John Adams (born 1938) of

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

, is an emeritus professor of

geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, an ...

and theorist on

risk compensation Risk compensation is a theory which suggests that people typically adjust their behavior in response to perceived levels of risk, becoming more careful where they sense greater risk and less careful if they feel more protected. Although usually ...

. His book ''Risk'' is an analysis of how humans assess and respond to perceived

risk In simple terms, risk is the possibility of something bad happening. Risk involves uncertainty about the effects/implications of an activity with respect to something that humans value (such as health, well-being, wealth, property or the environm ...

Areas of interest

Risk compensation

Adams is known for a theory of risk compensation, that states that a 'risk thermostat' guides much human behavior. Humans experiencing a 'safe' lifestyle seek out risky activities; but when doing them, overcompensate before returning to safety. This behaviour operates like a thermostat, regulating human behavior. He argues that because of the thermostat effect, banning risky activity will not work completely, and risk -seeking accompanies many aspects of everyday life. He spoke on this at the ''Shared Space'' conference held in

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line ...

in June, 2005, where in his talk titled "Risk Compensation versus the obedient automaton theory of human behaviour" he discussed how understanding risk compensation was essential to the understanding of why

shared space Shared space is an urban design approach that minimises the segregation between modes of road user. This is done by removing features such as kerbs, road surface markings, traffic signs, and traffic lights. Hans Monderman and others have sugg ...

principles work for the design of public spaces such as road layouts in towns.

Hypermobility

He has also coined the term and written extensively on the phenomenon of hypermobility, particular the misplaced belief that new road building solves traffic problems, rather than worsening them.

Climate change

Adams has not always voiced mainstream views on climate change. He has been critical of the

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is an intergovernmental body of the United Nations. Its job is to advance scientific knowledge about climate change caused by human activities. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) ...

(IPCC) and has praised "reputable scientists who react sceptically to the “

hockey stick A hockey stick is a piece of sports equipment used by the players in all the forms of hockey to move the ball or puck (as appropriate to the type of hockey) either to push, pull, hit, strike, flick, steer, launch or stop the ball/ puck during pla ...

” peddled by

Sir John Houghton Sir John Theodore Houghton (30 December 1931 – 15 April 2020) was a Welsh atmospheric physicist who was the co-chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) scientific assessment working group which shared the Nobel Peac ...

and the IPCC."

Other

Adams was a member of the advisory committee to the Anti-Concorde Project. When working in central London he was a daily cyclist, occasionally writing on cycling issues.

Bibliography

*
Transport Planning, Vision and Practice
', 1981. *
Risk and Freedom, The Record of Road Safety Regulation
' Transport Publishing Projects, 1985. *
One False Move… A Study of Children’s Independent Mobility
' (With M. Hillman and J.Whitelegg), Policy Studies Institute. *
Risk
', UCL Press, 1995. * ''Cities at Risk: Living with Perils in the 21st Century'' (Joffe, Rossetto and Adams eds.). Springer, 2013.

References

External links

*

at UCL Department of Geography
Blog contributions by Adams
at the

Social Affairs Unit The Social Affairs Unit is a right-leaning think tank in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1980 as an offshoot of the Institute of Economic Affairs, it publishes books on a variety of social issues. Its website notes that "many SAU supporters are inc ...

British environmentalists British geographers Academics of University College London 1938 births Living people {{geographer-stub