Professor Paula Meth

  • Professor in Southern Urbanism (Urban Studies & Social Policy)

telephone: 01413305307
email: Paula.Meth@glasgow.ac.uk

Room 244, 29 Bute Gardens, Glasgow, G12 8RS

Import to contacts

ORCID iDhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-2273-5134

Biography

Paula Meth is Professor of Southern Urbanism. She joined Urban Studies at the University of Glasgow in early 2024. Paula's training was in Human Geography and urban planning, and she has worked across these disciplines, focusing much of her research on the urban global South.  

Paula is an Associate Professorial Fellow (https://www.wits.ac.za/cubes/team/visiting-staff/) at the School of Architecture and Planning at the University of Witwatersrand, affiliated to their Centre for Urbanism and Built Environment Studies (https://www.wits.ac.za/cubes/).

She is co-investigator of TRUCIT (Transcontinental urban citizenship) a research project exploring the interconnections between Somali experience of life in UK cities and development processes in Somalia, led by Professor Tom Goodfellow.

Paula is also a co-domain lead on the African Cities Research Consortium for the Safety & Security domain working with colleagues from Nigeria, Kenya, Somalia, DRC and Sierra Leone. 

Research interests

Paula's research examines everyday lives in the urban 'global South'. She has a particular interest in socio-spatial intersections therein, such as housing & youth; informality, violence & gender; urban peripheries & social difference, & exploring the materialities & social meanings of urban change.

Paula's research spans Urban Studies (including planning), Human Geography, and Development Studies. Her recent funded projects have examined Youth and the Work/Housing Nexus in Ethiopia and South Africa (British Academy); Living the African Peripheries (ESRC); and Gender and Housing formalisation in India and South Africa (British Academy). 

Paula is currently a co-investigator on the ESRC funded project Urban citizenship and transcontinental lives, led by Prof Tom Goodfellow, University of Sheffield.

Paula has published articles in journals including Urban Geography, International Journal of Urban and Regional Studies and Environment and Planning: A.  She co-authored ‘Geographies of Developing Areas’ (Routledge) with Glyn Williams and Katie Willis (2009/2014) and has a co-authored monograph ‘Living the urban periphery’ (Manchester University Press) (published Open Access & free to download).

Paula is also committed to public engagement in her research & she's curated various exhibitions showcasing her findings drawing on professional & collaboratively generated media outputs, [https://player.sheffield.ac.uk/exhibits/everyday-life-ekangala-and-hawassa]. 

Research groups

Publications

List by: Type | Date

Jump to: 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2017 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2004 | 2003 | 2001 | 2000
Number of items: 39.

2024

Charlton, S., Todes, A. and Meth, P. (2024) Housing, history and hope in South Africa's urban peripheries. In: Meth, Paula, Charlton, Sarah, Goodfellow, Tom and Todes, Alison (eds.) Living the Urban Periphery: Infrastructure, Everyday Life and Economic Change in African City-Regions. Manchester University Press. ISBN 9781526171214 (doi: 10.7765/9781526171221.00013)

Goodfellow, T., Eyob, Y., Meth, P. , Mukwedeya, T. and Todes, A. (2024) Governing the urban peripheries. In: Meth, Paula, Charlton, Sarah, Goodfellow, Tom and Todes, Alison (eds.) Living the Urban Periphery: Infrastructure, Everyday Life and Economic Change in African City-Regions. Manchester University Press. ISBN 9781526171214 (doi: 10.7765/9781526171221.00011)

Goodfellow, T., Meth, P. and Charlton, S. (2024) Transport and mobility (in South Africa and Addis Ababa). In: Meth, Paula, Charlton, Sarah, Goodfellow, Tom and Todes, Alison (eds.) Living the Urban Periphery: Infrastructure, Everyday Life and Economic Change in African City-Regions. Manchester University Press. ISBN 9781526171214 (doi: 10.7765/9781526171221.00015)

Meth, P. , Belihu, M. S. and Buthelezi, S. (2024) Social differentiation, boredom and crime within the peripheries. In: Meth, Paula, Charlton, Sarah, Goodfellow, Tom and Todes, Alison (eds.) Living the Urban Periphery: Infrastructure, Everyday Life and Economic Change in African City-Regions. Manchester University Press. ISBN 9781526171214 (doi: 10.7765/9781526171221.00017)

