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Neale Blair

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Neale Blair

Professor

 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6226-5958

  • York Street, Belfast Campus

    BT15 1AP Belfast

    United Kingdom

20052025

Research activity per year

Personal profile

Biography

Neale Blair is Professor of Urban and Regional Planning in the Belfast School of Architecture and the Built Environment (BSABE) at Ulster University. He was appointed Associate Head of BSABE in 2017. Neale is an expert in spatial planning policy and practice. Neale holds a PhD in regional spatial planning and is an active member of Ulster’s Built Environment Research Institute (BERI) and Centre for Research on Property and Planning (RPP). 

 

External connections include chartered membership of the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI), Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (Advance HE), and member of the National Planning Knowledge Group for the Office of the Planning Regulator (OPR). Neale is currently Deputy Chair of the Planning Schools Forum, which represents RTPI-accredited Planning Schools, and is a member of the RTPI's Education and Lifelong Learning Committee (ELLC). Neale chaired the Advisory Group that reviewed the Subject Benchmark Statement for Town and Country Planning (2024) and was External Examiner at the University of Manchester 2019-2023.

 

Current research interests include spatial governance and analysis; urban planning pedagogy, planning education in developing countries; visualisation of data to inform stakeholder engagement and decision making; and the use of technology – including Gen AI – to enhance participation in planning processes.  Neale has twenty years’ experience of research in cross-border spatial planning, working with stakeholders in the public, private and community sectors. Neale has been an external and internal PhD examiner and is an active PhD supervisor, currently supervising three doctoral students in Planning at Ulster. Publications include topics such as a social-ecological resilience agenda for urban design; 3D technology for enhancing resilience in the built environment; and the Dublin-Belfast Economic Corridor (DBEC).

Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):

  1. SDG 1 - No Poverty
    SDG 1 No Poverty
  2. SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
    SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being
  3. SDG 7 - Affordable and Clean Energy
    SDG 7 Affordable and Clean Energy
  4. SDG 8 - Decent Work and Economic Growth
    SDG 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth
  5. SDG 9 - Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
    SDG 9 Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
  6. SDG 10 - Reduced Inequalities
    SDG 10 Reduced Inequalities
  7. SDG 13 - Climate Action
    SDG 13 Climate Action
  8. SDG 16 - Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
    SDG 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

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