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William Neill

Visiting Professor, Centre for Irish Studies, QUB and Emeritus Professor of Spatial Planning, University of Aberdeen
William JV Neill is Emeritus Professor of Spatial Planning at the University of Aberdeen, and Visiting Research Professor at the Institute of Irish Studies, Queen's University Belfast. His research interests revolve around the expression of identity in cities and how this is spatially contested and affirmed.

He has edited several books on the subject of Northern Ireland in this context, including Relaunching Titanic: Memory and Marketing in the New Belfast (Routledge) 2013; Urban Planning and Cultural Identity (Routledge) 2004; Urban Planning and Cultural Inclusion: Lessons from Belfast and Berlin, (Palgrave) 2001, (with HU Schwedler); and Reimagining the Pariah City: Lessons from Belfast and Detroit (Ashgate), 1995 (with B Murtagh and D Fitzsimons).

He was appointed to a Sixth Century Chair in 2006 having held academic appointments at the University of Manchester and Queen’s University Belfast. He completed a Master’s degree in Urban Planning from the University of Michigan and completed his PhD at the University of Nottingham.

He worked as an urban planner for the State of Michigan in the 1970s and 1980s with particular reference to the city of Detroit.

He is a former Council member of the Royal Town Planning Institute and was a recent member of an EU URBACT expert group on the future of European shrinking cities. His book Future Directions for the European Shrinking City (edited with Hans Schlappa) was published as part of the Routledge RTPI Library Series in 2016.

In 2018 he was appointed as a Visiting Research Professor at the Institute of Irish Studies, Queen's University Belfast.

Northern Ireland needs a new unionism that reflects the diverse and multicultural nature of the UK

Aug 13, 2018 13:37 pm UTC| Insights & Views Law

Since the spiralling civil conflict of the Troubles in the early 1970s, unionism in Northern Ireland has always been more preoccupied with asserting its opposition to Irish unification, as opposed to articulating a vision...

Economy

U.S. Trade Rep Dismisses WTO's Future Role After Failed Cameroon Summit

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer declared on Monday that the World Trade Organization will play only a marginal role in shaping future global trade policy, following a contentious ministerial meeting in Cameroon...

Bessent: Global Oil Market Well Supplied as U.S. Eyes Hormuz Navigation Control

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reassured markets on Monday that the global oil supply remains stable, pointing to increased vessel traffic through the Strait of Hormuz as a key indicator of improving conditions....

Aluminum Prices Surge Toward Four-Year Highs After Gulf Smelter Strikes

Global aluminum prices shot up sharply on Monday, approaching levels not seen in nearly four years after Iranian missile and drone attacks caused significant damage to major smelting facilities across the Gulf region. The...

Goldman Sachs Sees Value in European Real Estate Stocks Despite Sharp Selloff

European real estate stocks have taken a significant hit since late February, tumbling roughly 14% as rising bond yields and widening credit spreads weigh heavily on the sector. According to Goldman Sachs, valuations have...

Asian Currencies Hold Steady Amid U.S.-Israel-Iran Tensions and BOJ Signals

Asian currencies traded within a narrow range Monday as geopolitical uncertainty surrounding the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran continued to weigh on regional sentiment. Most currencies in the region remained under...

Politics

Trump's Name Spreads Across America: Airports, Warships, and Currency

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed legislation Monday renaming Palm Beach International Airport after former and current President Donald Trump, marking yet another addition to a growing list of American institutions,...

Israel Passes Death Penalty Law Targeting Palestinians in Military Courts

Israels parliament has approved a controversial new law establishing hanging as the default sentence for Palestinians convicted in military courts of carrying out deadly attacks. The legislation, championed by far-right...

U.S. Army Investigates Military Helicopters Flying Near Kid Rock's Home and Anti-Trump Protests

The U.S. Army has launched an administrative review after military Apache helicopters were spotted flying near the Nashville home of rock star and Trump supporter Kid Rock, as well as near anti-Trump demonstrations held...

Ukraine Open to Energy Ceasefire Amid Global Oil Crisis

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy revealed on Monday that several of Kyivs Western allies have quietly urged Ukraine to scale back its long-range strikes targeting Russias oil and energy infrastructure. The request...

Canada's Arctic Military Expansion Sparks Hope and Concern Among Indigenous Communities

Canada is pouring over C$35 billion into Arctic military development, driven by U.S. President Donald Trumps threats to annex Greenland and pressure on allies to increase defense spending. Prime Minister Mark Carneys...

Science

NASA's Artemis II Crew Arrives in Florida for Historic Moon Mission

The four astronauts chosen for NASAs Artemis II mission have touched down at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, marking the beginning of final launch preparations for the first crewed lunar journey in over 50 years. NASA...

SpaceX Pivots Toward Moon City as Musk Reframes Long-Term Space Vision

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has revealed a significant shift in the companys near-term space exploration strategy, announcing that SpaceX is now prioritizing the development of a self-growing city on the Moon rather than focusing...

SpaceX Prioritizes Moon Mission Before Mars as Starship Development Accelerates

Elon Musks SpaceX is shifting its near-term space exploration strategy, choosing to prioritize a return to the Moon before pursuing missions to Mars, according to a recent Wall Street Journal report citing sources familiar...

NASA and SpaceX Target Crew-11 Undocking From ISS Amid Medical Concern

NASA has confirmed that the agency, in coordination with SpaceX, is targeting no earlier than 5 p.m. Eastern Time (2200 GMT) on Wednesday, January 14, for the undocking of the SpaceX Crew-11 mission from the International...

Neuralink Plans High-Volume Brain Implant Production and Fully Automated Surgery by 2026

Elon Musks brain-computer interface company Neuralink is preparing for a major expansion, announcing plans to begin high-volume production of its brain implant devices and transition to a fully automated surgical procedure...

Technology

Cybersecurity Stocks Tumble After Anthropic's Claude Mythos AI Leak Sparks Market Fears

Major cybersecurity stocks took a sharp hit Friday following reports that Anthropic accidentally exposed details about its next-generation AI model before its official launch. CrowdStrike fell 7%, Palo Alto Networks...

Chinese Universities with PLA Ties Found Purchasing Restricted U.S. AI Chips Through Super Micro Servers

Procurement records reveal that four Chinese universities, two of which have direct ties to the Peoples Liberation Army, acquired Super Micro Computer servers loaded with restricted Nvidia AI chips over the past year. The...

Federal Judge Blocks Pentagon's Blacklisting of AI Company Anthropic

A federal judge has temporarily prevented the Pentagon from enforcing its designation of Anthropic as a national security supply-chain risk, dealing an early blow to the Trump administration in a growing dispute over...

SMIC Allegedly Supplies Chipmaking Tools to Iran's Military, U.S. Officials Warn

Chinas top semiconductor manufacturer, SMIC (Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation), has reportedly been transferring chipmaking equipment to Irans military industrial complex, according to two senior Trump...

Google's TurboQuant Algorithm Sends Memory Chip Stocks Tumbling

Major memory chipmakers took a significant hit on Thursday after Google researchers introduced a groundbreaking compression algorithm that threatens to reduce artificial intelligence demand for memory chips. Samsung...