Alastair is an urban designer, researcher and writer. As an urban planning consultant he has worked within the private and public sectors including latterly as an advisor in masterplanning for the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment. Currently a PhD Candidate at the Martin Centre for Architectural and Urban Studies at University of Cambridge, Alastair has been developing a critique of localism through an investigation into the trends towards greater integration of contemporary metropolitan regions.

He is a regular contributor to Urban Design, and has written for a number of other architecture and urbanism publications including Blueprint and Building Design. Alastair is a founding member of ManTowNHuman which published the Manifesto: Towards a New Humanism in Architecture in July 2008.