Professor Monica Degen
College Creative Industries Lead / Professor

Interview for MIT Review: The Urbanism Issue (2022) Why sounds and smells are as vital to cities as the sights

Dr Degen’s research on the organisation of senory and temporal experiences has shaped strategies for the spatial design, curatorial practices and activity plans of the New Museum of London, the Cologne City Museum and London’s Charterhouse Museum. In 2018, the Department of the Built Environment at the City of London Corporation used her research in their public realm redesign which subsequently improved the livelihoods of 10% of Greater London’s working population. In 2020, Dr Degen’s research supported Barcelona’s council plans to redesign Las Ramblas boulevard which is visited by approximately 1,000,000 people every year. Both the City of London and Barcelona’s planning departments have benefitted from being able to monitor the importance that experiences play in shaping the quality of life in cities, and have incorporated these insights into their planning policies.

Through collaborative research processes with practitioners, curators, architects and other participants Dr Degen supports impact which stems directly from involvement in the research process and learning together, such as learning new research methods, building capacity and developing new insights.

2018 interview on Thinking Allowed, BBC Radio 4 on Sensory Landscapes.

2016 interview on BBC Women’s Hour, BBC Radio 4 on Streetsexworkers everyday life experiences