Professor Graham Clarke

Profile

Professor Graham Clarke's research interests include GIS, urban services, retail and business geography, urban modelling and continuing professional education.

Research interests

• Retail geography (grocery markets of the world, financial services
• car markets, high-street retailing; impact assessments
• Geographical Information Systems
• Urban service analysis (especially health, education and retailing)
• Business geography
• Urban modelling (spatial interaction, microsimulation, optimisation)
• Geography of crime
• Geography of income and welfare

Current projects

1. Geography and the study of diet and nutrition (with Michelle Morris, Nik Lomax)
2. Geography of retail change and retail location models (with Mark Birkin, Martin Clarke, Andy Newing, Nick Hood)
3. Geography and markets (with Paul Waley, Sara Gonzalez)

Education, GIS And models

The impacts of the new market reforms in education, especially spatial variations in parental choice; use of (and potential for) GIS and models in education planning; geographical variations in examination performance; value-added performance indicators

Retail location planning

The use of GIS and models in store location research (and business generally); case studies include financial services, petrol stations, restaurants, car market, high street retailers, large format retailers; theoretical extensions to spatial interaction models; extensions to spatial interaction models based on applied research; cost-benefits of GIS and models in retailing; implications for store location research of new forms of distribution channel (internet, ATMs, home delivery etc); models of optimisation; models of mergers and acquisitions.

Retail saturation and provision

Research which examines the notion of retail saturation by analysing spatial variations in provision rates; case studies include UK and US grocery markets - now working on other European markets in grocery retailing and financial services; also rise of the discount sector and possible saturation in the future.

Microsimulation

This is a relatively new technique in geography aimed at modelling the interdependencies between household attributes. This allows the estimation of a wide range of variables for every household in the study: age, sex, employment type, ethnicity, etc. From these distributions income can usually be estimated. This, in turn, allows the modelling of household interactions (can be integrated with spatial interaction models) for journies to work, school, GP, hospital, shops etc. In addition to income new household variables can also be calculated, such as household tax, family allowance, rates, rents, benefits etc. Major applications include:

• Small-area estimations of the impact of major job loss/gains
• Estimation of the geography of tax and benefits: allows the impacts of social policy change to be estimated
• More powerful estimations of income and wealth (esp in US)

Each of these application areas are on-going projects.

Geography and health

Interest in any area of health inequalities. In particular, spatial clustering of diseases; variations in hospital referral rates (and hence hospitalisation rates themselves); variations in the take-up of breastfeeding (current Dept of health project); health and deprivation; geography (or spatial impacts) of market reforms in health care; use of GIS and models in health care planning.

Deprivation

The geography of model-based performance indicators which measure how well served residents are for various types of jobs and services. Also, how well facilities serve their catchment areas (planned catchment areas and real catchment areas); other methodologies for estimating urban and rural deprivation.

Present Position

• Professor

Previous Posts

• 2004 Professor, School of Geography, University of Leeds
• 1998-2001 Head of Department, School of Geography, University of Leeds
• 1995- Senior Lecturer, School of Geography, University of Leeds
• 1989-95 Lecturer, School of Geography, University of Leeds
• 1984-89 Research Fellow on ESRC grant D0022003 'Dynamics and comprehensive models: new foundations for planning', coordinated by Professor Alan Wilson and Dr Martin Clarke, School of Geography, University of Leeds
• 1981-1984 SSRC linked studentship award on 'Retail Centre Usage and Structure: Empirical, theoretical and dynamic explorations,' under the supervision of Professor Alan G. Wilson, School of Geography, University of Leeds

Qualifications & Education

• 1986 PhD, School of Geography, University of Leeds
• 1981 B.A. (Hons) IIi, Department of Geography, University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, Dyfed
• 11 'O' levels, 4 'A'-levels, 1 'S' level

Membership Of Learned Societies

• Regional Science Association (British and Irish Section)

Departmental Duties

• Undergraduate Admissions Officer
• Director of Year 1 studies
• Director of 3rd arm activities
• Director of eUniversity ODL masters in GIS

Interests

• University Staff Cricket Vice Captain and Fixture Secretary

Other Posts

• Member of Senate

External Examinations

Postgraduate PhD external examiner at

• University of Newcastle
• Manchester Metropolitan University
• University of Cambridge
• University of Southampton
• University of Liverpool
• University College London
• University of New England
• External examiner at University of Leicester, 2000-2003 (MSc in GIS)
• University of Newcastle (BA programme) 2004-2006

PhD internal examiner for

• Undergraduate: University of Leeds 1990-
• Taught Postgraduate examiner: University of Leeds 1993-

Outside Activities

• Secretary of Regional Science Association: British & Irish Section 1994-1998
• Editorial Board of 'Computers, Environment & Urban Systems' 1996-
• Editorial Board of 'European Journal of Geography' 2000-
• Chairperson of Regional Science Association: British & Irish Section 2001-2005
• Committee member of 'The academy of Learned Societies for the Social Sciences' 2002-
• Executive Director of Regional Science Association International 2004-

Research groups and institutes

• Institute for Spatial Data Science