Dr Peter Matthews

Senior Lecturer in Sociology/Social Policy and Criminology

PeterMatthews ‌I have a particular focus on urban policy and planning and related areas. After completing an undergraduate history degree at the University of Cambridge, focusing on urban socio-economic history, I studied the MSc in Urban and Regional Planning at Heriot-Watt University before completing my doctorate, on Scottish urban regeneration policy between 1989 and 2008, at Urban Studies, University of Glasgow.

My research is interdisciplinary with a particular interest in:

  • The interactions between policy and place, and how this can be interpreted;
  • How time and temporalities are framed, created and interpreted by policy processes in the built environment;
  • Place-belonging and community activism, engagement and participation;
  • Intangible heritage and broadening the definitions of heritage;
  • Co-produced methods in research and policy-making.

My current research is looking at LGBT+ experiences of homelessness, housing provision and experiences of residence. My previous research, published as Ladders to the Cloud, used data from a Facebook page to explore place-attachment and social class in an Edinburgh neighbourhood.

See my publications here.

E-mail:  peter.matthews@stir.ac.uk 

Telephone: +44 (0)1786 467688

Twitter: @urbaneprofessor