Meth, P. , Charlton, S., Goodfellow, T. and Todes, A. (2024) Living the Urban Periphery: Infrastructure, Everyday Life and Economic Change in African City-Regions. Manchester University Press. ISBN 9781526171214 (doi: 10.7765/9781526171221)

Meth, P. , Charlton, S. and Todes, A. (2024) Producing places: services, infrastructure and the public realm in South Africa and Addis Ababa. In: Meth, Paula, Charlton, Sarah, Goodfellow, Tom and Todes, Alison (eds.) Living the Urban Periphery: Infrastructure, Everyday Life and Economic Change in African City-Regions. Manchester University Press. ISBN 9781526171214 (doi: 10.7765/9781526171221.00016)

Meth, P. , Charlton, S., Goodfellow, T. and Todes, A. (2024) Conclusions. In: Meth, Paula, Charlton, Sarah, Goodfellow, Tom and Todes, Alison (eds.) Living the Urban Periphery: Infrastructure, Everyday Life and Economic Change in African City-Regions. Manchester University Press. ISBN 9781526171214

Meth, P. , Charlton, S., Goodfellow, T. and Todes, A. (2024) Introduction. In: Meth, Paula, Charlton, Sarah, Goodfellow, Tom and Todes, Alison (eds.) Living the Urban Periphery: Infrastructure, Everyday Life and Economic Change in African City-Regions. Manchester University Press. ISBN 9781526171214

2023

Meth, P. , Belihu, M., Buthelezi, S. and Masikane, F. (2023) Not entirely displacement: conceptualizing relocation in Ethiopia and South Africa as “disruptive re-placement”. Urban Geography, 44(5), pp. 824-849. (doi: 10.1080/02723638.2022.2042067)

2022

Williams, G., Charlton, S., Coelho, K., Mahadevia, D. and Meth, P. (2022) (Im)mobility at the margins: low-income households’ experiences of peripheral resettlement in India and South Africa. Housing Studies, 37(6), pp. 910-931. (doi: 10.1080/02673037.2021.1946018)

2021

Wiltgen Georgi, N., Buthelezi, S. and Meth, P. (2021) Gendered infrastructural citizenship: shared sanitation facilities in quarry road west informal settlement, Durban, South Africa. Urban Forum, 32, pp. 437-456. (doi: 10.1007/s12132-021-09421-z) (PMCID:PMC8271341)

Meth, P. , Goodfellow, T., Todes, A. and Charlton, S. (2021) Conceptualizing African urban peripheries. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 45(6), pp. 985-1007. (doi: 10.1111/1468-2427.13044)

Meth, P. (2021) Broken cities: Inside the global housing crisis by Deborah Potts, London, Zed, 2020. xi + 319 pp., £18.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781786990549. https://www.zedbooks.net/shop/book/broken-cities/. Regional Studies, 55(7), pp. 1337-1338. (doi: 10.1080/00343404.2021.1922168)[Book Review]

2020

Meth, P. (2020) ‘Marginalised formalisation’: an analysis of the in/formal binary through shifting policy and everyday experiences of ‘poor’ housing in South Africa. International Development Planning Review, 42(2), pp. 139-164. (doi: 10.3828/idpr.2019.26)

2019

Meth, P. , Buthelezi, S. and Rajasekhar, S. (2019) Gendered il/legalities of housing formalisation in India and South Africa. Environment and Planning A, 51(5), pp. 1068-1088. (doi: 10.1177/0308518X18792898)

2017

Meth, P. and Buthelezi, S. (2017) New housing/new crime? Changes in safety, governance and everyday incivilities for residents relocated from informal to formal housing at Hammond’s Farm, eThekwini. Geoforum, 82, pp. 77-86. (doi: 10.1016/j.geoforum.2017.03.026)

Meth, P. and Charlton, S. (2017) Men’s experiences of state sponsored housing in South Africa: emerging issues and key questions. Housing Studies, 32(4), pp. 470-490. (doi: 10.1080/02673037.2016.1219333)

Meth, P. (2017) Informal housing, gender, crime and violence: the role of design in urban South Africa. British Journal of Criminology, 57(2), pp. 402-421. (doi: 10.1093/bjc/azv125)

2014

Meth, P. (2014) Violence and men in urban South Africa: the significance of ‘home’. In: Gorman-Murray, Andrew and Hopkins, Peter (eds.) Masculinities and Place. Routledge, pp. 159-172. ISBN 9781472409799

