Matt Thompson
@mattthompson.bsky.social
• full-time urban geographer (UCL Bartlett)
• spare-time cyclejographer (London mostly)
• first-time author (*Reconstructing Public Housing: Liverpool’s hidden history of collective alternatives* https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv153k6cx
• spare-time cyclejographer (London mostly)
• first-time author (*Reconstructing Public Housing: Liverpool’s hidden history of collective alternatives* https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv153k6cx
Pinned
Through what kind of spaces might postcapitalist planning emerge? How will the process of wresting collective control over the relations of production and reproduction, and over our metabolic exchange with the rest of nature, unfold through struggle?
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Reposted by Matt Thompson
Yet another example of what Michael Lewis has described as “an experiment in capitalism with too much money”. Searching for this kind of ‘spatial fix’ not new, as @quinnslobodian.com describes in Crack-up Capitalism.
www.ft.com/content/b127... Tech elites are starting their own for-profit cities
www.ft.com/content/b127... Tech elites are starting their own for-profit cities
Tech elites are starting their own for-profit cities
They want to escape from regulation and ‘failing’ democracy — but are they more opportunistic than libertarian?
www.ft.com
December 7, 2025 at 11:45 AM
Yet another example of what Michael Lewis has described as “an experiment in capitalism with too much money”. Searching for this kind of ‘spatial fix’ not new, as @quinnslobodian.com describes in Crack-up Capitalism.
www.ft.com/content/b127... Tech elites are starting their own for-profit cities
www.ft.com/content/b127... Tech elites are starting their own for-profit cities
Reposted by Matt Thompson
Want to understand urban politics of developer agency in London? Jenny Robinson & Katia Attuyer present latest paper on Thur 4th Dec
Building on this seminal work onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
London Planning series @michaellondonsf.bsky.social
All welcome!
www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/eve...
Building on this seminal work onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
London Planning series @michaellondonsf.bsky.social
All welcome!
www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/eve...
London, by developers?
Join us for a London Planning seminar on the latest research into developer agency in London’s hidden urban politics of value extraction in redevelopment.
www.ucl.ac.uk
November 21, 2025 at 9:33 AM
Want to understand urban politics of developer agency in London? Jenny Robinson & Katia Attuyer present latest paper on Thur 4th Dec
Building on this seminal work onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
London Planning series @michaellondonsf.bsky.social
All welcome!
www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/eve...
Building on this seminal work onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
London Planning series @michaellondonsf.bsky.social
All welcome!
www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/eve...
Reposted by Matt Thompson
I am in some ways an early-adopter, & very online but I’m sceptical of so-called AI for all the obvious reasons. Yet I’m
curious so I read this with interest.
It’s interesting. And I see it. I don’t feel it.
At one point he asks the AI what would happen if everyone had nuclear weapons (1/4)
curious so I read this with interest.
It’s interesting. And I see it. I don’t feel it.
At one point he asks the AI what would happen if everyone had nuclear weapons (1/4)
How AI has made my life better
And why is my experience so different to everyone else?
takes.jamesomalley.co.uk
December 3, 2025 at 8:20 PM
I am in some ways an early-adopter, & very online but I’m sceptical of so-called AI for all the obvious reasons. Yet I’m
curious so I read this with interest.
It’s interesting. And I see it. I don’t feel it.
At one point he asks the AI what would happen if everyone had nuclear weapons (1/4)
curious so I read this with interest.
It’s interesting. And I see it. I don’t feel it.
At one point he asks the AI what would happen if everyone had nuclear weapons (1/4)
Reposted by Matt Thompson
Grim news and vacuous messaging from Essex: 200 academic posts (in unspecified subjects) to go this year & 200 professional staff posts in the next 2 years. Closure of Southend campus will be a blow regionally as well. The vision and ambition that saw Essex et al established is sorely needed now.
