Dr David Waite
- Lecturer (Urban Studies)
email:
David.Waite@glasgow.ac.uk
Urban Studies, Adam Smith Building
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0567-5683Biography
Following undergraduate and initial postgraduate work at the University of Auckland (NZ), and after a period of work in public policy, I completed doctoral research at the University of St Andrews.
I was a Research Associate at Cardiff University prior to joining the University of Glasgow.
Research interests
My research focuses on the development of second-tier city-region economies, and I am interested in both the underpinning production systems at and the governance responses for these places.
My research draws on multi-disciplinary perspectives, meshing economic geography with specific areas of heterodox economics. I have a strong interest, furthermore, in: the complexities of city dealing (particularly in the devolved administrations of the UK); urban politics; and the impacts of urban infrastructure investments. I have ongoing theoretical interests in the potential convergence between areas of economic geography and critical realism.
I have an active interest in the re-emergence of inclusive growth agendas, with a conceptual focus on the possibilities provided by a capabilities approach, and an empirical (and practical) concern for how policymakers can apply (and are applying) inclusive growth framings to various city-region interventions.
Teaching
Co-coordinator - Urban Economy.
Other teaching - Understanding Glasgow; Regenerating Cities; Spatial Planning Strategies
Additional information
I am the convener for the urban theory reading group.
The purpose of the urban theory reading group is to introduce or reinforce the importance of urban theory within urban studies. The basis of contributions to the group may be capacious, reflecting the nature of the urban studies literature, however, urban phenomena – however that is justified or framed – provides the central focus. The group aims to be instructive for PGR students - who may be looking to grapple with theory (perhaps for the first time) and how it relates to empirical material - and for staff, across the College, who may benefit from a re-engagement with theoretical contributions and perspectives.
It is an interesting time to be re-engaging with urban theory. One avenue through this recalls the contributions made by Scott and Storper (2014) and Storper and Scott (2016) who sought to claim foundations for urban theory in terms of the nature of agglomeration (as a patterned spatial form, hinging on the “urban land nexus”). This appeal to a central foundation of the urban rubs against other renditions of urban theory – particular taking the form of assemblage approaches, postcolonial critiques and planetary urbanization. Though drawn along particular economic or economic geography concerns, the debates here serve to exemplify the contested nature of urban theory and what urban theory should aim to achieve (or perhaps perform) in explanatory terms.
