Author & Urbanist
Ronald McGill
First, about my autistic son Roddy
AUTISM - my book Three Royal Terrace, written through the eyes of my son who has no spontaneous language, thus "giving him a voice"!
See also, the other side of the story, The Expatriate.
Now about Ronald
The Expatriate
The book centres on my and my young family's experience in Malawi. However, the first part gives insights into life as a private soldier in the British Army. It culminates in Aden when the British were being pushed out. For many, the army can be a salvation.
The book moves to the fight to enter, and the subsequent experience of, university education: in my case the five-year town planning programme at Heriot-Watt University.
The book includes a tribute to a truly magical corner of the country; north-west Cumbria (Chapter10). I was too young (late 20s) when working there. I declared that if I had discovered that corner of England a decade later, I suspect I would have stayed. It inspired my first journal paper.
But wanderlust took hold!

Next, the Urbanist
Leadership – team leading and nurturing: helping communities in problem-solving and planning.
Performance budgeting (PB): output accountability to HQ and local clients. PB exposure in China and Iran. Urban – GIS supported environmental / infrastructure threshold analysis for spatially efficient town plans.
Integrated urban development (policy and budgetary) strategies, with community engagement.
Institutional (policy & legal context; organisational structures; planning processes) analysis.
Capacity assessments and resulting building: design and delivery through ‘learning-by-doing’ training.
Research – latest, 2023: journal papers on ‘green urban development’ and the ‘science of town planning’.
Finally, more about the Author
Plus the June 2024 picture of a spirited farewell from my
Global Green Growth Institute colleagues in Uganda.
