I led a teaching session with Dr David Anderson on the Critical Debates in Interdisciplinary Urban Studies module at the UCL Department of Geography this week.
The module examines foundational and emerging theoretical perspectives on cities, urbanisation, and spatial transformation from cross-disciplinary viewpoints in geography, architecture, planning, engineering, and the humanities. It is a core postgraduate module convened by Dr Andrew Harris as part of the MSc Urban Studies course that I am an alumnus of.
With this year’s students we considered how technological infrastructures – such as the BT Tower – have shaped, constrained and accelerated urban development across historical and contemporary periods. Illustrating the complex interaction between signals and sightlines at a number of sites in Fitzrovia, we offered a new framework for reflecting on the city, emphasising technological, aesthetic, and strategic factors in the maintenance of cityscapes.
A reading list for the session is shared below:
Anderson, D. and Rowe, J. (2026) Signals and Sightlines: BT Tower. Available at: https://jordan-rowe.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/signals-and-sightlines-bt-tower-final-pamphlet-digital.pdf (Accessed: 7 October 2026).*
Barthes, R. (1997) ‘The Eiffel Tower’, in The Eiffel Tower and Other Mythologies. Translated by R. Howard. Berkeley: University of California Press, pp. 3–17.
Bridle, J. (2014) ‘All Cameras Are Police Cameras’. The Nor, 7 November. Available at: https://shorttermmemoryloss.com/nor/2014/11/07/all-cameras-are-police-cameras/ (Accessed: 7 October 2026).*
Buchanan, C. (1963) Traffic in Towns: A Study of the Long Term Problems of Traffic in Urban Areas. London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, pp. 124–164.
Glinert, E. (2004) The London Compendium: A Street-by-Street Exploration of the Hidden Metropolis. London: Penguin, pp. 142–148, 247–248.
Goldie, C.T. (2011) ‘“Radio Campanile”: Sixties modernity, the Post Office Tower and public space’, Journal of Design History, 24(3), pp. 207–222. doi: 10.1093/jdh/epr022.
General Post Office (1965) The Post Office Tower London. London: General Post Office.*
Hall, P. (1963) ‘Renewing the Fabric’, in London 2000. London: Faber and Faber, pp. 204–220.
Kunzru, H. (2007) My Revolutions. London: Hamish Hamilton.
Nairn, I. (2014) Nairn’s London. London: Penguin Classics, pp. 101–104.
Saumarez Smith, O. (2019) Boom Cities: Architect-Planners and the Politics of Radical Urban Renewal in 1960s Britain. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Schivelbusch, W. (1988) Disenchanted Night: The Industrialization of Light in the Nineteenth Century. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Smith, H. (2025) Up in the Air: A History of High Rise Britain. London: Verso.
Whitaker, B. and Browne, K. (1971) Parks for People. London: Seeley Service & Co
