Staff Profile
Dr Neil Adrian Powe
Reader in Place Based Change
- Email: n.a.powe@ncl.ac.uk
- Address: School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape
缅北禁地
Henry Daysh Building
Claremont Road
缅北禁地 upon Tyne
NE1 7RU
Introduction
Over the last 15 years most of his research has been on small towns with a particular focus on place-based revival. This period has led to the publication of a series of journal articles and two books. This research has considered processes of transition and change within these towns. His most recent book - Planning for Small Town Change explores issues of place-based revival, business growth, population growth and town centre revival.
More recently Neil's work has focused in particular on town centres - recent papers -
1) Seeing struggling town centres as another form of urban shrinkage, our recent paper published in Planning Theory and Practice draws lessons from other types of shrinking places. Findings suggest that adopting “smart-decline”/“rightsizing” concepts provides an important new lens for future town centre research. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14649357.2022.2109718?src=
2) Another recent paper also published in Planning Theory and Practice illustrates the potential within many places for self-reorientation and highlights how key policy choices need to be supportive to these bottom-up and locally distinctive forces for revival.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14649357.2020.1749719?src=recsys
For over ten years he researched non-market environmental valuation and specialised in the use of stated preference methods, testing the validity of the approach and determining its applicability to environmental management problems. He has published a book and many papers on this topic. He has also contributed to the literature on revealed preference research through the use of hedonic price methods.
Roles and Responsibilities
Editor in Chief for the Journal of Environmental Planning and Management
Qualifications
BA(Hons) Economics
MSC Business Information Technology
PhD Environmental Economics
Previous Positions
Research Associate Department of Town and Country Planning, 缅北禁地.
Research Associate Department of Agricultural Economics and Food Marketing, 缅北禁地.
Module Leader
TCP2025 Researching Local Economies
TCP2038 Researching Local Economies (Placement)
TCP3028 Strategies into Action
Contributing to
TCP2027 Research Skills
TCP8001 Planning Frameworks
TCP8958 Mapping Data and Measurement
Research Interests
His key research interests have focused on place-based change and non-market environmental valuation.
The place-based change research has significantly enhanced our understanding of how small towns and town centres can reorient themselves in the context of structural and other changes. Conceptually, the focus has been on the key drivers for place-based change and governance approaches to help better manage this change.
Place-based change
Seeing places as complex adaptive sub-systems place-based revival has been conceptualised in terms of their potential for self-reorientation and highlights how key policy choices need to be supportive to these bottom-up and locally distinctive forces for revival. This has been explored in terms of town centres - Redesigning town centre planning: from master planning revival to enabling self-reorientation and small towns published in Planning Theory and Practice and - Planning for small town reorientation: Key policy choices within external support published in the Journal of Rural Studies. This research has highlighted the importance of community orientated governance as a key driver for change.
Faced with a continual loss of commercial activity, new ideas are required to help understand and support town centre change. Drawing on decades of research on urban shrinkage, concepts of “Smart-decline” and “Rightsizing” were found to be insightful in terms of better appreciating the challenges of town centre shrinkage and the strategies and governance structures required to realise the opportunities arising. These issues were discussed in our paper – Planning for Town Centre “Smart-Decline”/“Rightsizing”: A New Lens for Strategy Development and Research? published in Planning Theory and Practice.
Given the focus of much of the small town literature on perhaps the more favoured places in terms of their potential to benefit from tourism and rural gentrification, a paper in the Journal of Rural Studies entitled - Non-amenity business growth and small town revival - explores instead the potential for alternative non-amenity employment generation within the local economy. Drawing on two insightful cases, this paper illustrates that more might be achievable than perhaps initially expected.
Governance approaches
In terms of place-based governance a paper in Town Planning Review entitled - Community enterprises as boundary organisations aiding small town revival: exploring the potential. Seeing community enterprises as boundary organisations, this was the first regeneration paper to use this conception.
Consistent with the US experience of Community Development Corporations, the paper – Planning for Town Centre “Smart-Decline”/“Rightsizing”: A New Lens for Strategy Development and Research? published in Planning Theory and Practice, has explored the potential for community enterprises to support town centre regeneration.