Essex to close Southend campus and cut 400 jobs
University says it has been forced into making ‘decisions we could have never previously imagined’ after steep drop in international student numbers
www.timeshighereducation.com
December 3, 2025 at 8:35 AM
Grim news and vacuous messaging from Essex: 200 academic posts (in unspecified subjects) to go this year & 200 professional staff posts in the next 2 years. Closure of Southend campus will be a blow regionally as well. The vision and ambition that saw Essex et al established is sorely needed now.
Reposted by Matt Thompson
Currently dorking out over this graph about child mortality with my brother. Just mind boggling to take in.
December 2, 2025 at 5:00 AM
Currently dorking out over this graph about child mortality with my brother. Just mind boggling to take in.
Reposted by Matt Thompson
Day 2 of #sketchpadvent with this 1961 visualisation of Brixton by Kenneth Browne, complete with unbuilt motorway box thundering across it
December 2, 2025 at 8:02 AM
Day 2 of #sketchpadvent with this 1961 visualisation of Brixton by Kenneth Browne, complete with unbuilt motorway box thundering across it
Reposted by Matt Thompson
Cover of the day: from December 1973, a London Borough of Hillingdon consultation document on road improvements in Hayes. A great shot of the EMI factory, which dominates the scene.
December 1, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Cover of the day: from December 1973, a London Borough of Hillingdon consultation document on road improvements in Hayes. A great shot of the EMI factory, which dominates the scene.
Reposted by Matt Thompson
It is IMO not possible to operate any kind of meaningful democracy when your national press is a joke and a travesty, but your mileage on that may vary. I think it’s incontestable that it is impossible to govern well and effectively, while being in hock to these pantomime clowns.
November 27, 2025 at 8:46 AM
It is IMO not possible to operate any kind of meaningful democracy when your national press is a joke and a travesty, but your mileage on that may vary. I think it’s incontestable that it is impossible to govern well and effectively, while being in hock to these pantomime clowns.
Reposted by Matt Thompson
"By excavating the urban struggles of 1970s Italy with a spatialized understanding of Operaismo’s signature theoretical contribution––class composition––the book provides both an important contribution to radical urban history and a window into how current urban struggles might be theorized." ❤️🔥 ❤️🔥 ❤️🔥
November 25, 2025 at 12:22 PM
"By excavating the urban struggles of 1970s Italy with a spatialized understanding of Operaismo’s signature theoretical contribution––class composition––the book provides both an important contribution to radical urban history and a window into how current urban struggles might be theorized." ❤️🔥 ❤️🔥 ❤️🔥
Reposted by Matt Thompson
What was ChatGPT? Now nearly three years old, we can look at OpenAI's LLM as a product of its time, optimized ever since to its earliest uses. While this period of deep disorientation and social isolation has been obscured from public memory, it remains embedded within the interface.
What Was ChatGPT?
A Chatbot Optimized for Social Distance
Three years after the launch of ChatGPT, we can finally speak in hindsight about what it was and how it came to be. Its meteoric rise shocked the world, gather...
mail.cyberneticforests.com
November 23, 2025 at 12:37 PM
What was ChatGPT? Now nearly three years old, we can look at OpenAI's LLM as a product of its time, optimized ever since to its earliest uses. While this period of deep disorientation and social isolation has been obscured from public memory, it remains embedded within the interface.
Want to understand urban politics of developer agency in London? Jenny Robinson & Katia Attuyer present latest paper on Thur 4th Dec
Building on this seminal work onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
London Planning series @michaellondonsf.bsky.social
All welcome!
www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/eve...
Building on this seminal work onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
London Planning series @michaellondonsf.bsky.social
All welcome!
www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/eve...
London, by developers?
Join us for a London Planning seminar on the latest research into developer agency in London’s hidden urban politics of value extraction in redevelopment.
www.ucl.ac.uk
November 21, 2025 at 9:33 AM
Want to understand urban politics of developer agency in London? Jenny Robinson & Katia Attuyer present latest paper on Thur 4th Dec
Building on this seminal work onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
London Planning series @michaellondonsf.bsky.social
All welcome!
www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/eve...
