Michael Pacione’s research while affiliated with University of Strathclyde and other places

While the principle of public participation is an acknowledged requirement of planning in most Western countries there is continuing debate, and insufficient empirical evidence, on the effectiveness of public participation in practice. This research examines the power of public participation in local planning in Scotland. The paper first identifies the principal actors in the development planning process. The institutional framework for planning in Scotland is then explained to establish the legislative and procedural context for a case study analysis of conflict between developers and the local community in a village in the metropolitan green belt. Thirdly, using a combination of analysis of planning documents, interviews with local planners and developers, and a survey of village residents the empirical study provides detailed insight on the principles, practice, and problems for public participation in local planning. This is followed by a critique of recent government initiatives to enhance public engagement in planning. Finally, a number of conclusions are presented on the prospects for more effective public participation in planning. While the empirical focus of the research is on Scotland, the findings are of general relevance for the debate over the rhetoric and reality of public participation in Western society.

While the principle of public participation is an acknowledged requirement of planning in most Western countries there is continuing debate, and insufficient empirical evidence, on the effectiveness of public participation in practice. This research examines the power of public participation in local planning in Scotland with particular reference to the pressing issue of conflict over residential development in the metropolitan green belt. The paper first defines key concepts underlying the research, and identifies the principal actors in the residential development process. The post-2006 institutional framework for planning in Scotland is explained to establish the legislative and procedural context for a case study of conflict between developers and the local community in a village in Glasgow’s green belt. Using a combination of analysis of planning documents, interviews with local planners and developers, and a survey of village residents the empirical study provides detailed insight on the principles, practice, problems for public participation in local planning in Scotland. Finally, a number of conclusions are presented on the prospects for public participation in Scotland.

Increasing sociospatial segregation linked to suburbanization was a hallmark of industrial urbanism. The garden suburb was a major agent of change and a distinctive product of the process of suburbanization and residential segregation. Most research into 19th- and early 20th-century suburbanization, however, has focused on the garden city phenomenon in England. One of the earliest garden suburbs is Pollokshields in Glasgow, yet limited attention has been paid to the development of the planned garden suburb in Scotland. This study seeks to redress that imbalance by examining the genesis and evolution of Pollokshields, with a particular focus on identifying key elements of change and continuity in its development from its beginnings in the mid-19th century to the present day

This longitudinal case study of residential development pressure in a village in Glasgow's urban fringe provides detailed insight into the different perspectives of key public, private and community interest groups, and exemplifies the conflict resolution process in this environment in the context of the new post-2006 planning system in Scotland. The paper is organised into six main parts. In part 1 the major actors in the residential development process are identified with specific attention focused on the house-builder and the local planner. In part 2 the post-2006 development planning and development management process in Scotland is explained in order to establish the legislative and procedural context for the case study. Part 3 provides a review of urban growth n the Glasgow metropolitan region. Part 4 sets the case study in local context by providing representative examples of development pressure and conflict resolution in the District. Part 5 comprises detailed examination of conflict over pressure for residential development in the village of Torrance from 1971 to the present day. This in depth analysis illuminates the main actors, agents and arguments involved in the conflict resolution process; explains the rationale for decisions reached on residential development in the village; and affords insight into contemporary debate over house-building in the metropolitan fringe around Scotland's cities. Finally, some conclusions are presented on the issues of fairness and sustainability in the land use planning system and the on-going conflict between private profit and public interest in the production of the built environment around the edge of Britain's cities.

Retirement villages represent a recent addition to the range of residential options for older people in the UK. Research has focused on the development and nature of retirement housing in the public and voluntary sectors in England. Limited attention has been directed to the private retirement communities and, in particular, to the lived experience of residents in private sector retirement villages. This research, which is the first study of a private retirement village in Scotland, overcomes this information deficit by identifying the nature and growth of private retirement villages in the UK and exploring the lived experience of residents of the private retirement village of Firhall. The discussion is organised into four main parts. Part I examines the concept of the retirement village. Part II explains the growth and geography of retirement villages in the UK. Part III comprises the empirical analysis of the case study retirement village. The research identifies the social, economic and demographic characteristics of the village population and provides insight into lived experience of the residents in the study village. Finally, in part IV, the discussion identifies a number of key issues for further research, and the potential contribution of retirement villages for meeting the needs and preferences of the growing third age population of the UK.

