Dimah Ajeeb
Dimah is the Program Leader for MA Tourism Management and MA Event Design and Management. She is a Senior Lecturer in Architecture, Urban Design, Regional Planning and Tourism at Westminster School of Architecture + Cities and the School of Business. She is a member of the School of Architecture + Cities Research and Knowledge Exchange Committee. She is awarded the Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA).
Dimah holds a Bachelor's degree in Architectural Engineering (BSc ArchEng – 5-Year Integrated Degree) from Damascus University. The comprehensive interdisciplinary programme covered architectural design, structural engineering, urban design, city planning, construction and executive design, law, housing, real estate legislation, surveying, interior architecture, and heritage studies. Dimah graduated with First Class Honours, having achieved the highest overall mark among the graduating cohort of 2006. She was also awarded the highest outstanding mark in the final (fifth) year of the programme.
Following this, she completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Architecture and Urban Design (PGDipArch) with Distinction, also at Damascus University. In recognition of her first-place ranking in Architectural Engineering, she was awarded a competitive scholarship by Damascus University to pursue a master’s degree in the USA and a PhD in the UK.
Dimah holds a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Visitor Economy and Tourism Governance, Crisis Management, Resilient Destinations, Regeneration and Levelling Up Left Behind Places. She holds a Master’s degree (MURP) in Urban and Regional Planning (Distinction) and a Postgraduate Diploma (PGDip) in Urban Design, Regeneration and Physical Planning (awarded a full grade and First Class Honours) from the State University of New York. The two-year MURP (Master of Urban and Regional Planning) program was interdisciplinary in nature, covering a broad range of subjects including urban and regional planning, community/ neighbourhood planning, urban regeneration, research methods in planning, GIS, race, class and gender in the built environment, historic preservation, economy, urban design, tourism policy and planning, projects in physical planning, transport, and infrastructure planning. The program culminated in a master's thesis. Both the MURP and PGDip Urban Design are accredited by the American Planning Association (APA).
Alongside her academic and research career, she has worked in architectural design, urban design, and planning consultancy since 2006.
Dimah started her academic research as a Research Fellow at Damascus University, where she published a number of articles in architecture, regeneration, urban design & planning, housing, and tourism. She had the privilege to engage with and research the European Union's Municipal Administration Modernisation (MAM) project in Syria for devolution, institutional reform, and effective local governance in the years 2005-2009.
Her master’s degree dissertation in the USA, titled; Local Governments' Urban Design and Planning Strategies and Policies, a comparative case study was published by the University of New York Press and by ProQuest in 2012 and was reserved in the collection of the American Library of Congress in 2012. In the USA, she co-authored a number of publications and worked in teams on key regeneration, community, and urban planning projects in New York, one of them won two planning professional awards granted by the American Planning Association/ APA New York Upstate Chapter (the first award: 2012 planning Excellence Award: Outstanding Project, for the project: Against the Grain: A New Direction for the Old First Ward, and the second award for: Making Great Communities Happen- Reconsidering Atlantis: Inside Buffalo's Grain Elevators).
Dimah’s research interests encompass political economy, political renewal, EU institutional modernisation, and England’s restructuring policies and institutional reforms, alongside processes of decentralisation and devolution. Her work examines how these dynamics influence and reshape governance structures and financial arrangements across multi-level governance systems—vertically across national, regional, and local levels, and horizontally through the involvement of non-state actors. These interests have been further developed through her doctoral research, which explored the Visitor Economy and Tourism Governance in the context of Crisis Management, Resilient Destinations, Regeneration, and the Levelling Up Left-Behind Places. Drawing on the Multi-Level Governance framework for a decentralised and crisis management context, typologies of governance and resilience theories, along with the support of empirical insights from eight English destinations, the thesis critically examined governance structures, funding models, and the specific processes, practices, opportunities, challenges, and outcomes associated with their crisis responses. The study resulted in a comprehensive model and a policy and governance framework designed to support tourism destinations in responding effectively to both current and future crises.
Dimah’s PhD research, initially undertaken at the Bartlett School of Planning, University College London (UCL), explored the broader political agendas and governance frameworks in England, with particular attention to localism movements and place-based economies. Owing to the research’s potential for the UK political and economic contexts, she was invited to continue the study at the University of Sheffield, supported by the ESRC White Rose Social Sciences Doctoral Training Partnership Scholarship. This invitation was jointly extended by the Department of Urban Studies and Planning and the Department of Politics at Sheffield. The research further evolved with an interdisciplinary dimension through its continuation at the University of Greenwich’s School of Management and Marketing. This phase integrated the political economy and planning perspectives with business and management approaches to tourism governance.
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic and its profound impact on the tourism sector and the wider visitor economy, the research shifted focus. Originally centred on tourism governance and financial restructuring in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis and the UK Coalition Government’s 2010 decentralisation agenda—including institutional reforms, austerity, and political uncertainty—it expanded to examine the broader crisis landscape that shaped England between 2010 and 2024. This period witnessed significant political transitions, changes in leadership, and shifting international relations, particularly between the UK and the European Union, as well as other global actors. Simultaneously, the UK tourism sector faced multiple crises—including austerity, terrorist threats, extreme weather events, the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and a rapidly rising cost of living. These overlapping challenges demanded that tourism stakeholders and destinations adapt to complex and evolving governance environments. The PhD research focused on these transformations and the resilience of tourism governance in the face of sustained political, economic, and social upheaval.