Williams, G., Meth, P. and Willis, K. (2014) Geographies of Developing Areas: The Global South in a Changing World [2nd ed.]. Routledge: London. ISBN 9780415643887 (doi: 10.4324/9780203079836)

Meth, P. (2014) Cities, crime and development. In: Desai, Vandana and Potter, Rob (eds.) The Companion to Development Studies. Routledge: London, pp. 324-328. ISBN 9780415826655 (doi: 10.4324/9780203528983-69)

2013

Meth, P. (2013) Committees, witchdoctors and the ‘mother-body’: everyday politics in the township of Cato Manor, South Africa. Habitat International, 39, pp. 269-277. (doi: 10.1016/j.habitatint.2012.10.013)

Meth, P. (2013) Unsettling insurgency: reflections on women's insurgent practices in South Africa. In: Hibbard, Michael, Freestone, Robert and Sager, Tore Øivin (eds.) Dialogues in Urban and Regional Planning. Routledge: London, pp. 70-96. ISBN 9780415680776

Meth, P. (2013) ‘I Don't Like My Children to Grow up in this Bad Area’: parental anxieties about living in informal settlements. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 37(2), pp. 537-555. (doi: 10.1111/j.1468-2427.2012.01199.x)

Meth, P. (2013) Millennium development goals and urban informal settlements: unintended consequences. International Development Planning Review, 35(1), v-xiii. (doi: 10.3828/idpr.2013.1)

2012

Meth, P. (2012) Domestic violence. In: Smith, Susan J. (ed.) International Encyclopedia of Housing and Home. Elsevier Science, pp. 399-404. ISBN 9780080471716 (doi: 10.1016/B978-0-08-047163-1.00283-6)

2011

Meth, P. (2011) Crime management and urban governance: everyday interconnections in South Africa. Environment and Planning A, 43(3), pp. 742-760. (doi: 10.1068/a43451)

2010

Meth, P. (2010) Unsettling insurgency: reflections on women's insurgent practices in South Africa. Planning Theory and Practice, 11(2), pp. 241-263. (doi: 10.1080/14649351003759714)

2009

Meth, P. and Mcclymont, K. (2009) Researching men: the politics and possibilities of a qualitative mixed-methods approach. Social and Cultural Geography, 10(8), pp. 909-925. (doi: 10.1080/14649360903305775)

Meth, P. (2009) Marginalised men’s emotions: politics and place. Geoforum, 40(5), pp. 853-863. (doi: 10.1016/j.geoforum.2009.07.002)

Williams, G., Meth, P. and Willis, K. (2009) Geographies of Developing Areas: The Global South in a Changing World. Routledge: London. ISBN 9780415381239 (doi: 10.4324/9780203086247)

2008

Meth, P. (2008) Vusi Majola: “Walking Until the Shoes Is Finished”. In: Jeffrey, Craig and Dyson, Jane (eds.) Telling Young Lives: Portraits of Global Youth. Temple University Press, pp. 40-55. ISBN 9781592139309

2004

Meth, P. (2004) Using diaries to understand women’s responses to crime and violence. Environment and Urbanization, 16(2), pp. 153-164. (doi: 10.1177/095624780401600207)

2003

Meth, P. (2003) Rethinking the ‘domus’ in domestic violence: homelessness, space and domestic violence in South Africa. Geoforum, 34(3), pp. 317-327. (doi: 10.1016/S0016-7185(03)00005-8)

Meth, P. and Malaza, K. (2003) Violent research: the ethics and emotions of doing research with women in South Africa. Ethics, Place and Environment, 6(2), pp. 143-159. (doi: 10.1080/1366879032000130786)

Meth, P. (2003) Entries and omissions: using solicited diaries in geographical research. Area, 35(2), pp. 195-205. (doi: 10.1111/1475-4762.00263)

2001

Meth, P. J. (2001) Embracing diversity in theory: a theoretical contribution to rethinking relocation settlements. South African Geographical Journal, 83(3), pp. 221-232. (doi: 10.1080/03736245.2001.9713740)

Meth, P. J. (2001) Rethinking the dumping grounds: questioning assumptions about movement into the relocation settlement of Bilanyoni. Area, 33(3), pp. 228-241. (doi: 10.1111/1475-4762.00027)

2000

Meth, P. (2000) Representation and formalisation: a settlement of contradictions. Urban Forum, 11(1), pp. 31-48. (doi: 10.1007/BF03036830)

This list was generated on Tue Apr 15 03:23:13 2025 BST.
Jump to: Articles | Books | Book Sections | Book Reviews
Number of items: 39.

