Newcastle University

Introduction

My first career was  in Housing with Newcastle city where I worked on the development of housing for older people and later on capital investment in the west end of the city. I came to academia in 1988 as a lecturer and now am senior lecturer. My interests have always been in issues of social justice and the city. My initial focus was on women and I was a co-founder of the EuroFEM network with Chris Booth of Sheffield Hallam and Liisa Horelli of Helsinki. Several articles came from this work. Also from this period in my research career is  the book `Housing Women`which I  co-edited with Roberta Woods. During the 1990s I was increasingly undertaking research into local urban regneration and community development programmes. It was during this period that I made the transition to my current focus on older people. In both my work on women, disadvantaged communties  and on older people my concern is to hear the voice of individuals and find ways of revealing their experience. My work on older people has taken me to urban and rural Japan, and urban China. Much of my work involves Newcastle Elders Council/Quality of Life Partnership. I am co-theme leader in the north east Beacon project with Lynne Corner (FMS) on age and vitality. Lynne and I have recently pooled our project funds to  investigate the viability of co-housing for older people in Newcastle.

Roles and Responsibilities

I have held a number of positions of responsibility in the School including Degree Programme Director of the Undergrauate Planning Programme; Director of Teaching and Learning; Director of Planning, and Deputy Head of School. I have been a member of the School Management Team  for ten years. Outwith the school I have been a member of  Senate twice; served on Faculty Promotions Committee; a member of Faculty Teachng and Learning Committee; and UTLC Panel member .  

 I am currently stage 1 co-ordinator for the Town Planning degree and Director of Engagement in which I chair a committee in the school and manage a small budget. During semester 1 of 2011-12 I acted as Director of Planning as a sabbatical cover.

Outside of the school I am a member of the Public Engagement Group (Institute of Health and Society); UTLC panel of Subject Review panel members- I have chaired four Subject reviews.

Qualifications

I have a BA from Nottingham University and a MA by research from Exeter University. I have the Higher Education Teaching Qualification from Newcastle University.

Memberships

Fellow of Chartered Institute of Housing
Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (formerly Institute of Teaching and Learning)
British Gerontology Society
International Society of Quality of Life Studies
Town and Country Planning Association

Languages

Basic French

Informal Interests

I have been a committee member of the West End Befrienders since 1986 years and Chair for much of that time.
I have been a member of the Housing group (now Lifetime Homes/ Lifetime Neighbourhoods) of the Newcastle Quality of Life Partnership since 1999.

Research Interests

My research explores the impact of the ageing population, particularly in relation to planning and housing. My concerns embrace the home and the lines of attachment that radiate from it into neighbourhood, city, region, maybe even cyberspace but also burrowing down into home to think about favourite spaces within it and cherished objects. In the wider arena I  explore how place may support everyday life in later life. As a planner I am interested in the transactional relationship between people and their environment that embraces how people individually and collectively may influence their environments. Within the container of home I reflect on how this place that we experience physically, socially, emotionally contributes to the persistent existential question – who are we?

My research on older people has taken me from the north east of England to urban China and urban and rural Japan.

 Previously I have worked on issues of gender in planning and housing; the rehousing of serious offenders; and area based urban regeneration.

Current Work

I am exploring the viability of elder co-housing in Newcastle with Beacon funds.I am writing papers from my research in Wuhan, China that took an everyday life perspective on older people in neighbourhoods scheduled for demolition. 

Postgraduate Supervision

I welcome applications from potential doctoral candidates who are interested in older people's (non medical) issues specifically perceptions of  quality of life; experiences of housing and neighbourhood; activism in older age.

Lena Ganesh -India- (MPhil commenced 2002, transferre;d to PhD (A2) “From zenana to zoom in”. Supervised with Janice McLaughlin and Peter Phillimore of Geography, Social Policy and Politics. Awarded 2008

 Elizabeth Brooks –UK- Full Time- ESRC/ODPM funded. Older people in market towns. First Supervisor Rose Gilroy; Second supervisor Jane Midgely and formerly Tim Shaw (retired). External Examiner Professor Tom Scharf (Keele) and Dr Neil Powe (Newcastle). Awarded 2011.

Antika Sawadsri – Thailand- Full Time-  “Accessibility and disability in the built environment: negotiating the public realm in Thailand “. First Supervisor Rose Gilroy; Second supervisor Peter Kellett. External Examiner Professor Rob Imrie (Kings College London) and Mr Tim Townshend (Newcastle). Awarded 2011

 Mansour Helmi -Saudi Arabia- Full Time-Commenced 2007 “The role of planning in the implementation of land use regulations in Jeddah”. First Supervisor Rose Gilroy, Second Supervisor Graham Tipple

Fouz Al-Ahmadi- Saudi Arabia- Full Time- Commenced May 2009 “Housing with care for older women in Saudi Arabia”. First Supervisor Rose Gilroy; Second Supervisor Graham Tipple

Esteem Indicators

Keynote speaker at European Network of Housing Research conference in Lillehammer,Norway 2012 and at Gavle, Sweden 2000.

Invited expert to advisory group to assist Baroness Julia Neuberger working on older people's issues.

