Dr Christopher Yap
Contact details
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About
Overview
Christopher is a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Food Policy, City University. He is a human geographer and draws on political economy and political ecology perspectives to examine intersections between land, food, and governance. Christopher is interested in the ways that socio-political processes shape and are shaped by spatial development at the local, urban, and territorial levels. His research employs qualitative, ethnographic, and participatory action research approaches, including participatory video-making.
Christopher is the Programme Director for the MSc Food Policy programme and leads the Dissertation module on the course. He is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
Christopher is Co-Lead of the Joined Up Landscapes, a £2million interdisciplinary research project funded by UKRI-Defra and part of the Maximising UK Adaptation to Climate Change Research Hub. Joined Up landscapes aims to enhance the contribution of Nature-Based Solutions to multifunctional landscapes in the UK and to maximise this contribution under different climate change scenarios. Within the project, Christopher leads a workstream that takes an action research approach to understanding the implementation, management, and governance of nature Based Solutions in practice.
Christopher is also an investigator on the interdisciplinary FixOurFood research programme. He part of a work package that examines and contributes towards developing the policies, governance structures, and decision-making processes that are necessary to transform the UK’s food systems. His research focuses on the potentials of emerging spaces of food systems governance at the local and regional levels.
Christopher is formerly a Land Use Governance Fellow within the Office of the Chief Scientific Advisor, Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, where he contributed to the development of environmental land use policy in England. He has previously been involved in a wide range of international research projects with University College London, the London International Development Centre, the International Institute for Environment and Development, and FIAN International. His research, conducted in cities across Europe, Latin America, and East Africa, has examined issues related to urban agriculture, urban development planning, urban poverty, water and sanitation, and development policy-making.
Christopher holds a PhD in human and social geography from the Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience, Coventry University and an MSc Development Administration and Planning from the Bartlett Development Planning Unit, UCL.
Qualifications
- PG Cert Academic Practice, City, University of London, United Kingdom, 2024
- PhD Human and Social Geography, Coventry University, UK, April 2015 - September 2018
- MSc Development Administration and Planning, University College London, United Kingdom, 2011 - September 2012
- BA Religion, Philosophy and Ethics, King's College London, United Kingdom, September 2006 - June 2010
Employment
- Senior Research Fellow, City, University of London, United Kingdom, August 2024 - present
- Land Use Governance Fellow, Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, United Kingdom, November 2022 - June 2023
- Research Fellow, City, University of London, United Kingdom, August 2021 - July 2024
- Research Fellow, University College London, United Kingdom, March 2018 - August 2021
- Research Associate, FIAN International - Transnational Institute, September 2016 - January 2018
- Research Assistant in Sustainable Development, London International Development Centre, United Kingdom, January - December 2014
- Graduate Teaching and Research Assistant, University College London, United Kingdom, July 2013 - April 2015
Publications
Publications by category
Book
- Waage, J. and Yap, C. (Eds.), (2015). Thinking Beyond Sectors for Sustainable Development. London: Ubiquity Press. ISBN 9781909188426.
Chapters (4)
- Wells, R., Sharpe, R., Yap, C. and Parsons, K. (2025). Food policy. Elgar Encyclopedia of Food and Society (pp. 245-250). Edward Elgar Publishing. ISBN 9781800887428.
- Allen, A., Lambert, R. and Yap, C. (2017). Co-learning the city. The Routledge Companion to Planning in the Global South (pp. 355-367). Routledge.
- Waage, J., Yap, C., Bell, S., Levy, C., Mace, G., Pegram, T.... Poole, N. (2015). Governing Sustainable Development Goals: interactions, infrastructures, and institutions. Thinking Beyond Sectors for Sustainable Development (pp. 79-88). London: Ubiquity Press.
- Waage, J., Yap, C., Bell, S., Levy, C., Mace, G., Pegram, T.... Poole, N. (2015). Governing Sustainable Development Goals: interactions, infrastructures, and institutions. Thinking Beyond Sectors for Sustainable Development (pp. 79-88). Ubiquity Press. ISBN 9781909188426.
Internet publication
- Yap, C., Marx, C. and Levy, C.(2022).A Short History of Urban Aid Policy and Programming in the UK. UCL-KNOW.
