Staff Profile
Professor Philip James
- Address: School of Computing
Urban Sciences Building
Newcastle University
1 Science Square
Newcastle Helix
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE4 5TG
Background
My research encompasses the use of urban data, especially real-time data, in addressing urban challenges such as urban mobility, air pollution, carbon reduction. I lead the Urban Observatory Programme in Newcastle, one of the largest programmes of urban environmental monitoring in Europe. My work crosses discipline boundaries in engineering, computing science and increasingly into policy and evidence.
Roles and Responsibilities
I head the Geospatial Engineering Group as part of the Engineering School. I am a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and the Alan Turing Institute. I sit on a number of advisory and expert panels including:
- Cyber and Local Digital Monitoring and Evaluation Expert Advisory Group (UK Government Department for Levelling up, Housing and Communities DLUHC)
- Secure Connected Places External Advisory Group (UK Government Department for Science Innovation and Technology DSIT)
- NERC Digital Research Infrastrucure Investment Board (UKRI)
- Floods and Droughts Research Infrastructure Community Advisory Group (NERC)
- UKCRIC Executive Board Member (UK Collaboratorium for Research on Infrastructure and Cities)
- DAFNI Governance Board Member (Data Analysis Facility for National Infrastructure)
Qualifications
BA (Hons) Japanese (Newcastle, 1991)
Industrial Experience
I work closely with a large number of industrial stakeholders including Northumbria Water, Siemens, the Ordnance Survey, the Environment Agency and others. Through the Observatory programme we work with national and local stakeholders including the combined authorities.
Google Scholar: Click here.
Research Interests
Data, environmental sensing, AI, data science, geospatial analysis, urban systems
My research sits at the intersection of data science, artificial intelligence and urban innovation. As Director of the Newcastle Urban Observatory, I lead the UK’s largest urban monitoring programme, which gathers millions of real-time observations about city life. This work allows me to explore how AI and advanced analytics can be applied to vast streams of urban data, helping us understand and improve the way cities function.
My focus is on building systems that integrate sensor networks, the Internet of Things and diverse datasets to create a holistic picture of urban environments. By fusing information on air quality, traffic, energy use and social activity, I aim to develop AI-driven tools that support evidence-based decision making for policymakers and planners.
At the heart of my work is a commitment to creating cities that are sustainable, resilient and citizen-focused. By harnessing the power of data science and AI, I strive to ensure that future cities are not only technologically advanced but also inclusive and responsive to the needs of the people who live in them.
I teach GIS and Informatics across a number of schools and 2 faculties and participate in 3 field courses annually.
Undergraduate Teaching
CEG1702 Introduction to GIS (module leader 70%)
CEG1710 Introduction to GIS (module leader 70%)
CEG1713 Informatics 1 (module leader 100%)
CEG2722 Informatics 2 (module leader 70%)
CEG 3701 GIS Fieldcourse (module leader 60%)
I also make significant contributions to CEG1711, CEG2712, CEG1604 & CEG1714
Postgraduate Teaching
CEG8702 GIS Fundamentals (module leader 100%)
CEG8705 GIS (module leader 100%)
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Articles
- Xie X, Herrera M, Xiaoyu T, James P, Kassem M. Trustworthy urban digital twin: A RAG-based architecture for integrating verifiable knowledge. SSRN 2025.
- Alvarez Castro D, Ford A, James P, Palacin R, Ziemke D. A MATSim model methodology to generate cycling-focused transport scenarios in England. Journal of Urban Mobility 2024, 5, 100078.
- Bozeman JF, Chopra SS, James P, Muhammad S, Cai H, Tong K, Carrasquillo M, Rickenbacker H, Nock D, Ashton W, Heidrich O, Derrible S, Bilec M. Three research priorities for just and sustainable urban systems: Now is the time to refocus. Journal of Industrial Ecology 2023, 27(2), 382-394.
