Geoffrey Payne, director of GPA, began his research on housing policy and practice as a Commonwealth Universities Research Scholar in India in 1970. The research involved a detailed study of two squatter settlements in New Delhi and comparisons with similar settlements in other major Indian cities. This in turn, led to an even larger research project on housing and urban growth in Ankara, Turkey funded by the Social Science Research Council (SSRC) in collaboration with Haceattepe University in Ankara. Since then GPA has been involved in research, consultancy, teaching and professional training in housing policy, application and practice all over the world.

Projects include leading an international team of consultants to undertake a national Training Needs Assessment for the shelter sector in India (1987-88), shelter sector policy proposals or reviews in Armenia, Guyana, Iraq, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Sierra Leone and Uganda, where Geoff led a team of local consultants to prepare a national urban shelter profile for UN-HABITAT. GPA has also been involved with more direct projects in urban housing project design, working with governments to design new settlement areas or upgrade existing ones in Albania, Cuba, Egypt, Jordan and Morocco.

‘The Urban Housing Manual: Making regulatory frameworks work for the poor’ (G.Payne and M.Majale) Earthscan 2004.
‘Urban Projects Manual’ Liverpool University Press, (1983) (co-edited with Forbes Davidson).
‘Urban Housing in the Third World’ (1976) Routledge Kegan Paul.

2010
India - Urban planning and housing policy paper
Invited by WSP Group to prepare a policy paper on urban planning and housing for DFID India following a request from the Government of India.

2010
India - Policy workshop
Invited by the World Bank Institute to contribute to a housing and urban development policy workshop hosted by the Government of India.

2009-10
India - Municipal strengthening
Contributed to the implementation phase of the DFID funded technical assistance programme for municipal strengthening of urban land and housing policy in Bihar.

2009-10
Uganda - National Shelter Profile
Commissioned by UN-HABITAT to prepare a national Shelter Profile in collaboration with leading academics from Makerere University, Kampala. Following an initial workshop, fieldwork was undertaken by GPA and local consultants and a validation workshop was held in July, 2010. The final report is to be published by UN-HABITAT in 2010.

2009-10
Iraq - Housing and land policy
Commissioned by AECOM (USA) to advice on housing and land policy and contribute to a regional conference addressing housing policy in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, held in Amman in February 2010.

2009
Georgia - Presentations on social housing policy
Contributed three presentations to a national workshop at Signhaghi on social housing policy in Georgia organised by Peter Schubeler for the Ministry for Refugees and Accommodation.

1998-00
Cuba - Participatory urban design project
Design of a participatory urban development project in collaboration with local professionals.

1998-99
Armenia - Housing Policy Study
Assessment of housing needs and policy options for GHK International and Scott Wilson Kirkpatrick on World Bank project.

1997-98
Turkey - World Bank housing policy study
External adviser to team of Turkish researchers preparing national housing policy study for the Turkish Social Science Association.

1995
Guyana - Shelter Sector Diagnostic Study
Prepared for the Inter-American Development Bank.

1994
Sierra Leone - National Housing Policy Workshop
Moderator for the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements to review and revise a Draft National Housing Policy.

1990-91
UK - Project approach to shelter delivery for the urban poor
Overview report on international experience commissioned by the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements.

1989-90
Pakistan - Shelter for low-income communities
Shelter for Low-Income Communities with T P O`Sullivan and Partners. Prepared national Housing Sector Review and organised a national housing policy conference.

1987-89
India - Training Needs Assessment for Human Settlements
Team Leader and Training Advisor on British Government funded for the Housing and Urban Development Corporation. Co-ordinated inputs by senior staff from two British consultantcy firms and advised an Indian firm of management consultants. The project involved surveys of, and proposals for, all key public sector agencies and training institutions.

1987-88
UK - Unregulated urban housing sub-markets in Third World cities
Undertook literature review for ODA., focusing on the role of illegal subdivisions in urban land markets.

1986
Iraq - National Capital Region, Greater Baghdad and Baghdad City
Prepared housing policy recommendations for the Japan Consortium of Consulting Firms (JCCF).

1981
Papua New Guinea
Responsible for housing programme evaluation and proposals for future policies and projects funded by the Department of Urban Development for the European Association for Co-operation.

1981
Jordan - Amman low-cost housing projects
Prepared detailed proposals for World Bank squatter settlement upgrading project. The project was commended by the Aga Khan Foundation awards for architecture.

1977-78
Egypt - Ismailia Demonstration Projects
Architect/Planner and Deputy Team Leader jointly responsible for housing policy proposals. Prepared detailed proposals to expand an existing predominantly low-income settlement. The projects were awarded an Honourable Mention in the 1986 Aga Khan International Awards.

1975-78
Turkey - Housing and urban growth
Directed research project sponsored by the Social Science Research Council (SSRC) to assess housing options open to low-income households in Ankara, the ways in which these had evolved over time and the effects of public sector intervention concerning them. The study involved a social survey of nearly one thousand households, detailed studies of twelve neighbourhoods and individual case studies.