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Political and Economic Geographies

Human Geography, Planning and International Development Studies
Political and Economic Geographies

Ongoing globalization processes and planetary problems, such as climate change, continually reshape the economic and geopolitical landscapes within which various actors maneuver. Additionally, recurrent technological shifts in the movement of people and goods, and the increasing commodification of data, have radically transformed social, economic, and political relations at different scales and intensities. Research within the PEG group has continuously responded to these changing socio-spatial dynamics. 

While space and scale serve as critical entry points into processes of territorialization, deterritorialization and reterritorialization, so do the people, corporations, and state institutions that operate within and across local, national, and global levels. Our growing group of researchers work on a wide array of topics, which vary greatly in terms of location and scale: from urban housing markets in China to entrepreneurial spaces in Amsterdam; from regional and national identities in and around the European Union to the digital labor platforms restructuring global production relations between the North and the South. The expanding influence of financial technologies and social media on markets and politics, as well as the transformation of social relations and economic practices through digital platforms, are increasingly central to our work.

Our research and teaching spans a remarkable range of theoretical and methodological approaches. While gathering various sub-fields within Human Geography (e.g., political geography and critical geopolitics, financial and economic geography, and digital geography), the PEG group also works across disciplinary boundaries, drawing on and contributing to debates in Economics, Political Economy, Social Policy, Law, Demography, Migration Studies, International Relations, Political Science, Area Studies, and Science and Technology Studies. While theoretically oriented in origin, our work is driven by practical issues, public engagement, and the pursuit of solutions to critical societal challenges, such as rising socioeconomic inequalities, conflicts related to identity, territory, and truth claims, and the ongoing climate crisis.

Research Themes 

Our programme is comprised of several distinct but increasingly overlapping fields of multidisciplinary study:

  • Political geographies of globalization and re-territorialization
  • Geographies of housing and property, inequality and wealth 
  • The geopolitical implications of digital platforms 
  • Production networks in the cultural and creative industries
  • The digitalization of livelihoods and informal economies
  • Labor, migration, and the flexibilization of work

Our projects

  • THICE: Transformations in Housing and the Intergenerational Contract in Europe

    This project aims to deepen understanding of how housing wealth is reshaping intergenerational relationships in Europe and explore socially just solutions.

    Increasing housing inequalities, with wealth concentrations among older homeowners and limited affordable housing access for younger adults, have impacted European societies. There's a resurgence of family dependencies, with intergenerational support increasingly focused on housing, such as adult co-residence and family assistance for first-time buyers.

    Investigating this restructuring, THICE employs a comparative, cross-disciplinary approach integrating quantitative and qualitative analyses. Work packages analyze institutional foundations, family dynamics intersecting with housing, intergenerational support outcomes, and housing inequalities, culminating in visions for Intergenerational Housing Futures.

    Funded by: Volkswagen Stiftung

    Durarion: 1 Sept 2024 – 31 Aug 2028

    Project leaders

    Prof. R. (Richard) Ronald

    Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences

    GPIO: Political and Economic Geographies

    Dr. R.I.M. (Rowan) Arundel

    Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences

    GPIO: Political and Economic Geographies

  • WEALTHSCAPES: The spatial polarization of housing markets and divided access to housing wealth accumulation

    Residential real estate, the primary global wealth store, profoundly shapes societal inequalities, yet its centrality in driving inequality is overlooked. Housing markets, influenced by global capital integration and financialization, exhibit uneven capital flows, entangled with dynamics of development, demographics, and segregation. This spatial polarization of housing markets, combined with disparate housing access based on socio-economic status and parental resources, exacerbates inequality.

    WEALTHSCAPES integrates political-economy, housing, and urban studies, employing spatial and quantitative modeling to explore how spatial market polarization intersects with unequal housing access to fuel wealth disparities. Comparative analysis across the Netherlands, UK, and Spain illuminates national institutional influences on these dynamics.

    Through innovative spatial and quantitative analyses of various datasets, the research maps and explains housing market polarization, highlighting its critical role in exacerbating wealth inequalities across geographic scales.

    Funded by: NWO Veni 

    Durarion: 1 Sept 2021 - 31 Aug 2025

    Project Leader

    Dr. R.I.M. (Rowan) Arundel

    Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences

    GPIO: Political and Economic Geographies

  • CICERONE. Culture is capital

    CICERONE studies Europe's cultural and creative industries. These industries create products with high symbolic and aesthetic values, thereby helping us shape the places we live in and the lifestyles we develop. We owe them the books we read, the buildings we utilize, the films we watch and the clothes we wear. Cultural and creative industries are also important catalysts for innovation making them vital for a vibrant and resilient European economy.

    CICERONE wants to better understand how cultural and creative industries work and how they respond to new challenges in a changing world. Through this we can learn how best to optimize support for these industries to enable their full societal and economic potential.

    Funded by: European Union Horizon 2020

    Project duration: 1 Feb 2019 - 30 June 2023

    Project leader

    Prof. dr. R.C. (Robert) Kloosterman

    Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences

    GPIO: Political and Economic Geographies

Programme group leader

Prof. R. (Richard) Ronald

Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences

GPIO: Political and Economic Geographies

Research staff