Articles

Meth, P. , Belihu, M., Buthelezi, S. and Masikane, F. (2023) Not entirely displacement: conceptualizing relocation in Ethiopia and South Africa as “disruptive re-placement”. Urban Geography, 44(5), pp. 824-849. (doi: 10.1080/02723638.2022.2042067)

Williams, G., Charlton, S., Coelho, K., Mahadevia, D. and Meth, P. (2022) (Im)mobility at the margins: low-income households’ experiences of peripheral resettlement in India and South Africa. Housing Studies, 37(6), pp. 910-931. (doi: 10.1080/02673037.2021.1946018)

Wiltgen Georgi, N., Buthelezi, S. and Meth, P. (2021) Gendered infrastructural citizenship: shared sanitation facilities in quarry road west informal settlement, Durban, South Africa. Urban Forum, 32, pp. 437-456. (doi: 10.1007/s12132-021-09421-z) (PMCID:PMC8271341)

Meth, P. , Goodfellow, T., Todes, A. and Charlton, S. (2021) Conceptualizing African urban peripheries. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 45(6), pp. 985-1007. (doi: 10.1111/1468-2427.13044)

Meth, P. (2020) ‘Marginalised formalisation’: an analysis of the in/formal binary through shifting policy and everyday experiences of ‘poor’ housing in South Africa. International Development Planning Review, 42(2), pp. 139-164. (doi: 10.3828/idpr.2019.26)

Meth, P. , Buthelezi, S. and Rajasekhar, S. (2019) Gendered il/legalities of housing formalisation in India and South Africa. Environment and Planning A, 51(5), pp. 1068-1088. (doi: 10.1177/0308518X18792898)

Meth, P. and Buthelezi, S. (2017) New housing/new crime? Changes in safety, governance and everyday incivilities for residents relocated from informal to formal housing at Hammond’s Farm, eThekwini. Geoforum, 82, pp. 77-86. (doi: 10.1016/j.geoforum.2017.03.026)

Meth, P. and Charlton, S. (2017) Men’s experiences of state sponsored housing in South Africa: emerging issues and key questions. Housing Studies, 32(4), pp. 470-490. (doi: 10.1080/02673037.2016.1219333)

Meth, P. (2017) Informal housing, gender, crime and violence: the role of design in urban South Africa. British Journal of Criminology, 57(2), pp. 402-421. (doi: 10.1093/bjc/azv125)

Meth, P. (2013) Committees, witchdoctors and the ‘mother-body’: everyday politics in the township of Cato Manor, South Africa. Habitat International, 39, pp. 269-277. (doi: 10.1016/j.habitatint.2012.10.013)

Meth, P. (2013) ‘I Don't Like My Children to Grow up in this Bad Area’: parental anxieties about living in informal settlements. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 37(2), pp. 537-555. (doi: 10.1111/j.1468-2427.2012.01199.x)

Meth, P. (2013) Millennium development goals and urban informal settlements: unintended consequences. International Development Planning Review, 35(1), v-xiii. (doi: 10.3828/idpr.2013.1)

Meth, P. (2011) Crime management and urban governance: everyday interconnections in South Africa. Environment and Planning A, 43(3), pp. 742-760. (doi: 10.1068/a43451)

Meth, P. (2010) Unsettling insurgency: reflections on women's insurgent practices in South Africa. Planning Theory and Practice, 11(2), pp. 241-263. (doi: 10.1080/14649351003759714)

Meth, P. and Mcclymont, K. (2009) Researching men: the politics and possibilities of a qualitative mixed-methods approach. Social and Cultural Geography, 10(8), pp. 909-925. (doi: 10.1080/14649360903305775)

Meth, P. (2009) Marginalised men’s emotions: politics and place. Geoforum, 40(5), pp. 853-863. (doi: 10.1016/j.geoforum.2009.07.002)

Meth, P. (2004) Using diaries to understand women’s responses to crime and violence. Environment and Urbanization, 16(2), pp. 153-164. (doi: 10.1177/095624780401600207)

