Claire Mercer

Claire Mercer is a Professor of Human Geography at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), based in the Department of Geography and Environment. Her research focuses on urbanization in Africa, particularly in Tanzania, examining how middle-class identities are constructed through suburban housing and self-build practices. She explores themes of class reproduction, urban inequality, and the intersection of civil society with development policies. Mercer is a leading scholar in African urban studies, with expertise in diaspora networks, postcolonial geographies, and NGO dynamics.

Her current research project, funded by the ESRC, investigates how self-build housing in Ghana and Tanzania drives urban and economic growth. She has authored multiple books and articles, including the upcoming monograph The suburban frontier: middle class construction in Dar es Salaam (University of California Press, 2024). Mercer serves on editorial boards for journals such as the International Journal of Urban and Regional Research and Antipode, contributing to critical debates in development geography.

Her work spans interdisciplinary themes including African urbanism, spatial inequality, and the politics of belonging. Key regions of focus include Tanzania, Cameroon, and the UK. Mercer’s research bridges theoretical frameworks from human geography with empirical studies of African urbanization, emphasizing the material and aesthetic dimensions of class formation in peripheral urban areas.