Colin Jones is an urban economist who has been a professor at Heriot-Watt University since 1998. He formerly worked at the Universities of Manchester, Glasgow and the West of Scotland. His research interests span commercial, industrial and housing market economics, investment and policy together with the macroeconomy and local economic development. Colin has edited or authored eight books, published more than seventy papers in academic journals and has taught urban economics and real estate investment at undergraduate and postgraduate levels for more than 40 years.