Dr Nicola Dempsey
BA PhD
School of Architecture and Landscape
Senior Lecturer
+44 114 222 0616
Full contact details
School of Architecture and Landscape
12.11
Arts Tower
Western Bank
Sheffield
S10 2TN
- Profile
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My research interests relate to understanding the complex relationship between landscape and humans. They focus on sustainable landscape planning and management, in particular how urban and rural landscape planning and management affect everyday life, quality of life and wellbeing.
Place-keeping involves exploring innovative approaches to designing and managing open space while securing its long-term future by getting the right people, funding and policies in place.
Dr Nicola Dempsey
Senior Lecturer
I am also interested in different research theories and methods employed to understand the landscape and the associated perceptions held by residents and users in different contexts.
More details of my current research project on place-keeping can be found on the place-keeping group.
Biography
My work spans a number of academic subjects, including sociology, wellbeing, urban design and planning. It was therefore logical that I found a welcome home within the inclusive discipline of Landscape Architecture.
I began my academic life studying International Tourism with foreign languages (French and Spanish). I specialized in urban tourism in European cities and focused my initial research interests on the impact that winter tourism has on the society and fragile mountain environment of the principality of Andorra and its capital city, Andorra la Vella. This marked the beginning of my growing interest in the influence that the physical context has on residents’ everyday life.
After years working in the private sector, I became increasingly restless to reawaken my academic interest in the socio-spatial context of urban settlements. In 2003, I returned to academia to embark on my PhD while working as Postgraduate Research Assistant & Project Manager on the CityForm-UK: Sustainable Urban Form Consortium project at Oxford Brookes University. CityForm-UK examined the impact that urban form (e.g. density, land use, urban layout and transport) has on social, economic and environmental sustainability. A large part of the fieldwork took place in Sheffield and I spent the summer of 2005 walking the streets of the city with a clipboard! I fell for the city hook, line and sinker and left hoping to come back to Sheffield soon.
Following the successful completion of my PhD, I continued to work at Oxford Brookes as Postdoctoral Research Associate on the I’DGO: Inclusive Design for Getting Outdoors project which focused my research interest on a specific aspect of urban form – the provision of outdoor space in high-density urban development – and its impact on older residents’ quality of life. This allowed me to look in detail at public, private and semi-private outdoor space and how its design, accessibility, maintenance and management influence people’s everyday lives.
In 2009, I was fortunate enough to be taken on as Research Associate on the MP4: Making Places Profitable, Public and Private Open Spaces project here in the Department of Landscape. This EU-funded project brought together European partners to focus on the long-term management of open spaces, or what we now call place-keeping. This involves exploring innovative approaches to designing and managing an open space while securing its long-term future by getting the right people, funding, policies and evaluative processes in place. With Mel Burton, I have since secured ESRC knowledge exchange funding to explore place-keeping in Sheffield in more detail.
Continued collaboration with CityForm-UK colleagues has led to the development of the CityForm-India international research network (2009-2012) which focused on how sustainability might be achieved within the context of India’s rapidly growing cities. I have successfully secured funding from the British Academy-Leverhulme Trust to continue this research in India with a focus on the city of Ahmedabad in Gujarat.
I have been very lucky to live in a variety of inspiring urban and rural settings. I have watched the modern embrace of Manchester’s strong Victorian legacy as the city in which I grew up continues to regenerate and transform. I lived as an outsider in the Albaicín, in Granada, Spain, where the World Heritage Site protection status sees some parts crumbling as others thrive. I have lived a commuter life in a dormitory village in rural Oxfordshire, holding up the traffic while chugging along to Oxford on my underpowered motorbike. I have been overwhelmed by the scale and vibrancy of some of India’s cities and the sheer number of people. The country’s rural landscapes are vast and beautiful; yet they are difficult to appreciate fully given the extreme poverty that dominates the lives of many of India’s rural, and urban, residents. And now I’m an incomer to urban Sheffield overlooking the Rivelin Valley out towards the Peak District. These and other experiences since help continue to develop my understanding of the urban-rural continuum and the variety of emerging social, economic, political and environmental contexts.
I have been a full-time Lecturer in Landscape Planning since autumn 2011.
