Dr James White
- Lecturer in Urban Design (Urban Studies)
telephone: 0141 330 3664
email: JamesT.White@glasgow.ac.uk
Biography
James White is 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, and a Co-Investigator in the ESRC-funded REPAIR project (Real Estate Adaptation and Innovation within an Integrated Retailing System).
James is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, a Chartered Town Planner and a Member of the Urban Design Group. He is currently the 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.
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 and the deployment of design precdents 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 is currently conducting an International Evidence Review on High-Rise Residential Development as part of his role at the Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence and is also undertaking a longitudinal study of a high-rise masterplanned development in Toronto, Canada. 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.
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.
Grants
Lead Supervisor, Creating Well-Designing Places in Scotland: What does it take? SGSSS Collaborative Doctoral Scholarship (ESRC/SFC), 2018-2022, £80,880
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
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
Robert Richardson 'Creating Well-Designing Places in Scotland: What does it take?'. Jointly supervised with Dr Rebecca Madgin and Dr Sharon Wright. Robert is the recipient of a supervisor-led SGSSS Collaborative Doctoral Award.
John Cox 'A Place for Urban ‘Character’ within Urban Design and Development'. Jointly supervised with Dr Rebecca Madgin.
Michael Kordas ‘Whose vision, whose place, whose future? Charrettes in the Scottish planning system’. Joint supervised with Professor David Adams. Michael holds an ESRC Doctoral Studentship (1+3) Award.
Linda Shatabi 'Urban Conservation and Environmental Sustainability in Scottish Urban Planning Policy and Practice'. Jointly supervised with Dr Rebecca Madgin. Linda holds a College of Social Sciences Scholarship.
Yang Wang 'Mapping place attachment: Towards a psychological approach to historic environment conservation in cities'. Jointly supervised with Dr Rebecca Madgin. Yang holds an Urban Studies Foundation Scholarship.
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.
Contributor
216/26 Bute Gardens, Glasgow,