Proprietary residential communities constitute a major component in the evolving geography of urban America. In many metropolitan regions, proprietary residential communities or common-interest developments, and associated forms of urban management, have emerged as the dominant form of residential development. Critical discourse on these communities and their residential community/homeowner associations has focused principally on the negative consequences for urban social and political life. It is argued here that many critical assessments are grounded in an idealistic view of contemporary society and an outdated conceptualization of citizenship. This article is intended to reenergize debate on these developments through a realist interpretation of the benefits and disbenefits of a form of residential development destined to exercise a major influence on the sociospatial structure of U.S. metropolitan areas in the early twenty-first century.

An applied geographical approach has the potential to illuminate the nature and causes of a wide range of economic, social and environmental problems, and inform the formulation of appropriate responses. This paper provides an overview of the principles and praxis of applied geography. First we examine the conceptual foundations of applied geography and consider the relationship between pure and applied research, and the con-cept of useful knowledge. This conceptual discussion is then complemented by empirical case study examples of applied research in the field of urban geography, with particular reference to the key question of quality of life and human wellbeing. Finally, we adopt a prospective perspective to address the question of the value of applied geography in contemporary society. Primijenjena geografija: načela i primjena Pristup primijenjene geografije ima mogućnost razjasniti uzroke velikog broja ekonomskih, socijalnih i ekoloških problema, te stvoriti osnovu za njihovo rješavanje. U članku se daje sažeti pregled načela primijenjene geografije te se raspravlja o mogućnostima njene primjene u praksi. Prvi dio rada odnosi se na konceptualnu utemeljenost primijenjene geografije. Također se raspravlja o odnosu između teorijskog i primijenjenog istraživanja, a definiran je i pojam korisnoga znanja. U drugom je dijelu rada prikazana mogućnost primjene geografskog znanja u području urbane geografije. Posebna pažnja posvećena je pitanjima kvalitete života i ljudskog blagostanja. Završno je prikazano značenje primijenjene geografije u suvremenom društvu.

The geography of religion has received limited research attention within cultural geography in the UK. The present research employs a statistical-cartographic approach to provide a detailed mapping of the geography of religious affiliation in Glasgow. The paper first addresses a number of key conceptual and methodological questions underlying the mapping of geographies of religion; then presents a detailed empirical analysis of different socio-cultural, spatial and temporal dimensions of the geography of religious affiliation in the city. Finally, based on the findings of the present research, a number of questions for further research are identified.

Glasgow, along with many other British cities, has undergone a dramatic and at times traumatic process of change over recent decades as a consequence of a host of public and private forces operating at a variety of geographic scales from the global to the local. The economic, social and environmental outcomes of this process are imprinted in the urban landscape. This landscape can be read by the trained observer. In this paper I employ the analytical and interpretative skills of the geographer to explain a number of key processes and patterns of urban change in Glasgow. It should be pointed out that although the empirical focus of this article is on the city of Glasgow the transformative processes and their urban consequences are also evident, to a greater or lesser extent, in Scotland's other cities. The study is organised into six main parts. In the first part I present a reading of the urban mosaic from the vantage point of the Glasgow Tower. Three major perspectives of the city's transformation relating to its history, economy and society are identified and used as a basis for subsequent detailed discussion. In the second part I explain the global and local forces that have conditioned the processes of urban transformation in Glasgow. In the third part I employ an historical perspective to examine the changing physical landscape of the city. In the fourth part I consider recent changes in the city economy, and in the fifth part I examine a number of key social dimensions of urban change. Finally in the sixth part I employ a prospective viewpoint to consider the future view from the tower, and then identify key local contextual factors underlying processes of urban transformation in Scotland's other cities.