I am an urban geographer with a focus on home, housing, and housing insecurity. Grounded in feminist and participatory methodologies, my research focuses on how inequalities are lived and experienced through the space of home to explore the everyday impacts of economic change and urban processes.
In particular, my PhD research explores the process of searching for a home in London. While many drivers of London’s housing crisis are well-documented, the process of searching for a home remains under-researched. However, searching is a key interface through which people engage with London’s housing crisis.
My research draws upon feminist participatory methodologies to explore how young people experience searching in London’s private rented sector. Through these participatory methods, my research aims to centre young people’s experiences and stories of searching. In doing so, my research contributes a novel focus on searching as a critical process through which housing inequality and crisis are produced, experienced, and contested.
Before starting my PhD, I worked in sustainability in the built environment. I hold a BA and MPhil in Geography from the University of Cambridge.
Publications
Paul, J., 2023. ‘My room is like my sanctuary’: Exploring homelessness and home(un)making in the austere city. Area, 55(1), pp.150-159. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/area.12830
Paul, J., 2020. Where is the economy? Towards an everyday epistemology of economic geography. Routes, 1(1), pp.74-83. DOI: https://routesjournal.org/2020/08/16/r2015-2/
