A key element of the Lab's work to date has been the securing of
support from the Fulbright Commission to create the
appointment of a Distinguished Chair in 2010/11 and the
appointment of Visiting Professors in the years 2011-14.
Fulbright Year One
From September 2010 to April 2011, the Urban Lab welcomed Prof
Ann Markusen (Professor and Director of the Project on Regional and
Industrial Economics at the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs,
University of Minnesota), to the Fulbright Distinguished Chair
position. Markusen's work has significantly strengthened the Lab's
objective to be cross-disciplinary.
Ann Markusen spent her time with the Lab undertaking two
substantial research projects and giving a public lecture series
that started in Glasgow and included some ten other events around
the UK and in Europe. Research in Glasgow involved creating a study
group of 25 key individuals from around the city and spending the
winter and spring developing and delivering a series of six
seminars, theGlasgow Conversations, with invited city
policy-makers, thinkers, commentators and executives (from the
public and private sectors). A resulting publication,Conversations
on Glasgow, to coincide with Glasgow's European City of the Year,
was completed in December 2011 and is available as a pdf from this
website.
Simultaneously, Markusen carried out research into the growth of
the arts and cultural industries in four UK cities (Manchester,
Sheffield, Newcastle and Glasgow; outcomes to be disseminated
winter 2012) and invited guest lecturers to the Urban Lab and the
MSA.
Fulbright Year Two
Our second Fulbright appointment (January to July 2012) was
Visiting Professor Juliana Maantay, who joined us from City
University in New York. A Geographer with interests in
Environmental Justice, Maantay brought valuable new knowledge and
expertise that complements and extends the core research interests
of the Lab, the MSA, the GSA generally and Glasgow City Council.
Maantay's research is ongoing, with further UK/US collaborative
studies planned.
Prof Juliana
Maantay
Juliana Maantay is Professor of Urban and Environmental
Geography at City University of New York and Director of the
Geographical Information Science (GISc) Programme. Her research
interests include using GISc for spatial analyses of environmental
health and justice issues; the impacts of land use and the built
environment on health; urban hazards and risk assessment; and
community-based participatory research.
Prof Maantay earned a BSc from Cornell University, a Master of
Urban Planning (MUP) from New York University, an MA in
Geography/GISc from Hunter College/ CUNY, and an MPhil and PhD in
Urban Environmental Geography from Rutgers University. As the
Fulbright-Glasgow Urban Lab Visiting Professor, she has explored
issues of urban planning, policy, environmental health justice and
the built environment, using New York City and Glasgow as case
study cities.
Prof Maantay has mapped vacant and derelict land, deprivaton and
health outcomes over six months, creating a new set of images of
the city, its spatial characteristics and its health profile.
(Previously Prof Maantay has carried out equivalent work in New
York over 13 years.)
The results of Maantay's work in Glasgow - in the pdf,
downloadable from this site - show a new, re-assembled picture of
health inequality in that city and suggest new methods and means
for addressing key issues. The preliminary findings have been
well-received by the relevant agencies in Glasgow, including
Glasgow City Council Development and Regeneration Services, Glasgow
Centre for Population Health and the Medical Research Council.
Phase 2: Starting in January 2013, and with further funding from
Glasgow City Council Development and Regeneration Services,
Professor Maantay and colleagues in Glasgow and New York are
developing the project by carrying out detailed analysis in five
areas (with the poorest environments and health outcomes). The
project will identify and design, with the appropriate agencies and
communities of interest, interventions and projects to address and
combat the issues arising.
The work contributes significantly to evidence-based policy and
strategy development and has the potential to impact on local,
regional and national policy and strategy. We anticipate practical,
physical, environmental impact on the ground in terms of service
delivery (planning, regeneration, housing, greenspace provision,
social services, health services, education and the linkages
between these areas).
Maantay's academic career has developed over the past 13 years.
Prior to that she worked for the New York Planning Department and
so has considerable experience of practice and understanding of the
relationships that can and should develop between academic
research, applied research and practice. Juliana has extensive
experience of advocacy and of working with communities.
For further detail, download the pdf on our homepage - 'Linking
the Environment and Health…' and the pdf 'The Collapse of Place'
(new at January 2013).
Fulbright Year Three
Fulbright Visiting Professor Talia McCray is with us from
January to August 2013. Talia is currently Professor of Community
and Regional Planning within the School of Architecture at the
University of Texas, Austin. A transportation specialist with a PhD
in Urban Planning, a BSc in Maths and Engineering and an MSc
in Engineering), McCray is the recipient of the Rosa Parks
Diversity Leadership Award 2011 (given to those making a
significant contribution to transportation research and policy) and
is winner of the Best 2010 Conference Paper Award given by the US
Urban Affairs Association for "Linking Perceptions to Activity
Patterns of Low-income Teenagers",Journal of Urban Affairs,
2011.
In Glasgow, Talia hopes to focus on developing new methodologies
(qualitative and quantitative) for eliciting perceptual data from
low-income populations, notably youth, including personal security,
image, culture, and class differences. Talia's work is about
designing sustainable transportation solutions that improve access
to activities, while minimizing motorized travel.
Website
Fulbright Commission
