Professor Alister Scott

Professor

School: Architecture and Built Environment

Alister -Scott ,-Northumbria -University -web- Alister's research addresses messy problems concerning policy and decision making across built and natural environments. He has published over 40 peer review papers and secured grants in excess of £2 million. Crucially he has developed a research model that is policy-led and involves policy and practice communities embedded as members of research teams he has led. Recent projects include the Rural Economy and Land Use Programme Managing environmental change at the rural urban fringe and the UK National Ecosystem Assessment follow on programme looking at new tools to improve policy and decision making. An ESRC project has just concluded looking at developing a game board resource kit to improve the way public engagement can take place.

His current work includes a NERC grant on green infrastructure working with various planning authorities on a natural capital planning tool that values ecosystem services in a range of development scenarios and a Research Council UK grant working with a large interdisciplinary team on Birmingham as a pilot as part of the Urban Living programme.

His teaching covers a wide range of governance subjects straddling urban and rural domains and is based on real life projects working in partnership with community groups and professional bodies. He was awarded the first ever university of Wales award in 2002 for excellence in teaching and he is passionate about the need for teaching excellence that both challenges and motivates.

Alisters research leadership skills have been recognised with the RTPI award for planning excellence in 2012 and his teaching, research and industry engagement skills with the award as BCU staff member of the year in 2013.

In moving to Northumbria, Alister is keen to build his research and teaching at the interface of the built and natural environment and help to embed the value of nature more effectively into policy and decision making.

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@profalister (twitter)

Campus Address

B305
Ellison Building
City Campus

Email Alister

Key Publications

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
A Framework to Enable New Ways of Landscape Scale Thinking and Practice, Carter, C., Durrant, L., Scott, A. 27 Jul 2025, Integrated Landscapes in Policy, Practice, and Everyday Life, London, Routledge
A greener Green Belt? Co-developing exploratory scenarios for contentious peri-urban landscapes, Kirby, M., Scott, A., Walsh, C. 1 Mar 2025, In: Landscape and Urban Planning
On moving ahead, staying put, and engaging fully with landscape studies of planning, Qviström, M., Luka, N., Butler, A., Broto, V., Doughty, K., Garlick, B., Hine, A., Kirby, M., Palang, H., Scott, A., Thompson-Fawcett, M. 13 May 2025, A Research Agenda for Landscape Studies of Planning, Cheltenham, Edward Elgar
Reading cities: Towards a participatory tool for disentangling the complexity of urban systems, Sevinc, D., Scott, A., Bryson, R., Leach, J. 16 Sep 2025, In: Local Economy
Unlocking peri-urban planning potential through a landscape lens, Scott, A., Kirby, M., Hardman, M. 13 May 2025, A Research Agenda for Landscape Studies of Planning, Cheltenham, Edward Elgar
Ecosystem service multifunctionality and trade-offs in English Green Belt peri-urban planning , Kirby, M., Zawadzka, J., Scott, A. 1 Jun 2024, In: Ecosystem Services
Improving strategic planning for nature: Panacea or pandora’s box for the built and natural environment?, Scott, A., Kirby, M. 1 Aug 2024, In: Ambio
What does good green and blue infrastructure policy look like: A comparative assessment of UK national planning guidance, Scott, A., Hislop, M. 1 Sep 2024, In: Urban Forestry and Urban Greening
Beyond growth management: A review of the wider functions and effects of urban growth management policies, Kirby, M., Scott, A., Luger, J., Walsh, C. 1 Feb 2023, In: Landscape and Urban Planning
Case studies of blue-green infrastructure in spatial planning, Scott, A., Bader, E., Dempsey , N., Washbourne, C., Wansbury, C. 14 Feb 2023, ICE Manual of Blue-Green Infrastructure, London , ICE

Professional Activity

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Other: Executive Member of the North East Nature Partnership 2016

PGR Supervision

Elizabeth Walker Investigating the Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) strategy execution gap for Small to Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in the North East Combined Authority (NECA) Start Date: 01/10/2024
Theresa Campbell-Carbon How can climate change adaptation be mainstreamed into spatial planning to address health inequalities? Start Date: 01/10/2023
Elizabeth Walker Investigating the Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) strategy execution gap for Small to Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in the North East Combined Authority (NECA) Start Date: 01/10/2024 End Date: 17/10/2025
Theresa Campbell-Carbon How can climate change adaptation be mainstreamed into spatial planning to address health inequalities? Start Date: 01/10/2023 End Date: 17/10/2025