Four academics from the University of Dundee will be planning the future of Scotland's four largest cities in a major review of urban living in Scotland.
Professors Greg Lloyd, Allan Findlay, Peter Roberts and Dr Nick Fyfe have been appointed to the Scottish Executive's academic panel to review Scottish cities. The panel have been charged with understanding the state of our cities, looking at prospects for change and formulating a legislative agenda for the next parliament and beyond.
One third of Scots live in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee and Aberdeen. The four cities and their surrounding regions account for 75 per cent of Scotland's GDP. The four cities account for 75 per cent of Scotland's energy consumption and pollution.
Henry McLeish, on announcing the panel said: " We have to look at what makes cities distinctive in terms of their problems and opportunities. There are a number of critical questions. How are the cities changing? How well places are they to cope with the changes that lie ahead? What opportunities are there to develop new urban policy approaches?
At present we have partial answers to some of these questions. What we lack is a modern, coherent synthesis of Scotland's changing cities and related policy successes, failures and requirements. This review will fill that gap."
The review team will start work in January and will report back to the Scottish Executive next autumn./ENDS
Contact Professor Greg Lloyd 01382 345323