Building on this seminal work onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
London Planning series @michaellondonsf.bsky.social
All welcome!
www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/eve...
Reposted by Matt Thompson
Drawings of new tower blocks amid the scruffy jumble of Victorian terraces in Netherthorpe, Sheffield, by John Piper - June 1961. Reproduced B&W in the Architectural Review, but I’ve always longed to find full-colour originals.
November 21, 2025 at 8:40 AM
Drawings of new tower blocks amid the scruffy jumble of Victorian terraces in Netherthorpe, Sheffield, by John Piper - June 1961. Reproduced B&W in the Architectural Review, but I’ve always longed to find full-colour originals.
Reposted by Matt Thompson
do i have this about right?
university admins claim that they know (somehow) that AI is “the future” and that we have to train students to have the skills to work in environments that (will) require AI, but ...
university admins claim that they know (somehow) that AI is “the future” and that we have to train students to have the skills to work in environments that (will) require AI, but ...
November 20, 2025 at 8:09 PM
do i have this about right?
university admins claim that they know (somehow) that AI is “the future” and that we have to train students to have the skills to work in environments that (will) require AI, but ...
university admins claim that they know (somehow) that AI is “the future” and that we have to train students to have the skills to work in environments that (will) require AI, but ...
Reposted by Matt Thompson
We need more honest language:
Theft Tech (AI)
Grift Tech (crypto)
Death Tech (automated weapons and military surveillance)
Theft Tech (AI)
Grift Tech (crypto)
Death Tech (automated weapons and military surveillance)
"theft tech" is a term my pal @astra.bsky.social thought of just today when we were working on our book about these End Times Fascists.
We were thinking about what should happen when this this bubble busts, as we all know it will.
Remember: they have bunkers. We don't. 2/3
We were thinking about what should happen when this this bubble busts, as we all know it will.
Remember: they have bunkers. We don't. 2/3
November 17, 2025 at 7:01 PM
We need more honest language:
Theft Tech (AI)
Grift Tech (crypto)
Death Tech (automated weapons and military surveillance)
Theft Tech (AI)
Grift Tech (crypto)
Death Tech (automated weapons and military surveillance)
Reposted by Matt Thompson
amazing q&a with paul krugman
June 25, 2025 at 1:22 PM
amazing q&a with paul krugman
Reposted by Matt Thompson
📼 PTO REWIND 📼 - Alexander Gallas on popular support for the Thatcher governments of the 1980s, Thatcherism as a "two-nations hegemonic project" and the debates between Stuart Hall and Bob Jessop on how to make sense of Thatcherism:
Rewind: Alexander Gallas on the Thatcherite offensive
Podcast Episode · Politics Theory Other · 15/11/2025 · 52m
podcasts.apple.com
November 15, 2025 at 1:03 PM
📼 PTO REWIND 📼 - Alexander Gallas on popular support for the Thatcher governments of the 1980s, Thatcherism as a "two-nations hegemonic project" and the debates between Stuart Hall and Bob Jessop on how to make sense of Thatcherism:
Reposted by Matt Thompson
Schools in England have become testing sites for AI. I know it's common to say education is now an experimental lab for AI, but in England it's more methodologically true. 3 examples of escalating seriousness and an explanation coming up 🧵
November 14, 2025 at 11:11 PM
Schools in England have become testing sites for AI. I know it's common to say education is now an experimental lab for AI, but in England it's more methodologically true. 3 examples of escalating seriousness and an explanation coming up 🧵
Reposted by Matt Thompson
Mamdani: "New York will remain a city of immigrants, a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants, and as of tonight, led by an immigrant."
November 5, 2025 at 4:40 AM
Mamdani: "New York will remain a city of immigrants, a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants, and as of tonight, led by an immigrant."