Non-market valuation
The non-market valuation research has focused on the development and testing of revealed and stated preferences methods. Coming from a mixed background in economics, information technology and planning, this research has demonstrated his interest in the use of multidisciplinary approach to improve these methods. Bringing together economic and psychology work in this field, the book entitled - Redesigning environmental valuation- mixing methods within stated preference techniques - has encapsulated these efforts. More recent efforts in this field have been in support of others.
Postgraduate Supervision
Have successfully supervised ten PhD students to completion.
Esteem Indicators
Editor in Chief for the Journal of Environmental Planning and Management.
Previous funding has been received from:
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Department for Transport
Forestry Commission
Countryside Agency
Natural England
North York Moors National Park Authority
Northumberland National Park Authority
Castle Morpeth Borough Council and Morpeth & District Chamber of Trade
Northumbria Leisure
North East Community Forests
Contributed on an ESRC project
Southern Water
South East Water
The Street Foundation
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Articles
- Powe NA. . Journal of Urban Affairs 2025, Epub ahead of print.
- Powe NA, Oswell D. . Planning Theory and Practice 2022, 23(4), 499-517.
- Powe NA, Connelly S, Nel E. . Journal of Rural Studies 2022, 90, 65-75.
- Wu C, Powe NA, Copeland A. . Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science 2021, 48(8), 2206-2220.
- Wan Norhadayah WM, Willis K, Powe N. . The Singapore Economic Review 2020, 65(2), 507-532.
- Powe NA. . Planning Theory & Practice 2020, 21(2), 236-253.
- Wan Norhidayah WM, Willis K, Powe N. . International Journal of Economics and Management 2019, 12(2), 559-571.
- Powe NA. . Town Planning Review 2019, 90(6), 626-651.
- Powe NA. . Journal of Rural Studies 2018, 62, 125-133.
- Powe NA, Pringle R, Hart T. . Town Planning Review 2015, 86(2), 177-202.
- Dziauddin MF, Powe NA, Alvanides S. . Applied Spatial Analysis and Policy 2015, 8(1), 1-25.
- An K, Powe NA. . Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning 2015, 17(5), 673-690.
- Garrod GD, Ruto ESK, Willis KG, Powe NA. . Journal of Agricultural Economics 2014, 67(1), 177-190.
- Powe NA. . Environment and Planning A 2012, 44(9), 2225-2239.
- Powe N, Bek D. . Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design 2012, 39(3), 501-517.
- Garrod GD, Ruto E, Willis KG, Powe NA. . Ecological Economics 2012, 76, 104-111.
- Powe NA, Hart T. . Town Planning Review 2011, 82(3), 317-340.
- Powe NA, Hart T, Bek D. . Planning Practice and Research 2009, 24(3), 301-319.
- Powe NA, Hart T. . International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management 2009, 37(9), 732-747.
- Powe NA, Hart T. . Town Planning Review 2008, 79(4), 347-370.
- Powe NA, Gunn S. . Town Planning Review 2008, 79(1), 125-148.
- Powe NA. . Journal of Retail & Leisure Property 2006, 5(4), 255-269.
- Powe NA, Willis KG, Garrod GD. . Applied Economics 2006, 38(4), 371-381.
- Powe NA, Garrod GD, McMahon PL. . Ecological Economics 2005, 52(4), 513-526.
- Willis KG, Powe NA, Garrod GD. . Urban Studies 2005, 42(12), 2289-2303.
- Richardson R, Powe NA. . Planning Practice and Research 2004, 19(4), 363-373.
- Powe NA, Wadsworth WA, Garrod GD, McMahon PL. . Journal of Environmental Planning and Management 2004, 47(2), 287-301.
- Powe NA, Willis KG. . Journal of Environmental Management 2004, 70(2), 119-128.
- Powe NA, Bateman IJ. . Land Economics 2004, 80(2), 258-271.
- Powe NA, Shaw T. . Journal of Rural Studies 2004, 20(4), 405-418.
- Powe NA, Garrod GD, McMahon PL, Willis KG. . Water Policy 2004, 6(5), 427-441.
- Powe NA, Bateman IJ. . Ecological Economics 2003, 45(2), 255-270.
- Powe N, Shaw T. . Planning Practice and Research 2003, 18(1), 37-50.
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Authored Books
- Powe N, Hart T. . London: Routledge, 2017.
- Powe NA. . Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2007.
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Edited Book
- Powe NA, Hart T, Shaw T, ed. . London: Routledge, 2007.
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Report
- Powe NA, Pringle R. . CIVITAS, London, 2017.