Dr Deepak Gopinath

Qualifications

• Ph.D, Sheffield (UK)
• Master of Planning, New Delhi, (India)
• Bachelor of Architecture, Trivandrum (India)

Academic appointments

I graduated with a degree in architecture and have since then been pursuing a career in town planning initially in practice and later in academia. Following my postgraduate studies in urban planning, my early career in planning started in development planning at the Delhi Development Authority, where I was involved in the preparation of Master Plan of Delhi 2001-21. I later joined the School of Planning and Architecture at New Delhi as Research Associate in the Department of Urban Planning where I was involved in both teaching and research. After which, I was offered a full tuition fee scholarship (through the Overseas Research Scholarship award as well as the University of Sheffield Fee Bursary) to carry out my doctoral studies at Town and Regional Planning at the University of Sheffield. My career in academia re-commenced with my joining the Department of Town and Regional Planning at the University of Dundee firstly as a Teaching Fellow in 2008 and later as Lecturer in 2009.

I currently teach on the following undergraduate modules: Design and Development (Level 2) and Planning Law and Practice (Level 3). The Urban Design class project carried out by students taking the module, Planning Law and Practice, is the subject of the annual, Dundee Civic Design Award competition (sponsored by Dundee City Council). For postgraduate students, I teach the module, 'Sustainability in Contemporary Cities' along with Andrew Llanrwarne.

In addition, I am the Level 3 Year Tutor and the coordinator for the Dundee University Access to Learning (DUAL) module on Town Planning and Environmental Sustainability. Also, I am Programme Director for the new programme, MSc Advanced Sustainable Urban Design that will commence in September 2012. Here are some of the examples of urban design work carried out by students at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

With regard to doctoral supervision, Tamer Gado and myself are currently supervising Hisahm Moustafa, a doctoral student in Architecture. Further, I am keen to hear from potential doctoral students who share overlapping interests with my main areas of research. Here is further information if you are an international student.

Professional Membership

Royal Town Planning Institute (Associate Member), Association of British Scholars in India

Research interests

My core research work falls within three inter-related, yet distinct strands: (1) Governance; (2) Sustainable Urbanism; (3) Planning Education and Research. Within these strands, the following questions underpin my current research interests 

1. How might we (re-)conceptualise governance frameworks with which to define/situate spatial justice?
2. Caught between competing values of ‘conformity’ and ‘coherence’, how might the design coding process be shaped by local communities?
3. While considering local/national/global educational pathways, how might the capacity for resilience play out within conceptions of the purposes of education?

Research grants

Dr. Deepak Gopinath (main applicant) and Prof. Murali Nair (co-applicant, Department of Social Work, Cleveland State University) and have been successful in securing a British Academy Small Research Grant (Ref. SG10153) for a sum of £6800, for the project titled, 'The possibility of local communities shaping an understanding of poverty? Experiences from the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission for improving the lives of urban poor in India'. Fieldwork will be carried out in the summer of 2011 in India and following which a dissemination event was organised in the University of Dundee. For more details of this study, please visit the project website, www.dundee.ac.uk/planning/research/bastudy.htm

David Kirk (Head of Town and Regional Planning, University of Dundee) Graeme Hutton (Dean of School of Architecture, University of Dundee) and I jointly secured a grant of £15000 from the Scottish Government (in February 2010) to carry out an assessment of how design codes might be embedded within the planning process and in particularly with regard to the proposals for the new town of Tornagrain in Scotland.

Secured funding for £470 (in August 2009) from the Carnegie Trust towards travel costs to carry out further research on how the shifting of governance arrangements in India is impacting on professional planning practice

Research: related activity

Drawing on papers presented at the Planning Research Conference 2009, Newcastle, Tony Jackson (University of Dundee), Paola Gazzola (Newcastle University) and I have finished editing a second special issue for the journal, 'International Journal of Sustainable Society' (ISSN: 1756-2538). A copy of the first special issue (volume 3, number 4, pp. 349-470, 2011) can be accessed online.