- Research interests
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My work examines how relevant policies, strategies and political rhetoric are implemented in and experienced by urban green and open spaces users. This is conceptualised as place-keeping: the long-term management of our green and open spaces. This involves exploring innovative approaches to designing and managing open space while securing its long-term future by getting the right people, funding and policies in place.
Recently, my research has been examining how urban nature in our cities can improve the health & wellbeing of city residents. I have also been investigating the contribution of specific ‘healthy’ interventions in other settings including neighbourhoods and hospital sites. Click here to visit the Place-Keeping website.
- Publications
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Books
- Preface.
- Introduction.
- Conclusion: Future forms for city living?.
- Future Forms and Design For Sustainable Cities. Architectural Press.
Edited books
- Place-keeping: Open space management in practice. Routledge.
Journal articles
- ‘Blossom Buddies’ − How do flower colour combinations affect emotional response and influence therapeutic landscape design?. Landscape and Urban Planning, 248, 105099-105099.
- Flowers – Sunshine for the soul! How does floral colour influence preference, feelings of relaxation and positive up-lift?. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 79.
- Planning for sociable green spaces after COVID-19. Town Planning Review: Volume 92, Issue 2, 92(2), 171-179.
- From river to Riverfront: how meanings and cultural heritage change. The case of the Sabarmati Riverfront project, Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Town Planning Review, 91(6), 643-666.
- Acceptability of income generation practices in 21st century urban park management: The case of city district parks. Journal of Environmental Management, 264. View this article in WRRO
- Working out what works : the role of tacit knowledge where urban greenspace research, policy and practice intersect. Sustainability, 11(18), 5029-5029. View this article in WRRO
- Children’s interactions with water in city centres: a case study from Sheffield, UK. Landscape Research, 44(6), 671-687. View this article in WRRO
- Place-keeping for health? Charting the challenges for urban park management in practice. Sustainability, 11(16). View this article in WRRO
- Understanding Stakeholder Perceptions of Acceptability and Feasibility of Formal and Informal Planting in Sheffield’s District Parks. Sustainability, 11(2). View this article in WRRO
- Volunteered information on nature-based solutions — Dredging for data on deculverting. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening. View this article in WRRO
- Community Food Growing in Parks? Assessing the Acceptability and Feasibility in Sheffield, UK. Sustainability, 10(8), 2887-2887. View this article in WRRO
- There’s always the river: social and environmental equity in rapidly urbanising landscapes in India. Landscape Research, 43(3), 275-288. View this article in WRRO
- A Review of “The Routledge handbook of planning for health and well-being: shaping a sustainable and healthy future”, Edited by Hugh Barton, Susan Thompson, Sarah Burgess and Marcus Grant. International Journal of Housing Policy, 17(1), 157-159. View this article in WRRO
- Contracting out parks and roads maintenance in England. International Journal of Public Sector Management, 29(5), 441-456. View this article in WRRO
- Evaluating the effectiveness of a cross-sector partnership for green space management: The case of Southey Owlerton, Sheffield, UK. Urban Forestry and Urban Greening, 15, 155-164. View this article in WRRO
- Place-keeping in action: Evaluating the capacity of green space partnerships in England. Landscape and Urban Planning, 139, 126-136. View this article in WRRO
- Introducing a method for mapping recreational experience. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Urban Design and Planning, 166(5), 296-308. View this article in WRRO
- Social Sustainability in Urban Areas: Communities, Connectivity and the Urban Fabric. URBAN STUDIES, 50(5), 1089-1092.
- Cultural Diversity and Spatial Structure in the Indian Urban Context. Journal of Urban Design, 17(3), 425-447. View this article in WRRO
- Place-keeping – responsive, long- term open space management. Town and Country Planning, 81(10), 431-436. View this article in WRRO
- Open space management – can communities take on long-term responsibility?. Town and Country Planning, 81(12), 514-519. View this article in WRRO
- The key to sustainable urban development in UK cities? The influence of density on social sustainability. Progress in Planning, 77(3), 89-141.
- The key to sustainable urban development in UK cities? The influence of density on social sustainability. Progress in Planning, 77(3), 89-141.
- Defining place-keeping: The long-term management of public spaces. Urban Forestry and Urban Greening. View this article in WRRO
- The social dimension of sustainable development: Defining urban social sustainability. Sustainable Development, 19(5), 289-300.
- The Future of the Compact City. Built Environment, 36(1), 116-121.