Meth, P. (2003) Rethinking the ‘domus’ in domestic violence: homelessness, space and domestic violence in South Africa. Geoforum, 34(3), pp. 317-327. (doi: 10.1016/S0016-7185(03)00005-8)

Meth, P. and Malaza, K. (2003) Violent research: the ethics and emotions of doing research with women in South Africa. Ethics, Place and Environment, 6(2), pp. 143-159. (doi: 10.1080/1366879032000130786)

Meth, P. (2003) Entries and omissions: using solicited diaries in geographical research. Area, 35(2), pp. 195-205. (doi: 10.1111/1475-4762.00263)

Meth, P. J. (2001) Embracing diversity in theory: a theoretical contribution to rethinking relocation settlements. South African Geographical Journal, 83(3), pp. 221-232. (doi: 10.1080/03736245.2001.9713740)

Meth, P. J. (2001) Rethinking the dumping grounds: questioning assumptions about movement into the relocation settlement of Bilanyoni. Area, 33(3), pp. 228-241. (doi: 10.1111/1475-4762.00027)

Meth, P. (2000) Representation and formalisation: a settlement of contradictions. Urban Forum, 11(1), pp. 31-48. (doi: 10.1007/BF03036830)

Books

Meth, P. , Charlton, S., Goodfellow, T. and Todes, A. (2024) Living the Urban Periphery: Infrastructure, Everyday Life and Economic Change in African City-Regions. Manchester University Press. ISBN 9781526171214 (doi: 10.7765/9781526171221)

Williams, G., Meth, P. and Willis, K. (2014) Geographies of Developing Areas: The Global South in a Changing World [2nd ed.]. Routledge: London. ISBN 9780415643887 (doi: 10.4324/9780203079836)

Williams, G., Meth, P. and Willis, K. (2009) Geographies of Developing Areas: The Global South in a Changing World. Routledge: London. ISBN 9780415381239 (doi: 10.4324/9780203086247)

Book Sections

Charlton, S., Todes, A. and Meth, P. (2024) Housing, history and hope in South Africa's urban peripheries. In: Meth, Paula, Charlton, Sarah, Goodfellow, Tom and Todes, Alison (eds.) Living the Urban Periphery: Infrastructure, Everyday Life and Economic Change in African City-Regions. Manchester University Press. ISBN 9781526171214 (doi: 10.7765/9781526171221.00013)

Goodfellow, T., Eyob, Y., Meth, P. , Mukwedeya, T. and Todes, A. (2024) Governing the urban peripheries. In: Meth, Paula, Charlton, Sarah, Goodfellow, Tom and Todes, Alison (eds.) Living the Urban Periphery: Infrastructure, Everyday Life and Economic Change in African City-Regions. Manchester University Press. ISBN 9781526171214 (doi: 10.7765/9781526171221.00011)

Goodfellow, T., Meth, P. and Charlton, S. (2024) Transport and mobility (in South Africa and Addis Ababa). In: Meth, Paula, Charlton, Sarah, Goodfellow, Tom and Todes, Alison (eds.) Living the Urban Periphery: Infrastructure, Everyday Life and Economic Change in African City-Regions. Manchester University Press. ISBN 9781526171214 (doi: 10.7765/9781526171221.00015)

Meth, P. , Belihu, M. S. and Buthelezi, S. (2024) Social differentiation, boredom and crime within the peripheries. In: Meth, Paula, Charlton, Sarah, Goodfellow, Tom and Todes, Alison (eds.) Living the Urban Periphery: Infrastructure, Everyday Life and Economic Change in African City-Regions. Manchester University Press. ISBN 9781526171214 (doi: 10.7765/9781526171221.00017)

Meth, P. , Charlton, S. and Todes, A. (2024) Producing places: services, infrastructure and the public realm in South Africa and Addis Ababa. In: Meth, Paula, Charlton, Sarah, Goodfellow, Tom and Todes, Alison (eds.) Living the Urban Periphery: Infrastructure, Everyday Life and Economic Change in African City-Regions. Manchester University Press. ISBN 9781526171214 (doi: 10.7765/9781526171221.00016)

Meth, P. , Charlton, S., Goodfellow, T. and Todes, A. (2024) Conclusions. In: Meth, Paula, Charlton, Sarah, Goodfellow, Tom and Todes, Alison (eds.) Living the Urban Periphery: Infrastructure, Everyday Life and Economic Change in African City-Regions. Manchester University Press. ISBN 9781526171214

