Professor Stephen Hincks

School of Geography and Planning

Head of School

Professor of Planning and Geographic Information Science

s.hincks@sheffield.ac.uk
+44 114 222 6915

Full contact details

Professor Stephen Hincks
School of Geography and Planning
Room C7
Geography and Planning Building
Winter Street
Sheffield
S3 7ND
Profile

As an undergraduate I studied Human Geography at the University of Liverpool prior to completing a PhD funded by the North West Regional Development Agency (NWDA). I moved to the University of Manchester in 2006 to take up a position as a Research Associate at the Centre for Urban Policy Studies (CUPS).

I was subsequently promoted to Lecturer (2008-2013) and Senior Lecturer (2013-2017) at the Department of Planning and Environmental Management at the same institution. I joined the Department of Urban Studies and Planning as Reader in September 2017.

Alongside Alasdair Rae, I am Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Regional Studies Association interdisciplinary open access journal Regional Studies, Regional Science. I am also a board member of the Regional Studies Association.

Research interests

My research lies within the broad scope of urban and regional studies and bridges the divide between quantitative and qualitative approaches in the social sciences. I have undertaken research funded by national and local government in the UK, charities, the British Academy, the Economic and Social Research Council, and the European Commission.

Although my research interests are broad, they have coalesced around three interrelated themes:

Applied Spatial Analysis and GIS

My research in this area involves developing and applying different conceptual, methodological and analytical frameworks to understand complex spatial structures and processes and their impacts on spatial development.
It has included studies on commuting and other spatial interactions; measuring the unevenness of spatial economic development; monitoring planning outcomes in space and time; migration and its spatial patterning; the analysis of the spatial impacts and conflicts generated by government policies and programmes; critiques of the measurement of area-based deprivation as applied in the UK; and the measurement of urban risk owing to climate hazards.


Housing and Neighbourhoods

This area of research focuses on understanding spatial housing markets and their uneven structures and functionalities. This has included defining functional housing markets; analysing their relationship to functional labour markets; and interrogating their application in planning for housing.
Aligned to this area of research is a strand of work that focuses on neighbourhoods. This includes research on the structure and characteristics of neighbourhoods; neighbourhood change and transition; and neighbourhood deprivation.


Urban-Regional Policy and Planning

Through this area of research I have attempted to anchor my often quantitative analytical work within wider considerations of the policy frameworks and governance architectures that shape urban and regional development. My earlier work focused on understanding the processes, practices and governance arrangements underpinning urban and regional policy development and implementation. This included research on the practice of local and strategic spatial planning and infrastructure delivery, and deprivation and urban policy in the UK. More recently my research in this area has focused on soft spaces of planning and local economic development, urban agglomeration and austerity urbanism.

Publications

Edited books

  • Deas I & Hincks S (Ed.) (2017) Territorial Politics and Governance: Alternative Paths. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. RIS download Bibtex download

Journal articles

Chapters

  • Marshall M, Hincks S & Powell R (2023) Housing and welfare in England, The Routledge Handbook of Housing and Welfare (pp. 38-53). Routledge RIS download Bibtex download
  • Hincks S (2023) Monitoring, Encyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being Research (pp. 4428-4430). Springer International Publishing RIS download Bibtex download
  • Hincks S (2023) Contextual Indicators, Encyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being Research (pp. 1391-1393). Springer International Publishing RIS download Bibtex download
  • Deas I & Hincks S (2017) Introduction In Deas I & Hincks S (Ed.), Territorial Policy and Governance: Alternative Paths (pp. 1-14). Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. View this article in WRRO RIS download Bibtex download
  • Deas I & Hincks S (2017) Conclusion In Deas I & Hincks S (Ed.), Territorial Policy and Governance: Alternative Paths (pp. 220-232). Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. View this article in WRRO RIS download Bibtex download
  • Wong C, Webb B, Schultz-Baing A, Baker M & Hincks S (2015) 'Spatial Synergies and Conflicts: Monitoring Government Policies and Programmes in England' In Woltjer J, Alexander E & Ruth E (Ed.), Place-Based Evaluation for Integrated Land-Use Management (pp. 179-200). Routledge RIS download Bibtex download
  • Deas I, Haughton G & Hincks S (2015) ''A good geography is whatever it needs to be’: evolving spatial imaginaries in North West England' In Allmendinger P, Haughton G, Knieling J & Othengrafen F (Ed.), Soft Spaces in Europe Re-negotiating Governance, Boundaries and Borders (pp. 25-44). Routledge View this article in WRRO RIS download Bibtex download