- Revisiting the Compact City?. Built Environment, 36(1), 5-8.
- The Sustainable Development Paradox: Urban Political Economy in the United States and Europe - Edited by Rob Krueger and David Gibbs. Geographical Journal, 175(2), 161-162.
- Social Sustainability and Urban Form: evidence from British cities. Environment and Planning A: international journal of urban and regional research, 41(9), 2125-2142. View this article in WRRO
- Are good-quality environments socially cohesive? Measuring quality and cohesion in urban neighbourhoods. Town Planning Review, 80(3), 315-345.
- UK-India research network. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers: Urban Design and Planning, 162(2), 49-51.
- Does quality of the built environment affect social cohesion?. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Urban Design and Planning, 161(3), 105-114.
- Quality of the built environment in urban neighbourhoods. Planning Practice and Research, 23(2), 249-264.
- Urban domestic gardens (XI): variation in urban wildlife gardening in the United Kingdom. BIODIVERS CONSERV, 16(11), 3227-3238.
- Defining the neighbourhood: Challenges for empirical research. Town Planning Review, 78(2), 153-177.
- Seeing the forest for the trees? An exploration of the Miyawaki forest method in the UK. Arboricultural Journal, 1-13.
- Unveiling the Depths: Unravelling Stakeholder Values in the Landscape of Bangkok’s Urban Waterways. Sustainability, 16(16), 7117-7117.
- ‘The Elephant in the Room’ – does actual or perceived biodiversity elicit restorative responses in a virtual park?. Cities & Health, 1-16.
- Urban parks in crisis…again? A historical examination of the political, economic and social context of UK parks. Landscape and Ecological Engineering.
- Does increasing biodiversity in an urban woodland setting promote positive emotional responses in humans? A stress recovery experiment using 360-degree videos of an urban woodland. PLOS ONE, 19(2), e0297179-e0297179.
- The Sheffield street tree dispute: a case of “business as usual” urban management?. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 1-19.
- Examining the Concept of Liveability in Urban Neighbourhoods in Iskandar Malaysia. Environment-Behaviour Proceedings Journal, 6(18), 285-292.
- Known but not done: how logics of inaction limit the benefits of urban green spaces. Landscape Research, 1-13.
Chapters
- Community Supported Agriculture in the Pearl River Delta, The Urban Book Series (pp. 301-314). Springer International Publishing
- Streets ahead or the road to hell?, The Politics of Street Trees (pp. 262-274). Routledge
- Where Is Municipal Marketisation Heading? Experiences from England and Scandinavia, The Future of Local Self-Government (pp. 157-170). Springer International Publishing
- Managing the maintenance of urban open spacess, Urban Open Space Governance and Management (pp. 150-167). Routledge
- Defining urban open space governance and management, Urban Open Space Governance and Management (pp. 11-29). Routledge
- Why Practice Doesn’t Make Perfect, Cities and Nature (pp. 1-7). Springer International Publishing
- Measuring the Gap Between Rhetoric and Practice: Examining Urban Green Space Interventions Post-implementation, Cities and Nature (pp. 167-187). Springer International Publishing
- Realigning Knowing and Doing: An Agenda for Reflection and Action, Cities and Nature (pp. 189-196). Springer International Publishing
- Mind the Gap: Does What We Know About Greenspace and Wellbeing Change What We Do?, Cities and Nature (pp. 143-165). Springer International Publishing
- In-House, Contracted Out…or Something Else? Parks and Road Management in England, Marketization in Local Government (pp. 101-116). Springer International Publishing
- Long-Term Partnership Contracting in Practice: Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London, Marketization in Local Government (pp. 225-240). Springer International Publishing
- Lessons from Case Studies: Working with Marketization, Marketization in Local Government (pp. 293-311). Springer International Publishing
- Introducing the Research Setting: Four Countries and Two Local Services, Marketization in Local Government (pp. 79-98). Springer International Publishing
- Research Design, Materials and Methods, Marketization in Local Government (pp. 61-78). Springer International Publishing
- Patterns and Variations of Marketization Compared, Marketization in Local Government (pp. 197-221). Springer International Publishing
- FUNDING FLEXIBLE SPACE, STAGING URBAN LANDSCAPES: THE ACTIVATION AND CURATION OF FLEXIBLE PUBLIC SPACES (pp. 54-57).
