John Bryson

John R. Bryson (BA (Hons) TCD, PhD Leic., FAcSS, FRGS, FHEA, FeRSA) has held research and teaching posts at the Universities of St Andrews, Cambridge, Wales and most recently at the University of Birmingham where he is Professor of Enterprise and Economic Geography. He was Director of the Service and Enterprise Research Unit (SERU) and founder of City-REDI.

An economic geographer whose research focusses on understanding people and organisations in place and space and the ways in which place-based adaptation occurs including understanding barriers and enablers to adaptation. He has made significant contributions to understanding and explaining the complex ways in which production is organized through space and in place and via a variety of forms of enterprise.

Much of his research has focussed on developing an integrated approach to understanding city-regions. This includes research on property development and investment, financialization, infrastructure, knowledge-intensive services, manufacturing adaptation and innovation, alternative forms of innovation including end-user innovation, urban sustainability and resilience, air quality and environmental pollution, productivity, internationalisation, service offshoring and manufacturing reshoring, and innovation systems. One of his cross-cutting research interests including understanding rapid adaptation during times of disruptive and radical change. This includes citizen-led end-user innovation and the development of alternative solutions in response to private and public sector failure. This includes research on responsible citizenship and the role that responsible citizens can play in overcoming local infrastructure failure. It also includes a focus on resilience and the management of resilience.