- Matthews B, Hall J, Batty M, Blainey S, Cassidy N, Choudhary R, Coca D, Hallett S, Harou JJ, James P, Lomax N, Oliver P, Sivakumar A, Tryfonas T, Varga L. Dafni: a computational platform to support infrastructure systems research. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers: Smart Infrastructure and Construction 2023, 176(3), 108-116.
- James P, Jonczyk J, Smith L, Harris N, Komar T, Bell D, Ranjan R. Realizing Smart City Infrastructure at Scale, in the Wild: A Case Study. Frontiers in Sustainable Cities 2022, 4, 767942.
- Contreras D, Wilkinson S, Balan N, James P. Assessing post-disaster recovery using sentiment analysis: The case of L’Aquila, Italy. Earthquake Spectra 2022, 38(1), 81-108.
- Phengsuwan J, Shah T, Sun R, James P, Thakker D, Ranjan R. An ontology-based system for discovering landslide-induced emergencies in electrical grid. Transactions on Emerging Telecommunications Technologies 2022, 33(3), e3899.
- Phengsuwan J, Shah T, Thekkummal NB, Wen Z, Sun R, Pullarkatt D, Thirugnanam H, Ramesh MV, Morgan G, James P, Ranjan R. Use of social media data in disaster management: A survey. Future Internet 2021, 13(2), 46.
- Peppa MV, Komar T, Xiao W, James P, Robson C, Xing J, Barr S. Towards an End-to-End Framework of CCTV-Based Urban Traffic Volume Detection and Prediction. Sensors 2021, 21(2), 629.
- Gilbert T, James P, Smith L, Barr S, Morley J. Topological integration of BIM and geospatial water utility networks across the building envelope. Computers, Environment and Urban Systems 2021, 86, 101570.
- Robson C, Barr S, Ford A, James P. The structure and behaviour of hierarchical infrastructure networks. Applied Network Science 2021, 6(1), 65.
- Chen L, Grimstead I, Bell D, Karanka J, Dimond L, James P, Smith L, Edwardes A. Estimating vehicle and pedestrian activity from town and city traffic cameras. Sensors 2021, 21(13), 4564.
- Qian B, Jie S, Wen Z, Jha D, Li Y, Guan Y, Puthal D, James P, Yang R, Zomaya A, Rana O, Wang L, Koutny M, Ranjan R. Orchestrating the Development Lifecycle of Machine Learning-based IoT Applications: A Taxonomy and Survey. ACM Computing Surveys 2020, 53(4), 1-47.
- Alwasel K, Jha DN, Hernandez E, Puthal D, Barika M, Varghese B, Garg SK, James P, Zomaya A, Morgan G, Ranjan R. IoTSim-SDWAN: A simulation framework for interconnecting distributed datacenters over Software-Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN). Journal of Parallel and Distributed Computing 2020, 143, 17-35.
- Jha DN, Alwasel K, Alshoshan A, Huang X, Naha RK, Battula SK, Garg S, Puthal D, James P, Zomaya A, Dustdar S, Ranjan R. IoTSim-Edge: A simulation framework for modeling the behavior of Internet of Things and edge computing environments. Journal of Software: Practice and Experience 2020, 50(6), 844-867.
- Chandra Shit R, Sharma S, Puthal D, James P, Pradhan B, van Moorsel A, Zomaya AY, Ranjan R. Ubiquitous Localization (UbiLoc): A Survey and Taxonomy on Device Free Localization for Smart World. IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials 2019, 21(4), 3532-3564.
- Moreri K, Fairbairn D, James P. Volunteered geographic information quality assessment using trust and reputation modelling in land administration systems in developing countries. International Journal of Geographical Information Science 2018, 32(5), 931-959.
- Urquizo J, Calderón C, James P. Understanding the complexities of domestic energy reductions in cities: Integrating data sets generally available in the United Kingdom's local authorities. Cities 2018, 74, 292-309.
