Andersson, I., Cook, I. 1 Dec 2019, In: Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space
• Criminological policy mobilities and sex work: Understanding the movement of the ‘Swedish model’ to Northern Ireland, Dodds, L., Cook, I., Laing, M. 1 Sep 2019, In: British Journal of Criminology
• Inside mobile urbanism: cities and policy mobilities, Temenos, C., Baker, T., Cook, I. Jun 2019, Handbook of Urban Geography, Cheltenham, Edward Elgar
• Sex work, sensory urbanism and visual criminology: Exploring the role of the senses in shaping residential perceptions of brothels in Blackpool, Cooper, E., Cook, I., Bilby, C. May 2018, In: International Journal of Urban and Regional Research
• Showcasing Vällingby to the world: post-war suburban development, informational infrastructures, and the extrospective city, Cook, I. 2018, In: Planning Perspectives

• Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
• Organising a conference, workshop, ...: Sex Work Research Hub Postgraduate Conference 2018

Laura McMenzie Models on the Move: The Mobilities of Swedish and Dutch Sex Work Policies Start Date: 01/10/2015 End Date: 21/01/2022

• Geography PhD September 01 2008
• Fellow of Advance HE