Reposted by Matt Thompson
London's Ringways are a whole network of unbuilt urban motorways threaded through the capital. There's never been a complete map of them,not even one made by their designers, until now. Today we're publishing the Ringways Map from @roads.org.uk to let you see in the city that London nearly became.
November 3, 2025 at 3:03 PM
London's Ringways are a whole network of unbuilt urban motorways threaded through the capital. There's never been a complete map of them,not even one made by their designers, until now. Today we're publishing the Ringways Map from @roads.org.uk to let you see in the city that London nearly became.
Reposted by Matt Thompson
Where did the notion of "actor-network theory" come from? If one is to believe Callon (1999: 194), the T for "theory" was never really part of ANT:
October 17, 2025 at 9:26 PM
Where did the notion of "actor-network theory" come from? If one is to believe Callon (1999: 194), the T for "theory" was never really part of ANT:
Reposted by Matt Thompson
Join us for the 2nd instalment of London Planning seminars at UCL Bartlett School of Planning, which I organise w/ @michaellondonsf.bsky.social
We'll be discussing the next generation of British new towns w/ John Sturzaker & David Mountain @rtpiplanners.bsky.social:
www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/eve...
We'll be discussing the next generation of British new towns w/ John Sturzaker & David Mountain @rtpiplanners.bsky.social:
www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/eve...
The Next Generation of British New Towns
Join us for the second instalment of this year’s London Planning seminars.
www.ucl.ac.uk
October 17, 2025 at 8:14 AM
Join us for the 2nd instalment of London Planning seminars at UCL Bartlett School of Planning, which I organise w/ @michaellondonsf.bsky.social
We'll be discussing the next generation of British new towns w/ John Sturzaker & David Mountain @rtpiplanners.bsky.social:
www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/eve...
We'll be discussing the next generation of British new towns w/ John Sturzaker & David Mountain @rtpiplanners.bsky.social:
www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/eve...
Reposted by Matt Thompson
"David Harvey in Paris: A Tribute for his 90th Birthday" progressivegeographies.com/2025/10/31/d...
@davidharvey.org A short piece about Harvey's writings on Paris, posted to coincide with his birthday.
@davidharvey.org A short piece about Harvey's writings on Paris, posted to coincide with his birthday.
October 31, 2025 at 8:04 AM
"David Harvey in Paris: A Tribute for his 90th Birthday" progressivegeographies.com/2025/10/31/d...
@davidharvey.org A short piece about Harvey's writings on Paris, posted to coincide with his birthday.
@davidharvey.org A short piece about Harvey's writings on Paris, posted to coincide with his birthday.
Reposted by Matt Thompson
statistically, about 24% of television adverts in the UK should feature at least one publicly disgraced member of Reform/UKIP
Over 5% of the Reform councillors elected in May have now either resigned or been fired.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Five Reform UK councillors booted out of party in Kent
It comes after a damaging video leak of the Kent County Council leader shouting and swearing.
www.bbc.co.uk
October 28, 2025 at 8:19 AM
statistically, about 24% of television adverts in the UK should feature at least one publicly disgraced member of Reform/UKIP
Reposted by Matt Thompson
After submitting a FOIA request UKRI, I obtained success rates by three grant call scheme and I can only say that I am disheartened by the results:
- AHRC Responsive Mode 2025: 2%
- ESRC New Investigator Grant 2025: 1%
- ESRC Research Grant Round 2025: 1%
- AHRC Responsive Mode 2025: 2%
- ESRC New Investigator Grant 2025: 1%
- ESRC Research Grant Round 2025: 1%
October 22, 2025 at 7:55 AM
After submitting a FOIA request UKRI, I obtained success rates by three grant call scheme and I can only say that I am disheartened by the results:
- AHRC Responsive Mode 2025: 2%
- ESRC New Investigator Grant 2025: 1%
- ESRC Research Grant Round 2025: 1%
- AHRC Responsive Mode 2025: 2%
- ESRC New Investigator Grant 2025: 1%
- ESRC Research Grant Round 2025: 1%