Dr Ellie Cosgrave is Director of Publica’s Community Interest Company, where she leads the Campaign for Inclusive Cities – a programme dedicated to advancing gender-inclusive public spaces. In this role, she was commissioned by the Mayor of London to develop design guidance on improving safety for women, girls and gender-diverse people as part of the Good Growth by Design programme.
She has worked with Greater Manchester Moving to produce resources that help policymakers, practitioners and communities better understand how social norms and stereotypes shape women’s mobility, and how these barriers can be challenged. Internationally, Ellie leads Publica’s gender initiative with CHANGE, Designing Safety, Building Belonging: Addressing Gender-Based Violence in Urban Spaces, collaborating across Bogotá, Louisville and Stockholm in the first phase of the project to explore how safety is defined, discussed and embedded in public space worldwide.
Ellie is also Associate Professor in Urban Innovation and Policy at UCL, where she is Co-Director of the Urban Lab. Her research spans collaborations with organisations including the UN, C40 Cities, Nesta and Connected Places Catapult, as well as national and local governments globally. Her work has examined the gendered impacts of climate change and supported gender-informed urban transitions through initiatives such as the C40 Women4Climate programme.
Ellie holds an Engineering Doctorate from the University of Bristol. Her doctoral research explored how ICT infrastructure is reshaping city management, how public policy responds to the influence of technology firms promoting ‘smart cities’, and how such investments can best support human wellbeing in urban contexts.
She has presented at major forums including the Women’s Night Safety Summit 2026 and Design the Night in Bristol and has been appointed to MHCLG’s Inclusivity Sounding Board and the Design and Placemaking Advisory Panel. Her work has also featured in media appearances including Diverse Dialogues: The Podcast and interviews with WLKY News in Louisville.
In addition to her academic and advisory work, Ellie is an experienced broadcaster. She has presented the BBC podcast Tomorrow’s World, co-presented the BBC World Service series My Perfect City, and hosted How Did They Build That? on the Smithsonian Channel. She also chairs the My Body Back Project, which provides healthcare for women who have experienced sexual violence and advocates for more trauma-informed approaches to care.
