In 1977-93 I worked mainly in policy research, policy making and policy analysis (now known as ‘knowledge transfer’ and ‘having impact’).  Since then, I have co-authored two books on policy. I have sought to develop socialist policies in the relevant fields.

•  In 1978 I wrote a pamphlet on policy for non-car transport and mobility in rural areas of Britain.
•  In 1977-82 I worked as Research Fellow on large scale research on the dynamics of, and policy towards, manufacturing in London, in a project funded by the Department of the Environment.  This was one of the first reports commissioned by government on manufacturing in cities.
•  In 1983-6 I was employed as a policy officer at the Greater London Council developing and implementing policy on manufacturing sectors; for part of that time I was seconded to the Greater London Enterprise Board.  This involved –
   - developing the council’s policy for investment in, and reorganisation of, the clothing and printing industries in London, involving numerous meetings with employers;
  - working with the trade unions and homeworker groups to improve conditions, employment practices and equal opportunities in the two industries, involving numerous meetings with those groups;
  - contributing to Fair Trade campaign in clothing.
•  In 1981-6 I co-authored three policy reports on manufacturing commissioned by trade unions. 
•  My work at the GLC and with trade unions made a significant contribution to a broad movement, in both academia and policy-making, around local industrial districts or clusters.  This became a major field of academic research from the mid-1980s through to the present.  It also became the key policy for regional and sub-regional economic development authorities in Britain.  (See also above Academic Research, section 2.)
•  The Politics of Local Economic Policy(1993) was written partly for, and has been marketed to, practitioners in local and regional economic policy.  Until 2009 it was the most comprehensive treatment of this policy field in Britain. 
• Spaces of Social Exclusion(2006)was written partly for, and has been marketed to, practitioners in poverty policy, especially those working at the urban or neighbourhood scale.  It remains the most comprehensive text on the spatiality of poverty and poverty policy in developed countries.
•  I have been a key speaker at two conferences of urban planners in Turkey, one the annual national conference of planners, the other a special conference of Istanbul planners.