Invited expert to seminar on women and planning, Vienna 2003

External examiner - currently examining on Masters planning programmes at Sheffield University; previously examiner on Post Graduate Planning and Housing programmes at University of Central England; on Post Graduate Housing programmes at Stirling and De Montfort universities.

Member of editorial review board for Journal "Applied Research in Quality of Life"

Projects

• Planning for the Ageing Countryside in Britain and Japan: City-Regions and the Mobility of Older People
  This project explores the impact of ageing populations in Japan and the UK and seeks to determine whether lessons from Japan - a hyper ageing society - can be translated into a UK context.
• Responding to change: An investigation into the processes of rural place-making in the face of ageing
  Based on previous research this study conducts empirical analysis of the transformatory experience of older in-migrants in the selected rural localities in Japan (Hokkaido) and UK (the North East of England).
• Social Platform on Cities and Social Cohesion (Social Polis)
  Project Leader(s): Prof. Jean Hillier; Prof. Frank Moulaert

Undergraduate Teaching

I am module leader on

TCP 2005- Housing Policy 

TCP 3003-  Employment and Management Practice

 In addition I contribute to 

TCP 1025 Social Worlds

and am a tutor and assessor on TCP 3099 - undergraduate dissertation  

Postgraduate Teaching

I lead a Linked Research group (TCP 8025) on quality of life and older people .

I contribute to TCP 8021 (Developing Countries) and TCP  8935 (Asian Cities)

I am a tutor and assessor on 8099 (dissertation) 

• Gilroy R. Well being and the neighbourhood: Promoting choice and independence for all ages. In: Atkinson, S., Fuller, S., Painter, J, ed. Wellbeing and Place. Abingdon: Ashgate, 2012. In Press.
• Gilroy R. Physical threats to social worlds of older people: findings from a pilot study in Wuhan. Environment and Planning A 2011, (accepted for publication August 2011).
• Gilroy R. Changing landscapes of support in the lives of Chinese urban elders: voices from Wuhan neighbourhoods. Environment and Planning C 2011. Submitted.
• Hamza N, Gilroy R. The challenge to UK energy policy: An ageing population perspective on energy saving measures and consumption. Energy Policy 2011, 39(2), 782-789.
• Willis K, Scarpa R, Gilroy R, Hamza N. Renewable energy adoption in an ageing population: Heterogeneity in preferences for micro-generation technology adoption. Energy Policy 2011, 39(10), 6021-6029.
• Murakami K, Gilroy R, Atterton J. Planning for the Ageing Countryside in Japan: The Potential Impact of Multi-habitation. Planning, Practice and Research 2009, 24(3), 285-299.
• Murakami K, Gilroy R, Atterton J. The benefits of an ageing population: case studies in rural Hokkaido, Japan. Local Economy 2009, 24(6/7), 555-567.
• Gilroy R, Shaw T. Market towns, older people and regeneration. Town and Country Planning 2002, 71(9), 237-238.
• Gilroy R, Booth C. Building an Infrastructure for Everyday Lives. European Planning Studies 1999, 7(3), 307-324.
• Gilroy R. Places that support human flourishing: lessons from later life. Planning Theory & Practice 2008, 9(2), 145-163.
• Gilroy R, Brooks E, Shaw T. Ready or not: The ageing of the market towns' population. In: Powe, NA; Hart, T; Shaw, T, ed. Market Towns: Roles, Challenges and Prospects. London: Routledge, 2007, pp. 69-80.
• Van Wezemael JE, Gilroy R. The significance of demographic change in the Swiss approach to private rented housing: A potential for ageing in place?. Housing Studies 2007, 22(4), 597-614.
• Gilroy R. Taking a capabilities approach to evaluating supportive environments for older people. Applied Research in Quality of Life 2006, 1(3-4), 343-356.
• Gilroy R. Meeting the information needs of older people: A challenge for local governance. Local Government Studies 2005,31 1 39-51.
• Kellett P, Gilroy R, Jackson S. Space, identity and choice: Exploring the housing arrangements of older people. In: Martens, B; Keul, A, ed. Designing Social Innovation: Planning, Building, Evaluating. Gottingen: Hogfre and Huber, 2005, pp. 291-299.
• Gilroy RC. The role of housing space in determining freedom and flourishing in older people. Social Indicators Research 2005, 74(1), 141-158.
• Gilroy R, Booth C. Changing the mould: a case study of the Frauenwerkstadt. Zehar 2004, 52, 8.
• Gilroy R. Making cities friendly to older people. Town and Country Planning 2004, 73(9), 254-256.
• Townshend T, Gilroy RC, Pendlebury JR. The conservation of English cultural built heritage: a force for social inclusion?. International Journal of Heritage Studies 2004, 10(1), 11-31.
• Gilroy R. The Older Person Friendly City. Town and Country Planning 2004, (publication unknown).
• Gilroy R. Why can't more people have a say? Learning to work with older people. Ageing and Society 2003, 23(5), 659-674.
• Booth, Chris,. and Gilroy, Rose. Gender aware approaches to local and regional development: better practice lessons from across Europe. Town Planning Review 2001, 27(2), 217-242.
• Gilroy RC, Booth C. The role of a Toolkit in mobilising women in local and regional development. Local Economy 2000, 15(1), 9-17.