Reports

  • Marshall M, Hincks S & Ed F (2022) Lessons from Last Time: A Review of Evidence on the First Decent Homes Programme in the Social and Private Rented Sectors RIS download Bibtex download
  • Hincks S & Leishman C (2021) A statistical revaluation of council tax subjects in Wales RIS download Bibtex download
  • Arbabi H, Pannell J, Hincks S & Punzo G (2020) Quantifying Agglomeration Productivity in Long-Term Infrastructure Planning RIS download Bibtex download
  • Hincks S, Dunning R, Moore T, Young G & Watkins C (2020) A View from the North: Understanding Local Authority Housing and Planning Capacity in an Era of Austerity RIS download Bibtex download
  • Wong C, Baker M, Hincks S, Schultz-Baing A & Webb B (2012) A Map for England: Spatial Expression of Government Policies and Programmes RIS download Bibtex download
  • Wong C, Gibb K, McGreal S, Webb B, Leishman C, Blair N, Hincks S & McIntyre SJ (2011) Housing and Neighbourhoods Monitor 2011 – Fragility and Recovery RIS download Bibtex download
  • Hincks S & Robson B (2010) Regenerating Communities First Neighbourhoods in Wales RIS download Bibtex download
  • Baker M, Hincks S, Gong Y, Schultz-Baing A & Wong C (2010) Recommended Housing Market Area Boundaries: Implications for Spatial Planning: Geography of Housing Market Areas in England – Paper C. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Wong C, Gibb K, McGreal S, Hincks S, Kingston R, Leishman C, Brown L & Blair N (2009) Housing and Neighbourhood Monitor: UK-Wide Report RIS download Bibtex download
  • Baker M, Hincks S, Shaw D & Lord A (2008) Spatial Plans in Practice: Infrastructure Delivery RIS download Bibtex download
  • Wong C, Baker M, Hincks S, Rae A, Ferrari E & Watkins C (2008) Outcome Indicators for Spatial Planning in England RIS download Bibtex download

Website content

  • Hincks S Tackling poverty and inequality needs to take account of place not just people. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Carter J, Hincks S, Vlastaras V, Connelly A & Handley J European Climate Risk Typology. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Kingston R, Hincks S, Wong C & Webb B Commute-Flow. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Ward K, Deas I, Haughton G & Hincks S Is Devo Manc an experiment, a template or a trailblazer?. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Deas I, Haughton G & Hincks S Size matters? London – the subsidy junky. RIS download Bibtex download
  • Deas I, Haughton G & Hincks S It all comes together in … Hebden Bridge?. RIS download Bibtex download

Dictionary/encyclopaedia entries

  • Hincks S (2014) 'Contextual Indicators'. In Encyclopaedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being Research. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer. View this article in WRRO RIS download Bibtex download
  • Hincks S (2014) Monitoring. In Encyclopaedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being Research. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer. View this article in WRRO RIS download Bibtex download
Teaching activities

I am committed to a model of research-led teaching and to positioning my teaching in relation to contemporary policy debates and professional practice. I am a firm believer in scenario-based teaching, in incorporating ‘live’ projects into teaching and to challenging students to think critically (and provocatively) about policy and practice.

I am module leader for:

  • TRP216, Spatial Analysis
  • TRP449, Local Action Planning Project

I also contribute to teaching TRP6404, Postgraduate Research Methods and to modules taught as part of the MSc Applied GIS programme.