Meth, P. , Charlton, S., Goodfellow, T. and Todes, A. (2024) Introduction. In: Meth, Paula, Charlton, Sarah, Goodfellow, Tom and Todes, Alison (eds.) Living the Urban Periphery: Infrastructure, Everyday Life and Economic Change in African City-Regions. Manchester University Press. ISBN 9781526171214

Meth, P. (2014) Violence and men in urban South Africa: the significance of ‘home’. In: Gorman-Murray, Andrew and Hopkins, Peter (eds.) Masculinities and Place. Routledge, pp. 159-172. ISBN 9781472409799

Meth, P. (2014) Cities, crime and development. In: Desai, Vandana and Potter, Rob (eds.) The Companion to Development Studies. Routledge: London, pp. 324-328. ISBN 9780415826655 (doi: 10.4324/9780203528983-69)

Meth, P. (2013) Unsettling insurgency: reflections on women's insurgent practices in South Africa. In: Hibbard, Michael, Freestone, Robert and Sager, Tore Øivin (eds.) Dialogues in Urban and Regional Planning. Routledge: London, pp. 70-96. ISBN 9780415680776

Meth, P. (2012) Domestic violence. In: Smith, Susan J. (ed.) International Encyclopedia of Housing and Home. Elsevier Science, pp. 399-404. ISBN 9780080471716 (doi: 10.1016/B978-0-08-047163-1.00283-6)

Meth, P. (2008) Vusi Majola: “Walking Until the Shoes Is Finished”. In: Jeffrey, Craig and Dyson, Jane (eds.) Telling Young Lives: Portraits of Global Youth. Temple University Press, pp. 40-55. ISBN 9781592139309

Book Reviews

Meth, P. (2021) Broken cities: Inside the global housing crisis by Deborah Potts, London, Zed, 2020. xi + 319 pp., £18.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781786990549. https://www.zedbooks.net/shop/book/broken-cities/. Regional Studies, 55(7), pp. 1337-1338. (doi: 10.1080/00343404.2021.1922168)[Book Review]

This list was generated on Tue Apr 15 03:23:13 2025 BST.

Prior publications

Article

(2019) ‘Marginalised formalisation’: an analysis of the in/formal binary through shifting policy and everyday experiences of ‘poor’ housing in South Africa Paula Meth.

Meth, P. (2004) Using diaries to understand women's responses to crime and violence Scopus - Elsevier. (doi: 10.1630/0956247042310061)

Other

Meth, P. (2014) Violence and Men in Urban South Africa: The Significance of ‘Home’ Scopus - Elsevier.

Grants

  1. April 2025- 2026: British Academy: Evidence cultures in post-apartheid policy making: governing rapid urbanisation, with Prof Philip Harrison (PI), Paula Meth and others as Co-investigators.

  2. April / May 2023: ESRC, Urban citizenship and transcontinental lives, with Prof Tom Goodfellow (PI), Paula Meth Co-investigator

  3. January 2022 – July 2023: FCDO / Manchester University African cities research consortium, Co-lead of Safety and Security Domain. 

  4. March 2020 - early 2023: BRITISH ACADEMY, Youth and the work/housing nexus in Ethiopia and South Africa. Principle Investigator with Sarah Charlton, Margot Rubin, Tom Goodfellow, Tafesse Matewos & Eshetayehu Kinfu as Co-investigators. 

  5. 2018-2019: HEFCE QR GCRF, Addressing the housing challenge in Ethiopia’s industrial revolution’, Co-Investigator with Tom Goodfellow (PI), Paula Meth Co-investigator

  6. Oct 2017: HEFCE, Mobilities in the Peripheries, with Glyn Williams (PI), Sarah Charlton, Paula Meth, Darshini Mahadevia, Karen Coelho - Co-investigators.  

  7. Feb 2016 – June 2019: ESRC + NRF (South African funding council), Living the urban periphery: investment, infrastructure and economic change in African city-regions, Principle investigator, with Alison Todes, Sarah Charlton, Tom Goodfellow Co-investigators.           

  8. June 2015: RCUK   Developing Research Capacity for Inclusive Urban Governance, Glyn Williams  & Claire Benit-Gbaffou = Joint Co-PI, Paula Meth and Steve Connelly = Co-I

  9. May 2015: Sheffield Methods Institute: Men’s experiences of state sponsored housing in South Africa, Principle investigator.