Journal articles (17)
- Yap, C. and Anderson, C.R. (2025). Learning the city through urban agriculture. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 43(5), pp. 854-874. doi:10.1177/02637758241304667
- Kluczkovski, A., Hadley, P., Yap, C., Ehgartner, U., Doherty, B. and Denby, K. (2025). Urban vertical farming: innovation for food security and social impact? Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 380(1935). doi:10.1098/rstb.2024.0154
- Bridle, S., Parsons, K., Poppy, G., Duncombe, T., Dicks, L.V., Doherty, B.... Bryant, M. (2025). Key action areas for transforming the UK food system: insights from the Transforming UK Food Systems (TUKFS) Programme project portfolio. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 380(1935). doi:10.1098/rstb.2024.0166
- Jackson, P., Yap, C., Parsons, K., Treuherz, S. and Roberts, G. (2025). Values-based food systems: the role of local food partnerships in England. Agriculture and Human Values, 42(3), pp. 1379-1393. doi:10.1007/s10460-024-10670-4
- Yap, C. and Treuherz, S. (2025). Emerging processes of territorial food systems governance: lessons from a local food action plan in Sheffield, UK. Local Environment, 30(8), pp. 1020-1035. doi:10.1080/13549839.2025.2467865
- Buckton, S.J., Fazey, I., Doherty, B., Bryant, M., Banwart, S.A., Carmen, E.... Wilson, J. (2024). Transformative action towards regenerative food systems: A large-scale case study. PLOS Sustainability and Transformation, 3(11). doi:10.1371/journal.pstr.0000134
- Lavell, A., McFarlane, C., Moore, H.L., Woodcraft, S. and Yap, C. (2023). Pathways to Urban Equality through the Sustainable Development Goals: Modes of Extreme Poverty, Resilience, and Prosperity. International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development, 15(1), pp. 215-229. doi:10.1080/19463138.2023.2226099
- Buckton, S.J., Fazey, I., Sharpe, B., Om, E.S., Doherty, B., Ball, P.... Sinclair, M. (2023). The Regenerative Lens: A conceptual framework for regenerative social-ecological systems. One Earth, 6(7), pp. 824-842. doi:10.1016/j.oneear.2023.06.006
- Yap, C., Mcfarlane, C., Ndezi, T. and Makoba, F.D. (2023). Sanitation challenges in Dar es Salaam: the potential of Simplified Sewerage Systems. Environment and Urbanization, 35(1), pp. 12-29. doi:10.1177/09562478221146722
- Yap, C. (2023). New geographical directions for food systems governance research. Progress in Human Geography, 47(1), pp. 66-84. doi:10.1177/03091325221133808
- Doherty, B., Bryant, M., Denby, K., Fazey, I., Bridle, S., Hawkes, C.... Connolly, A. (2022). Transformations to regenerative food systems—An outline of the FixOurFood project. Nutrition Bulletin, 47(1), pp. 106-114. doi:10.1111/nbu.12536
- Yap, C. (2021). Making the city through participatory video: implications for urban geography. Urban Geography, 43(9), pp. 1394-1414. doi:10.1080/02723638.2021.1948698
- Fernandez-Wulff, P. and Yap, C. (2020). The Urban Politics of Human Rights Practice. Journal of Human Rights Practice, 12(2), pp. 409-427. doi:10.1093/jhuman/huaa019
- Yap, C. and McFarlane, C. (2020). Understanding and researching urban extreme poverty: a conceptual–methodological approach. Environment and Urbanization, 32(1), pp. 254-274. doi:10.1177/0956247819890829
- Yap, C. (2019). Self-Organisation in Urban Community Gardens: Autogestion, Motivations, and the Role of Communication. Sustainability, 11(9), pp. 2659-2659. doi:10.3390/su11092659
- Yap, C. (2016). The art of natural cheesemaking by David Asher. Canadian Food Studies / La Revue canadienne des études sur l'alimentation, 3(1), pp. 136-139. doi:10.15353/cfs-rcea.v3i1.157
- Waage, J., Yap, C., Bell, S., Levy, C., Mace, G., Pegram, T.... Poole, N. (2015). Governing the UN Sustainable Development Goals: interactions, infrastructures, and institutions. The Lancet Global Health, 3(5), pp. e251-e252. doi:10.1016/s2214-109x(15)70112-9
Media
- Blanco, L., Castroviejo, X., de Angelis, T., Testi, E. and Yap, C.(2016). Jardin Interior: Garden Inside.
Reports (8)
- Edwards, F., Yap, C., Treuherz, S., Alexander, S., Ballin, L., Buckton, S.... Wells, R. (2026). Accelerating regional food systems change: Lessons from a FixOurFood knowledge exchange event. London: Centre for Food Policy.
- Yap, C., Tiwari, C. and Vogel, C.A. (2025). Informing a People-Centred Food Strategy for the London Borough of Hounslow..
- Treuherz, S., Leather, L., Yap, C. and Wells, R. (2025). ShefFood's Local Food Action Plan for Sheffield: 2025 Update. Sheffield, UK: Sheffood.
- Zerbian, T., Yap, C., Sharpe, R. and Reynolds, C. (2023). Leveraging knowledge-policy interfaces for food systems transformation in the UK: lessons from civil society. London, UK: UKRI-Transforming UK Food Systems Strategic Priorities Fund.
- Treuherz, S., Yap, C. and Rowson, S. (2023). ShefFood's Local Food Action Plan for Sheffield 2023-2030. Sheffield, UK: ShefFood-FixOurFood.
- Denton, P. and Yap, C. (2023). Food policy crumbs in the 2022 Queen's Speech. London, UK: Food Research Collaboration. ISBN 9781903957820.
- Butcher, S., Cociña, C., Yap, C. and Levy, C. (2021). Localising the Sustainable Development Goals: An urban equality perspective. kNOW-UCL.
- Fernandez-Wulff, P. and Yap, C. (2018). Leveraging urban policy for food sovereignty and human rights. Amsterdam and Heidelberg: Transnational Institute and FIAN International for Hands on the Land.
Working papers (2)
- Yap, C., Cociña, C. and Levy, C. (2021). The urban dimensions of inequality and equality. Barcelona: United Cities Local Government
- Yap, C. (2013). Urban Food Sovereignty: Food, Land and Democracy in Kampala. DPU-UCL