- Ranjan R, Rana O, Nepal S, Yousif M, James P, Wen Z, Barr S, Watson P, Prakash Jayaraman P, Georgakopoulos D, Villari M, Fazio M, Garg S, Buyya R, Wang L, Zomaya A, Dustdar S. The Next Grand Challenges: Integrating the Internet of Things and Data Science. IEEE Cloud Computing 2018, 5(3), 12-26.
- Gilbert T, Barr S, James P, Morley J, Ji Q. Software Systems Approach to Multi-Scale GIS-BIM Utility Infrastructure Network Integration and Resource Flow Simulation. ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information 2018, 7(8), 310.
- Varghese B, Villari M, Rana O, James P, Shah T, Fazio M, Ranjan R. Realizing Edge Marketplaces: Challenges and Opportunities. IEEE Cloud Computing 2018, 5(6), 9-20.
- Urquizo J, Calderon C, James P. Modelling household spatial energy intensity consumption patters for building envelopes, heating systems and temperature controls in cities. Applied Energy 2018, 226, 670-681.
- Puussaar A, Johnson IG, Montague K, James P, Wright P. Making open data work for civic advocacy. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction 2018, 2(CSCW), 143.
- Moreri K, Fairbairn D, James P. Issues in developing a fit for purpose system for incorporating VGI in land administration in Botswana. Land Use Policy 2018, 77, 402-411.
- Urquizo J, Calderón C, James P. Using a Local Framework Combining Principal Component Regression and Monte Carlo Simulation for Uncertainty and Sensitivity Analysis of a Domestic Energy Model in Sub-City Areas. Energies 2017, 10(12), 1986.
- Ranjan R, Garg S, Khoskbar A, Solaiman E, Philip J, Georgakopoulos D. Orchestrating BigData Analysis Workflows. IEEE Cloud Computing 2017, 4(3).
- Smith L, Liang Q, James P, Lin W. Assessing the utility of social media as a data source for flood risk management using a real-time modelling framework. Journal of Flood Risk Management 2017, 10(3), 370-380.
- Ford A, Barr S, Dawson R, James P. Transport Accessibility Analysis Using GIS: Assessing Sustainable Transport in London. ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information 2015, 4(1), 124-149.
- Calderon C, James P, Urquizo J, McLoughlin A. A GIS domestic building framework to estimate energy end-use demand in UK sub-city areas. Energy and Buildings 2015, 96, 236-250.
- McCullough A, James P, Barr S. Near real-time geoprocessing on the grid: A scalable approach to road traffic monitoring. International Journal of Geographical Information Science 2012, 26(10), 1939-1957.
- Stephens A, James P, Alderson D, Pascoe S, Abele S, Iwi A. The challenges of developing an open source, standards-based technology stack to deliver the latest UK Climate Projections. International Journal of Digital Earth 2011, 5(1), 43-62.
- McCullough A, James P, Barr S. A Service Oriented Geoprocessing System for Real-Time Road Traffic Monitoring. Transactions in GIS 2011, 15(5), 651-665.
- Hobona G, Fairbairn D, Hiden H, James P. Orchestration of Grid-enabled Geospatial Web Services in Geoscientific Workflows. IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering 2010, 7(2), 407-411.
- Birkinshaw SJ, James P, Ewen J. Graphical user interface for rapid set-up of SHETRAN physically-based river catchment model. Environmental Modelling & Software 2010, 25(4), 609-610.
- Calder IR, Garratt J, James PM, Nash EJ. Models, myths and maps: Development of the EXploratory Climate Land Assessment and Impact Management (EXCLAIM) tool. Environmental Modelling & Software 2008, 23(5), 650-659.
- Kilsby CG, Jones PD, Burton A, Ford AC, Fowler HJ, Harpham C, James P, Smith A, Wilby RL. A daily weather generator for use in climate change studies. Environmental Modelling and Software 2007, 22(12), 1705-1719.
- Hobona GE, James PM, Fairbairn D. Web-Based Visualization of 3D Geospatial Data Using Java3D. IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications 2006, 26(4), 28-33.
- Hobona GE, James PM, Fairbairn D. Multidimensional visualisation of degrees of relevance of geographic data. International Journal of Geographic Information Science 2006, 20(5), 469-490.