- Connecting making and keeping: Design and management in place-keeping, Place-Keeping: Open Space Management in Practice (pp. 125-150).
- The politics of place-keeping, Place-Keeping: Open Space Management in Practice (pp. 30-51).
- Coordinating place-keeping: Towards more sustainable places, Place-Keeping: Open Space Management in Practice (pp. 173-186).
- Understanding place-keeping of open space, Place-Keeping: Open Space Management in Practice (pp. 13-29).
- Resourcing place-keeping: Fighting for funding, Place-Keeping: Open Space Management in Practice (pp. 100-124).
- Understanding place-keeping of open space, Place-Keeping: Open Space Management in Practice (pp. 13-29).
- From space to place: The importance of place-keeping, Place-Keeping: Open Space Management in Practice (pp. 1-12).
- Coordinating place-keeping: Towards more sustainable places, Place-Keeping: Open Space Management in Practice (pp. 173-185).
- Resourcing place-keeping: Fighting for funding, Place-Keeping: Open Space Management in Practice (pp. 100-124).
- The politics of place-keeping, Place-Keeping: Open Space Management in Practice (pp. 30-51).
- Connecting making and keeping: Design and management in place-keeping, Place-Keeping: Open Space Management in Practice (pp. 125-150).
- Neighbourhood Design, International Encyclopedia of Housing and Home (pp. 12-20). Elsevier
- Neighbourhood Design, International Encyclopedia of Housing and Home (pp. 29-42). Elsevier
- Neighbourhood Design: Urban Outdoor Experience, International Encyclopedia of Housing and Home (pp. 29-42).
- Neighbourhood Design: Green Space and Parks, International Encyclopedia of Housing and Home (pp. 12-20).
- Social Acceptability In Jenks M & Jones C (Ed.), Dimensions of the Sustainable City (pp. 105-128). London: Springer.
- Elements of Urban Form In Jenks M & Jones C (Ed.), Dimensions of the Sustainable City Springer
- The Language and Meaning of Density In Jenks M & Dempsey N (Ed.), Future Forms and Design for Sustainable Cities Architectural Press
- Future Forms for City Living? In Jenks M & Dempsey N (Ed.), Future Forms and Design for Sustainable Cities Architectural Press
Conference proceedings papers
- Potentials and constraints of urban sustainability in the Arabian Gulf: the case of Bahrain and Kuwait. The Sustainable City VIII, 3 December 2013 - 5 December 2013.
- Preface.
- Research group
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The Place-keeping research group focuses on how relevant policies, strategies and political rhetoric are implemented in and experienced by urban green and open spaces users. This is focused around the long-term management of our green and open spaces, exploring innovative approaches to designing and managing open space while securing its long-term future by getting the right people, funding and policies in place.
- Grants
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Funded research projects
Biodiversity and climate change assessment for the NHS Lothian estate
Duration: 2020-2021Funder: NHS Lothian.As a consultant, I worked with Natural Capital Solutions to create a spatial asset register of the NHS Lothian estate containing information on habitat type, extent and quality. I specifically identified opportunities to improve the estate for delivering health, climate andbiodiversity benefits.
Improving Wellbeing through Urban Nature (IWUN): integrating green/blue infrastructure and health service valuation and delivery.Duration: 2016-2019Funder: Joint UK Research Councils.As a Co-investigator on the IWUN project, I developed prototypical green blue Infrastructure interventions that enhance health and wellbeing and have positive impacts on urban ecosystems, taking account of the differing values and ways of engaging with the natural environment. With my team, we identified the contexts and barriers to implementing these changes in practice, including the policy and institutional barriers and the values of professional and lay stakeholders.
Reflecting on the River – rapid urbanisation and representations of Indian cultural heritage
Duration: Dec 2015 – June 2016
Funder: AHRC/ ICHR (International Research Network)
Principal Investigator: Dr Nicola Dempsey
Project Partner: Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology (Ahmedabad)Many cities have developed on and around rivers as they are important elements, e.g. for transport, trade and fishing. Rivers also play a significant part in people's everyday lives, underpinned by their cultural practices, for example traditions and rituals such as funeral rites in India. People perceive, represent and use rivers in different ways which may or may not correspond with the 'story' of the river as told as part of a city’s identity. There are multiple perspectives and narratives of rivers which may differ over time as cities become increasingly urbanised. However we do not fully understand how rapid urbanisation of cities around the world is changing the cultural connections that people have with the river. This project aims to take the first step to address this gap in knowledge to deepen understanding of the cultural role of the river for residents in urbanizing India.