  10. July 2014 – 2016: British Academy: Experiences of domestic violence within ‘decent’ settlements’: comparative insights, Principle investigator

Supervision

Paula has supervised numerous doctoral projects focusing on a wide variety of topics.

These include disability & informality in urban Kenya; land conflict in Accra’s urban peripheries, youth, race and urban space in Accra; communities & social cohesion in Sheffield; public space in urban Thailand, insecurity, refugees & gender in Lebanon & Jordan; Benin City’s (in)formal housing provision & quality; social housing in Mexico; masculinities & violence in Palestine & Israel; and HIV and masculinities in Namibia.

FUTURE APPLICANTS:

Paula is interested in supervising doctoral students working on questions of urban change, social relations (particularly gender), inequalities, and urban housing in the global South, but enjoys being inspired by topics introduced by prospective students themselves.

EXISTING PhD STUDENTS:

Paula is currently supervising three doctoral students: 

  • Inken Oldsen thor-Straten: based at the University of Sheffield, Inken is researching the question: How do local authorities’ relationships with property developers shape policy outcomes in Cape Town and Johannesburg.

 

  • Husniya Kedr Denur: Husniya started her PhD in September 2025, and is developing her PhD focus around the broader area of: Place adaptation and urban retrofit ‘on the move’: Urban policy mobilities and transnational planning for the climate emergency. Her work is likely to focus on Ethiopia. Husniya is the doctoral candidate on the URBAN RETROFIT project.  

 

  • Tang, Tianyi
    Urban greening, socio-spatial inequalities, and gentrification: a case study of Shanghai, China

Completed PhD projects:

  1. Abraham Mnangat Mariech (2023) Towards a restructured disability landscape in rapidly changing informal settlements of Eldoret, Kenya
  2. Victoria Okoye (2021) Children’s community space experiences in Nima: Tracing racializing assemblages of the human
  3. Jenni Vine (2021) A complex realist approach to social cohesion – what makes a ‘meaningful interaction’?
  4. Divine Mawuli Asafo (2020) Land acquisition, land conflicts and the effect it is having on peri-urban housing production in Accra, Ghana.
  5. Sarah Linn (2020) (In)security and the urban refugee woman: Experiences, negotiations, power and fear in public space
  6. Uyi Ezeanah (2018) How do formal and informal institutions for delivery and accessing housing influence the quantity and quality of housing in Benin City
  7. Megan Waller (2016) The role of Landscape Architecture in Public Open Space Design Within Slums and Informal Settlements (Thailand).
  8. Gabby Claudia Ibarra   (2015) Social housing developments in Mexico: the dialogue between human behaviour and the built environment
  9. Chloe Skinner  (2015) Masculinities and the Continuum of Violence: A study of the interplay of masculinities, militarism, occupation and violence against women in Israel and Palestine
  10. Felicitas Mberema (2014) HIV Disclosure And Stigma: Men’s Experiences in a Dynamic Social Context, Kavango Region, Namibia
  11. Kirsten Owen   (2013) Young People in the mix: An exploration of young people’s position in a neighbourhood designed for social mix.
  12. Jenni Brooks (2009) The role of identity in the mediation between environmental values and transport choices.
  13. Dave Vanderhoven (2009) Seeing Political Representation in Communities:  lessons from a Johannesburg township
  14. Hassan Sani (2009) Impact of Urban Management on Residential Mobility in Jos  Metropolis
  15. Melanie Lombard (2009) ‘Making a Place in the City: The construction of informality in two colonias populares in Mexico’
  16. Vasilis Advikos (2007) Uneven spatial development in Greece
  17. Antar Korin (2003) Urban Planning in Cairo, Egypt

Teaching

Paula contributes to the following courses:

UG: Social & Public Policy 2B: Policy, Politics and Power

UG: Housing Policy and Welfare

UG: Youth, Policy and Welfare

Masters: URBAN5087/5095 - Housing Inequality & Society

Masters: Research Methods for Public Policy

PGT Dissertation Supervision

She will be the convenor for the forthcoming masters level Southern Urbanism course and contributor to the forthcoming Inclusive Cities course, both from September 2025. 

Additional information

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/paula-meth-277354269


Professor Paula Meth on Bluesky Professor Paula Meth on Twitter