- Nash EJ, Cope A, James PM, Parker D. Cycle Network Planning: Towards a Holistic Approach Using Temporal Topology. Transportation Planning and Technology 2005, 28(4), 251-271.
- Nash EJ, James PM, Parker D. A model for spatio-temporal network planning. Computers & Geosciences 2005, 31(2), 135-143.
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Conference Proceedings (inc. Abstracts)
- Komar T, James P. Orchestrating Urban Footfall Prediction: Leveraging AI and batch-oriented workflow for Smart City Application. In: 8th International Conference on Smart Data and Smart Cities (SDSC). 2024, Athens: International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing.
- Komar T, James P. LLM-Vision in enhancing the understanding of public spaces. In: 2024 ICA Workshop on AI, Geovisualization, and Analytical Reasoning – CartoVis24. 2024, Warsaw: Copernicus Publications.
- Xie X, Herrera M, Shah T, Kassem M, James P. Learning partial correlation graph for multivariate sensor data and detecting sensor communities in smart buildings. In: Proceedings LDAC2023 - 11th Linked Data in Architecture and Construction. 2023, Matera, Italy: CEUR Workshop Proceedings.
- Hepburn J, Fairbairn D, James P, Ford A. How do decision makers interact with geospatial data? An eye tracking study. In: 30th International Cartographic Conference (ICC 2021). 2021, Florence, Italy: Copernicus Publications.
- Hepburn J, Fairbairn D, James P, Ford A. Do we need legends? An eye tracking study. In: 29th Annual GIS Research UK Conference (GISRUK 2021). 2021, Cardiff.
- Urquizo J, Calderon C, James P. Challenges of working with a large building energy database. Combining data sets from different scales . In: Ecos 2021 - The 34th International Conference On Efficiency, Cost, Optimization, Simulation and Environmental Impact of Energy Systems. 2021, Taormina, Sicily (Italy): ECOS 2021 Organizing Committee.
- Contreras D, Wilkinson S, Fallou L, Landès M, Tomljenovich I, Bossu R, Balan N, James P. Assessing Emergency Response and Early Recovery using Sentiment Analysis (SA). The case of Zagreb, Croatia. In: 1st Croatian Conference on Earthquake Engineering (1CroCEE) 2021. 2021, Zagreb, Croatia.
- Barr SL, Johnson S, Ming X, Peppa M, Dong N, Wen Z, Robson C, Smith L, James P, Wilkinson D, Heaps S, Laing Q, Xiao W, Dawson R, Ranjan R. FLOOD-PREPARED: A NOWCASTING SYSTEM for REAL-TIME IMPACT ADAPTION to SURFACE WATER FLOODING in CITIES. In: 5th International Conference on Smart Data and Smart Cities. 2020, Nice, France: Copernicus GmbH.
- Contreras D, Wilkinson S, Balan N, Phengsuwan J, James P. Assessing Post-disaster Recovery Using Sentiment Analysis. The case of L'Aquila, Haiti, Chile and Canterbury. In: 17th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering (17WCEE). 2020, Sendai, Japan.
- Wen Z, Phengsuwan J, Thekkummal NB, Sun R, Jamathi-Chidananda P, Shah T, James P, Ranjan R. Active Hazard Observation via Human in the Loop Social Media Analytics System. In: CIKM '20: Proceedings of the 29th ACM International Conference on Information & Knowledge Management. 2020, Ireland Virtual: ACM.
- Bell D, Xiao W, James P. Accurate Vehicle Speed Estimation from Monocular Camera Footage. In: XXIV ISPRS Congress. 2020, Virtual: Copernicus GmbH.
- Urquizo J, Calderon C, James P. Engineering Modelling of Building Energy Consumption in Cities: Identifying Key Variables and Their Interactions with the Built Environment. In: Computational Science and Its Applications (ICCSA 2019). 2019, Saint Petersburg, Russia: Springer.
