Dr James White
- Senior Lecturer (Urban Studies)
telephone:
0141 330 3664
email:
JamesT.White@glasgow.ac.uk
216/26 Bute Gardens, Glasgow
Biography
James White is Senior Lecturer in Urban Design in Urban Studies at the University of Glasgow. He studied City and Regional Planning (BSc) and Urban Design (MA) at Cardiff University before completing his doctoral studies in Planning at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. James assumed his current post at the University of Glasgow in 2012 where he is the programme director of MSc City Planning and MSc City Planning and Real Estate Development.
James delivers the urban design components of the subject area's post-graduate curriculum. He is a Co-Investigator in the Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence at Glasgow funded by the ESRC, AHRC and the Joesph Rowntree Foundation, a Co-Investigator in the ESRC-funded REPAIR project (Real Estate Adaptation and Innovation within an Integrated Retailing System) and a Co-Investigator in an ESRC/AHRC UK-Japan SSH Connections network on Ageing High-Rise Neighbouhroods.
James is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, a Chartered Town Planner and a Member of the Urban Design Group. He is (past) co-chair of the urban design track at the Association of the Collegiate Schools of Planning Annual Conference (North America) and a member of West Dunbartonshire's Urban Design and Place Panel. James also sits on the management committee of Govanhill Housing Association in Glasgow and is an External Examiner at the University of Sheffield and University College London.
Research interests
James is interested in the theory and application of design governance. His research focuses is on the tools and mechanisms that planners use to shape the built environment and enhance the design quality of real estate development and the public realm. He is especially interested in urban design and high-rise residential development, the post-austerity context for urban design, design on the high street, and the deployment of design precedents in different urban contexts.
Publications on these topics include a case study of urban design on Toronto's waterfront in Canada and an examination of policy mobilisation and high-rise residential development in Toronto and Vancouver, Canada. James' recent published work also includes an evidence review for the Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence on the value of design in neighbourhood planning and an assessment of national design review practices in Scotland.
James is currently involved in a number of research projects, including: 'Delivering Design Value: The Housing Design Quality Conundrum', an International Evidence Review on High-Rise Residential Development, and a study of tenenment retrofit in Glasgow at the Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence. He is also undertaking a longitudinal study of a high-rise masterplanned development in Toronto, Canada and, as part of his role as a Co-Investigator in the REPAIR project, James is leading a work package on urban form innovations in the UK retail sector.
Grants
Co-I, Real Estate Adaptation and Innovation within an Integrated Retailing System (REPAIR), ESRC Standard Grant, 2018-2021, £513,301
Co-I, Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence, ESRC, AHRC and Joesph Rowntree Foundation, 2017-2022, £6,070,028
Co-I, Challenges and Solutions for Ageing High-Rise Neighbourhoods in Japan and the UK, 2019-2020, ESRC/AHRC UK-Japan SSH Connections Call, £49,505.00
Supervision
James welcomes PhD students who are interested in researching urban design, urban planning, high-rise buildings and, in particular, the implications of urban design governance and urban design as public policy.
Current students
- Cox, Rebecca
Designing the streets of the future: the Avenues programme, Glasgow - Richardson, Robert
Creating well-designed places in Scotland: What does it take - Shetabi, Linda
Urban Conservation and Environmental Sustainability in Scottish Urban Planning Policy and Practice - Yesudas, Noelene Marisa
Luxury High-rise Housing and the Intersectional Lived Experiences Within: A Case of Bangalore, India
Teaching
Convenor
Coordinator & Teacher
- Designing Places - a 10-credit course that introduces post-graduate students to the core concepts of urban design theory and practice.
- Urban Design Policy and Practice - a 10-credit course that challenges post-graduate students to evaluate the various tools and mechanisms used by design and planning professionals to shape the built environment.
- Sustainable Housing Development - a 20-credit course that introduces post-graduate students to the concept of sustainability as it relates to the neighbourhood and housing design.