Malcolm’s long and close association with Sheffield began when he completed an MA in Town and Regional Planning at the University in 1997. He went on to complete his PhD at Sheffield before beginning his academic career. Following a period as a Research Associate at Cardiff University, he returned to Sheffield in 2001 as a Lecturer in Planning, progressing to Senior Lecturer and then Professor of Planning in 2015.
Across his career, Malcolm made an outstanding contribution to planning research, teaching and intellectual leadership in the field. He was a leading scholar of planning whose work was internationally recognised and helped shape debates in the field, exploring the purpose and practice of planning and how it engages with wider social, environmental and political questions. He brought careful attention to the issues he explored including the public interest, trust in decision-making, regeneration, housing, urban design, conservation, professional practice, and more recently, biodiversity and nature recovery.
In recent years he had led two significant UKRI-funded research projects that cut across these interests. Working in the Public Interest? was the first major investigation into the implications of the changing relationship between public and private sectors in planning. Then in 2025, he won the Royal Town Planning Institute’s Patsy Healey Award for Academic Excellence for the cross-project book The Future for Planners. The ongoing project Planning for Nature is breaking new ground in evidencing how policies designed to protect nature through the planning system are working in practice, coupling this with robust, practice-focussed recommendations on how the system could and should do better.
Malcolm’s scholarship was both theoretically rich and grounded in the realities of practice, often drawing on deep qualitative work to understand the day-to-day labour, judgement and responsibility involved in planning. He was truly interdisciplinary, working across academic and professional boundaries with planners, policymakers, designers, ecologists, humanities scholars and social scientists to address shared questions about how places are planned, governed and cared for. His work attracted substantial external funding and informed academic, policy and practitioner debates in the UK and internationally.
Malcolm drew extensively on his research and professional expertise to impact policy decisions and debates. He was passionate about planning and the powerful difference it could make and, as his reputation grew, he became bolder in his advocacy for the profession and its potential. In recent months, this saw Malcolm facilitate a package of work in collaboration with Hugh Ellis of the Town and Country Planning Association, that culminated in a workshop that brought 50 planners together to identify a new purpose and ethical code for planning, The Sheffield Declaration. This Declaration looks to begin the revitalisation of values driven, democratic planning for the fresh challenges of the 21st century.
Malcolm’s knowledge and expertise were also deployed to help his University and the city that became his home. Beyond the routine committee work associated with academic leadership, Malcolm served on the University Heritage Committee for many years. He also worked closely with colleagues from across the University on projects that benefited the city, including a period on secondment in the city council working on the local plan, and work with colleagues on the Future of the High Street.
Malcolm also made an exceptional contribution to the academic community at Sheffield, serving as Head of the Department of Urban Studies and Planning between 2016 and 2020. In this role, and throughout his career, he was known for his thoughtful, collegiate and generous approach and for the care he showed towards colleagues, students and the wider School community. Throughout his time in Sheffield, he did much to shape the design and delivery of our education. He led on the development of our philosophy of education, served as Director of Education, and in his early years on the academic staff was the architect of the school’s flagship Royal Town Planning Institute accredited Masters degree.
Malcolm was an exceptional communicator, and his carefully considered teaching was marked both by his deep knowledge of, and passion for, the discipline, and by his empathy for his students. As a teacher, supervisor and mentor, he supported many cohorts of students, doctoral researchers and early career colleagues. He gave his time, encouragement and intellectual insight generously, helping others to develop confidence, independence and direction in their own work. His legacy will live on through the students and colleagues he supervised, mentored and supported into their own careers.
Malcolm’s contributions also extended well beyond Sheffield. He held visiting roles at universities in Denmark and South Africa, was a Chartered Member of the Royal Town Planning Institute, and was active within the Institute, serving on and chairing numerous Partnership Boards.
Those who knew Malcolm will remember not only his academic achievements, but also the qualities that made him such a cherished colleague and friend. He was caring, thoughtful and generous with his time, he was also incredibly good company, with a warm sense of humour, but above all he was deeply committed to the people and communities around him.
Malcolm leaves a lasting legacy in the field of planning, in the University, and in the many people he taught, mentored and worked alongside. He will be greatly missed by colleagues, students, alumni and friends across the University and the wider planning community.
A celebration of Malcolm’s life will be held on 2 July 2026, 13.30 for a 14.00 start, at The Victoria, Neepsend.
No flowers please, but donations can be made via this Much Loved page. All proceeds will be given to Butterfly Conservation, one of Malcolm's favourite charities.
Speaking about Malcolm, Professor Stephen Livingstone, his Head of School said: “Malcolm was very much the face of Planning in the School. His research and advocacy for socially just and sustainable planning was hugely influential, not just in academia but in shaping policy and practice. He was a lynchpin of our school community, known for his kindness and collegiality, and his calm and effective leadership and mentoring. We miss him deeply.”