- Urquizo J, Calderon C, James P. Modelling the spatial energy diversity in sub-city areas using remote sensors. In: 31st International Conference on Efficiency, Cost, Optimization, Simulation and Environmental Impact of Energy System (ECOS 2018). 2018, Guimaraes, Portugal.
- Ji Q, Barr S, James P, Fairbairn D. Graph database implementation of fine spatial scale urban infrastructure networks. In: GISRUK 2018. 2018, Leicester, UK.
- Urquizo J, Calderon C, James P. Modelling household spatial energy intensity consumption patterns for building envelopes, heating systems and temperature controls in cities. In: 30th International Conference on Efficiency, Cost, Optimization, Simulation and Environmental Impact of Energy Systems (ECOS 2017). 2017, San Diego, CA, USA: International Measurement Confederation (IMEKO).
- Ji Q, Barr S, James P, Fairbairn D. A heuristic spatial algorithm for generating fine-scale infrastructure distribution networks. In: 25th GISRUK 2017. 2017, Manchester, UK: GISRUK.
- Robson C, Barr SL, James P, Ford A. A framework for modelling the impact of spatial hazards on critical infrastructure networks. In: GISRUK. 2017, Manchester, UK.
- Jonczyk J, Quinn P, Heidrich O, Dawson R, Birkinshaw S, James P, Harris N, Pearson D. Demonstration of a green-blue approach for a strategic management of urban runoff. In: AGU Fall Meeting. 2016, San Francisco, USA: American Geophysical Union (AGU).
- Urquizo J, Calderón C, James P. A spatial perspective of the domestic energy consumption intensity patterns in sub-city areas. A case study from the United Kingdom. In: Ecuador Technical Chapters Meeting (ETCM 2016). 2016, Guayaquil, Ecuador: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
- Fairbairn D, Moreri K, James P. Technological solutions for citizens’ participation into cadastral mapping. In: 27th International Cartographic Conference. 2015, Rio de Janeiro.
- Robson C, Barr S, James P, Ford A. Spatially modelling dependent infrastructure networks. In: GISRUK. 2015, Leeds.
- Harris N, Robson C, Barr SL, James P. Real time coupled network failure modelling and visualisation. In: GISRUK. 2015, Leeds, UK.
- Robson C, Barr S, James P, Ford A. Resilience of hierarchical critical infrastructure networks. In: International Symposium for Next Generation Infrastructure. 2014, Vienna, Austria.
- Bell MC, Galatioto F, Hill G, James P. Decision support system monitoring and modelling platform to inform policy and management strategies to reduce environmental impacts of traffic. In: Road Transport Information and Control (RTIC) Conference. 2012, London.
- Greenhalgh ATH, James PM, Fairbairn D. Geosemantics in Local Authority Licensing. In: WORLDCOMP'08: The 2008 World Congress in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, and Applied Computing. 2008, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
- Cheewinsiriwat P, James PM, Barr SL. Developing 3D GIS web services. In: 5th International Conference on Geographic Information Systems 2008 (ICGIS 2008). 2008, Istanbul, Turkey.
- Hobona GE, Fairbairn D, James PM. Workflow Enactment of Grid-Enabled Geospatial Web Services. In: Proceedings of the UK e-Science All Hands Meeting. 2007, Nottingham, UK: National e-Science Centre.
- Hobona GE, Fairbairn D, James PM. Semantically-Assisted Geospatial Workflow Design. In: Proceedings of the 15th Annual ACM International Symposium on Advances in Geographic Information Systems. 2007, Seattle, Washington: ACM.
- Greenhalgh A, James P, Fairbairn D. Encoding semantics in the DNF. In: 9th AGILE Conference on GIS. 2006, Visegrad, Hungary.
- James PM, Abele SJ. The development of wiki engines to support GI data attribution. In: Proceedings of the 13th Geographical Information Systems Research UK Conference (GISRUK 13). 2005, University of Glasgow: GIS Research UK.