India’s urban open spaces-Understanding the place of open space in India’s rapidly urbanising cities: an examination of Ahmedabad, Gujarat
Duration: Aug 2013 – Aug 2014
Funder: British Academy/ Leverhulme Trust (Small Research Grant)
Principal Investigator: Dr Nicola Dempsey
Project Partners: Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology (Ahmedabad)This project aims to explore how provision of green and open space has changed over time in a rapidly urbanising city in India. Urbanisation is happening at an unprecedented rate in cities all over the world, many in developing countries. Such urbanisation is often unplanned meaning good quality, publicly accessible green and open space can be difficult to come by and, at times, not provided at all. Given the wide-ranging benefits of green and open space (e.g. in terms of mental and physical health, biodiversity habitats and urban cooling), the need to provide such space in high-density areas has long been recognised. This project aims to examine the implications of rapid urbanisation on green and open space provision in the city of Ahmedabad in Gujarat, India. By mapping the green and open space, both public and private, and in discussion with key stakeholders to identify the social and cultural roles of such space, the project team will critically explore the implications of current and future urban expansion on green/ open space provision, function and use in India and elsewhere.
Place-Keeping in Sheffield
Duration: Aug 2013 – Aug 2014
Funder: ESRC (Knowledge Exchange Opportunities Scheme)
Principal Investigators: Dr Nicola Dempsey & Mel Burton
Project Partners: Sheffield City Council, Green Estate, Sheffield Wildlife Trust, Tinder Foundation
URL: www.place-keeping.orgDespite funding being available for ‘place-making’ i.e. the implementation of open spaces, the long term management – or ‘place-keeping’ – of these spaces is often neglected and initial benefits may be lost. The economic recession has led to severe budget cuts by local authorities to green space management, in essence because they are under no legal obligation to provide it. Unlike our health service and education provision, green space management is a non-statutory service. This project aims to examine the extent to which cross-sector partnerships are effective in managing green spaces. There is a long history of public, private, third sector organisations and community stakeholders involved in the management and maintenance of green spaces. However, we do not know how successful cross-sector partnerships (i.e. those made up of stakeholders from different sectors) are at achieving good green space management.
The Place-keeping project aims to develop and apply the partnership capacity approach as a place-keeping evaluation tool in collaboration with a range of stakeholder organisations involved in green space management in the city of Sheffield.
- Teaching interests
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My aim is to help students develop an understanding of the multiple scales (e.g. site/ neighbourhood/ city/ region/ beyond), physical contexts (e.g. urban/ rural/ peri-urban) and non-physical contexts (e.g. social/ economic/ political) that are at play in the landscape. In this way, I believe students can develop the skills to engage in critical thinking and decision-making which reflect a holistic approach to understanding the landscape.
My other main teaching interest is in research methodology: how we understand, measure and evaluate the landscape and our perceptions and behaviour therein. Conducting research need not be a daunting process: I want to make research methods accessible and enjoyable. I do this by engaging students in live, real and innovative landscape planning research projects to help demystify the research process. The underlying aim here is to sustain and promote the teaching-research-practice relationship, with the hope that students will continue to engage in research-based practice in their professional lives.
- Teaching activities
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Teaching responsibilities
My teaching, underpinned by my research interests, is focused primarily on sustainable landscape planning and research methods. I teach these at both undergraduate and postgraduate level.
My teaching is delivered in different ways including lectures, seminars and workshops; site visits; desk-based projects; and IT sessions – all of which are underpinned by a process of critical analysis.
I am Module Coordinator for three modules:
- LSC 115 Current Challenges in Planning, Design and Management
- LSC 117 Presentation, Communication and Research Skills
- LSC236 Landscape Planning for a Changing World
Academic responsibilities
- Undergraduate Admissions Tutor
- Undergraduate Personal Tutor
- Department Research & Knowledge Exchange Committee
- Department Ethics Committee
- Department Staff-Student Committee
- Professional activities and memberships
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Co-convenor of Sheffield’s Green Space Forum, citywide Friends group network (under development)