Peer reviewer for a range of journals including Urban Studies, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development

External Examiner for PhD thesis, Newcastle University

• Books and chapters

  • Gopinath, D. (2006). Development discourse - the Kerala model. In Grassroots Development: Establishing Successful Micro-enterprises - Kerala Experience, edited by M. Nair, R. Brody and A. Palackal. Cleveland, OH: Human Networks Publication.

• Refereed Journals

  • Gopinath, D (2012) The future of urban living through the lens of 'climate change'? Insights from American initiatives, Environment and Planning A, volume 44, issue 2, pp. 257-262
  • Jackson, T., Curry, J. & Gopinath, D. (In Press 2012) Dirigiste and Smart Growth approaches to urban sprawl: lessons from Scotland and British Columbia, Journal of Transatlantic Studies, 10(1) (ISSN: 0961-0405)
  • Gopinath, D. & Jackson, T.(2010). "A pragmatist lens on local planning practices: the case of St. Andrews community-driven green belt", Planning Practice and Research, volume 25, Issue 2, pp. 183-201 (ISSN 0269-7459)
  • Gopinath, D. (2009) "Decentralisation in India: towards 'localism' or 'regionalism'", Commonwealth Journal of Local Governance, volume 4, Issue - November, pp. 101-112 (ISSN 1836-0394)
  • Gopinath, D. (2009) "Contemporary approaches to economic development: the Special Economic Zone programme", Local Economy, volume 24, Issue (6/7), pp. 448-455 (ISSN 0269-0942)
  • Gopinath, D. (2008) 'Review of Making Political Science Matter: Debating Knowledge, Research and Method, by Sanford F. Schram and Brian Caterino (Eds.)', Geografiska Annaler B: Human Geography, volume 90, issue 3, pp.305-307.
  • Gopinath, D. & Gopinath, M. D. (2008) "Construction of environmental knowledge - experiences from India", Journal of Sustainable Development, volume 1, issue 1, pp.3-9 (ISSN 1913-9063)

• Conference Papers

  • Gopinath, D. (2011) Re-branding of peripheral cities in times of recession: Is the branching of national art museums an effective strategy? Paper read at the Transatlantic Studies Conference, 12-15 July 2011 in Dundee
  • Gopinath, D. (2010) Linking climate change to urban containment? Examination of recent initiatives across the Atlantic, paper presented at the Transatlantic Studies Conference, 12-15 July 2010 in Durham
  • Gopinath, D. (2009) "Governance in Kerala: looking beyond the People's Plan Campaign", UK-Ireland Planning Research Conference 2009, Newcastle, Newcastle University, 1-3 April
  • Gopinath, D. (2009) "Towards a theory of planning in contemporary India: a discussion", AESOP Planning Congress 2009, Liverpool, University of Liverpool, 15-18 July
  • Gopinath, D. & Jackson, T. (2009) "Applying international planning governance theory to Scottish green belts: the case of the St. Andrews community-driven green belt", UK-Ireland Planning Research Conference 2009, Newcastle, Newcastle University, 1-3 April
  • Gopinath, D. & Moyo, D. (2009) "Local meanings of governance: influence of contextual norms and practices", AESOP Planning Congress 2009, Liverpool, University of Liverpool, 15-18 July

• Working paper

  • Gopinath, D. (2010) "Emerging spatial planning systems in the Global South: case study of India", Working Paper 2010-001, Town and Regional Planning, University of Dundee, Scotland.
  • Gopinath, D. (2011) Publishing in Town and Country Planning for the upcoming 'Research Excellence Framework' (REF): Lessons from the RAE 2008 for early career academics, Working Paper 2011-002, Town and Regional Planning, University of Dundee, UK
  • Gopinath, D. and Nair, M. (2011) Poverty alleviation in India and Kerala: An overview, Working Paper 2011-003, Town and Regional Planning, University of Dundee, UK