Dimah is regularly invited by the University of Westminster’s Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Team, the University Press Office, and Forbes Research to contribute expert commentary and scholarly short articles on policies and developments in planning, tourism, and related fields. She contributes actively to academic publishing, serving as a reviewer for Tourism Geographies (Routledge/Taylor & Francis) and as an editor and reviewer for both the International Journal of Tourism Cities (IJTC) and IGI Global’s Sustainable Tourism.
Dimah has been invited as a scholarly expert at several high-profile national and international forums, including the 2023 Global Council for Political Renewal Conference and a special event at the UK House of Lords, Palace of Westminster, marking the launch of Dr Henry Tam’s book Whose Government is it? – The Renewal of State-Citizen Cooperation.
PhD researchers and visiting scholars are welcome to collaborate with her on specialised or interdisciplinary topics detailed in the Research Areas section.
Publications, Research Projects & Presentations:
Ajeeb, D. (2025). Tourism Governance in Times of Crisis: A Multi-Level Governance Perspective. PhD Thesis.
Ajeeb, D. Tourism Governance Types and Arrangements in England 2010–2024: Frameworks of Governance Typology.
Ajeeb, D. Tourism and the Multi-Level Governance of Crisis Management.
Ajeeb, D. Resilient and Adaptive Future of Tourism Governance.
Ajeeb, D. Multi-Level Governance for a Resilient and Adaptive Visitor Economy.
Ajeeb, D. Local Visitor Economy Partnerships (LVEPs) in England: Opportunities and Limitations.
Ajeeb, D. English LVEPs and Scottish DDMMOs: An evaluation of governance structures, funding models, and performance
Ajeeb, D. (2023). Multi-Level Governance of the Visitor Economy in England: Supporting Devolution and Reviving Left-Behind Places. British Academy- Innovation Fellowships 2023-24 Route B: Policy-led (Central Government).
Ajeeb, D. (2023). Multi-Level Governance of the Visitor Economy in England: Lessons for Devolution and Reviving Left-Behind Places. Regional Studies Association Conference: Cities and Regions of Tomorrow: Better Regional Futures, 9–10 November, London, UK.
Ajeeb, D. (2023). Tourism Governance in Times of Crisis: A Multi-Level Governance Perspective. Regional Studies Association Annual Conference: Transforming Regions: Policies and Planning for People and Places, 14–17 June, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Ajeeb, D. (2023). Multi-Level Governance Framework for Global Political Renewal. Presented at the Global Council for Political Renewal Conference, 14–15 April, London, UK.
Ajeeb, D. (2022). English Tourism Governance in Times of Crisis: Limitations and Opportunities. Tourism Research Centre, University of Greenwich, London, UK.
Floros, C., Cai, W., McKenna, B., & Ajeeb, D. (2021). Imagine being off-the-grid: Millennials’ Perceptions of Digital-Free Travel. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 29(5), 751–766.
Ajeeb, D. (2019). Localism, Prosperity, and Community-Led Regeneration: Somers Town Case Study.
Ajeeb, D. (2019). Community-Led Tourism and Regeneration.
Ajeeb, D. (2019). Visitor Routes in the Old City of Damascus: Implications and Strategies for Improvement. In A. Sharma & A. Hassan (Eds.), Tourism Events in Asia. Routledge.
Ajeeb, D. (2017). Community Involvement in Planning, Regeneration and Gentrification: Somers Town Case Study.
Ajeeb, D. (2016). Decentralisation and England’s Governance of Tourism: Case Study of Greater Manchester. 6th International Tourism Studies Association (ITSA) Biennial Conference, University of Greenwich, London, 17–19 August. International Journal of Tourism Cities.
Ajeeb, D. (2012). Local Governments' Urban Design and Planning Strategies and Policies. Master’s Thesis, State University of New York. ProQuest.
Ajeeb, D., et al. (2011). Against the Grain: A New Direction for the Old First Ward. State University of New York Press.
Ajeeb, D., et al. (2011). Looking Back to Inform the Future: Michigan Street Heritage Corridor (1920s & 30s). University at Buffalo, SUNY.
Ajeeb, D. (2010). Municipal Administration Modernisation (MAM) Project in Syria: Proposals and Implementations. Damascus University Press.
Ajeeb, D. (2009). The Development of Building Regulations and Its Implications on Damascus City. Damascus University Press.
Ajeeb, D. & Adanov, J. (2009). Sustainable Urban Design in the Desert. Damascus University Press.
Ajeeb, D. & Adanov, J. (2008). International Conventions and Heritage (Tunis vs. Lubeck). Damascus University Press.
Ajeeb, D. (2007). Therapeutic Tourist Resorts: Past, Present, and Future. Damascus University Press.
Ajeeb, D. (2007). Principles of Architectural and Urban Design in the Desert: Proportions, Mass, Materials, and Details. Damascus University Press.