- Hobona GE, James PM, Fairbairn D. Spatio-Temporal Ontological Relevance Model (STORM). In: Proceedings of the 13th Geographical Information Systems Research UK Conference (GISRUK 13). 2005, University of Glasgow: GIS Research UK.
- Ford AC, James PM. Integration of 3D petroleum datasets in commercial GIS. In: 8th AGILE Conference on GI-Science. 2005, Estoril, Portugal: Association Geographic Information Laboratories Europe.
- Hobona GE, Fairbairn D, James PM. An RDBMS-Supported, Web-Based, 3D GIS, Visualisation And Analysis Tool. In: 22nd International Cartographic Conference. 2005, A Coruña, Spain: International Cartographic Association.
- Hobona GE, James PM, Fairbairn D. An evaluation of a multidimensional visual interface for geographic information retrieval. In: ACM/SIGIR Workshop On Geographic Information Retrieval. 2005, Bremen, Germany: ACM Press.
- Abele SJ, Fairbairn DJ, James PM. A device independent approach to spatial data delivery to support mobile location service development. In: Proceedings of the 13th Geographical Information Systems Research UK Conference (GISRUK 13). 2005, University of Glasgow: GIS Research UK.
- Calder IR, Batchelor C, Quibell G, Gosain A, Jewitt GPW, Bosch J, Large ARG, Amezaga JM, Hope RA, James PM, Simpson E, Garratt J, Bailey RA, Kirby C. Global Governance of Water and the Blue Revolution - Can we achieve better outcomes from land and water policies?. In: Proceedings of the International Symposium: Global Governance of Water: Water and Human Security. 2004, UN House, Tokyo, Japan.
- Hobona GE, James PM, Fairbairn D. Facilitating data discovery in environmental data clearinghouses through spatial data mining. In: Proceedings of the 12th Geographical Information Systems Research UK Conference (GISRUK 12). 2004, University of East Anglia, Norwich.
- Chunithipaisan S, James PM, Parker D, Abdul-Majeed Z, Abele SJ. Geo-spatial interoperability via the web: supporting land administration in Kuala Lumpur. In: Map Asia 2003. 2003, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: GIS Development.
- Hobona GE, James PM, Fairbairn D. Applet development for handling MasterMap data. In: Proceedings of the 11th Geographical Information Systems Research UK Conference (GISRUK 11). 2003, City University, London.
- Nash E, James P, Parker D. A Model For Spatio-Temporal Network Planning. In: Proceedings of the 6th AGILE Conference on Geographic Information Sciences. 2003, Lyon, France: Presses polytechniques et universitaires romandes (Lausanne, Switzerland).
- Chunithipaisan S, James PM, Parker D. The integration of spatial datasets for network analysis operations. In: Map Asia 2002 Conference. 2002, Bangkok, Thailand.
- Nash EJ, James PM, Parker D. Implementing Spatio-Temporality Within An Existing GIS. In: GISRUK 2002: Research UK 10th Annual Conference. 2002, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.
- Parker D, Etches A, James PM, Ince S. Integrated information in support of integrated transport. In: GIS 2000: Annual Conference of the AGI. 2000, London: Association for Geographic Information.
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Note
- James P, Das R, Jalosinska A, Smith L. Smart cities and a data-driven response to COVID-19. Dialogues in Human Geography 2020, 10(2), 255-259.
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Online Publication
- Holliman NS, Antony M, Charlton J, Dowsland S, James P, Turner M. Petascale Cloud Supercomputing for Terapixel Visualization of a Digital Twin. Ithaca, New York: arXiv, 2019. Available at: https://arxiv.org/abs/1902.04820.
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Reviews
- Li J, Ranjan R, Wang Y, Huang X, James P, Dustdar S. The Urban Space Information Platform: Opportunities and Challenges. IEEE Internet Computing 2025, 29(3), 66-75.
- Ranjan R, Phengsuwan J, James P, Barr S, Van Moorsel A. Urban Risk Analytics in the Cloud. IT Professional 2017, 19(2), 4-9.