Dr Melissa Butcher is a reader in Social and Cultural Geography (Department of Geography, Environment and Development Studies, Birkbeck College, University of London) and the project leader of the sub-project 'Respectability'. Her research examines the intersections between globalisation and contested urban space, processes of urban and cultural change in European and Asian cities, questions of identity and belonging, and the deployment of intercultural competencies to manage diversity. Within SINGLE her research focuses on middle-aged, middle-class and single women in India, to further understand ‘respectability’ as a form of spatial governmentality.