1 Meredith Whitten
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Dr Meredith Whitten

Dr Meredith Whitten

LSE Fellow in Environment

Department of Geography and Environment

Email
M.Whitten@lse.ac.uk
Room No
NAB 4.09, New Academic Building, LSE
orcid
0000-0002-2738-0838
Connect with me

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Website

Languages
English
Key Expertise
Urban green space, Green infrastructure, Urban parks, Urban planning

About me

Dr Meredith Whitten is a Fellow in Environment based in the LSE's Department of Geography and Environment. She holds a PhD in Regional and Urban Planning from the LSE and was awarded an ESRC Postdoctoral Fellowship.

Meredith’s research focuses on the urban environment, particularly the intricate, evolving and often contested relationship between cities and nature, and how this relationship is mediated through planning to address urban sustainability, including improving both human and ecological health. She has a particular focus on urban green space and green infrastructure. As such, her work explores evolving institutional, planning and governance frameworks that aim to address impacts stemming from urbanisation and processes of urban change.

Meredith’s research and her experience reflect the multidisciplinary approach inherent in addressing the urban landscape. Before completing her doctoral work, Meredith worked as a policy analyst and urban planner across the public, private and non-profit sectors in the UK and the US. Meredith is chair of the AAG Landscape Specialty Group and serves as a specialist in the Design Council’s Expert Network. She has served on the Mayor of London's Green Infrastructure Task Force and as a consultant to Parks for London and the London Green Spaces Commission.

She also holds an MSc in Regional and Urban Planning from LSE, and a Master of Public Affairs and a Bachelor of Journalism from The University of Texas at Austin. She has received several LSE Teaching Excellence Awards, holds a full Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education (PGCertHE) and is a fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy.

 

Expertise Details

Urban parks and green space; Landscape planning; Green infrastructure; Planning governance; Urban sustainability

Selected publications

Whitten, M. (2022). Planning past parks: Overcoming restrictive green space narratives in contemporary compact cities. Town Planning Review (Ahead of print, 1-26). DOI 10.3828/tpr.2021.55   

Whitten, M. (accepted). Engaging resilience: Integrating sociocultural dimensions into green infrastructure planning. In: Sant’Anna, C.G., Mell, I. & Schenk, L.B. (eds) Planning With Landscape: Green Infrastructure to Build Climate-Adapted Cities. Landscape Series. Springer (published in 2022). 

Whitten, M. (accepted). More than ‘where you do football:’ reimagining green space through green infrastructure planning. In Ward, K. et al. (eds). Infrastructuring Urban Futures. (published in 2023). 

Smith, A., Whitten, M. and Ernwein, M. (submitted). De-municipalisation? Legacies of austerity for England’s urban parks. The Geographical Journal. 

Mell, I. and Whitten, M. (2022). Green space access is not equal in the UK – and the government isn’t doing enough to change that, The Conversation. 

Whitten, M. & Massini, P. (2021). Addressing inequalities in access to green space in a post-pandemic world: Lessons from London. In: Doucet, B., Filion, P. & van Melik, R. (eds) Global Reflections on COVID-19 Urban Inequalities, Vol. 3: Public Space & Mobility. Bristol University Press.  

Mell, I. and Whitten, M. (2021). Access to nature in a post Covid-19 world: opportunities for green infrastructure financing, distribution and equitability in urban planning. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(4): 1527. DOI 10.3390/ijerph18041527    

Whitten, M. (2020). Contesting Longstanding Conceptualisations of Urban Green Space. In: Dempsey N., Dobson J. (eds) Naturally Challenged: Contested Perceptions and Practices in Urban Green Spaces. Cities and Nature. Springer, Cham., pp. 87-116. DOI 10.1007/978-3-030-44480-8_5   

Whitten, M. (2020). Breathing space: City design and green space, Fabian Review, Fabian Society: 16-17.  

Whitten, M. (2019). Blame it on austerity? Examining the impetus behind London’s changing green space governance, People, Place and Policy, 12(3):204-224. DOI 10.3351/ppp.2019.8633493848. See LSE news.  

Whitten, M. (in progress). Defining “good parks:” Challenges in standard-setting for municipal parks services.  

Whitten, M. (in progress). Doorstep or destination? Exploring multiscalar expectations of urban nature.  

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