contact

dr. M.A. (Marco) Bontje


  • Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences
    GPIO : Urban Geographies
  • Nieuwe Achtergracht  166
    1018 WV  Amsterdam
    Room number: N119
  • M.A.Bontje@uva.nl
    T:  0205255240

Introducing...

Marco Bontje is assistant professor in urban geography at the Department of Geography, Planning and International Development Studies of the University of Amsterdam. Within the research institute AISSR he is member of the research group Urban Geographies.

While his main research interest lies in urban geographic issues, his research has crossed disciplinary boundaries towards urban and regional planning, economic geography and environmental geography. Research topics so far have included the effectiveness of Dutch national urbanisation policy (PhD thesis); sustainable development of city-edge and (post-)suburban business locations; spatial, social and economic conditions for internationally competitive creative knowledge cities; and the impact of demographic and economic decline on cities and regions. All these topics have been studied in comparative projects including  cases from several European countries. Marco's ambition is to continue on this comparative path and also cross continental boundaries in the near future. A first step towards this goal was a sabbatical leave of 3 months at City University Hong Kong (September - December 2012).

Currently Marco's two main research foci are:
- Creative knowledge cities and regions. After completing the project 'The Inventive City' which involved a comparison of the role of creativity and knowledge in the competitiveness strategies of 7 European city-regions, he became involved in the EU 6th Framework project Accommodating Creative Knowledge (ACRE) (2006-2010) and the NWO-funded project Implications of location preferences of highly educated workers for spatial development of metropolitan areas (2012-2014).
- Shrinking cities and regions. Marco was involved in a study of the Parkstad Limburg region in the south of the Netherlands, is member of the Management Committee of the COST Action 'Cities Regrowing Smaller', and is planning to acquire external funding for additional projects on this theme.

Marco's teaching experience includes lectures, working groups, individual supervision of bachelor and master theses, and the organisation of foreign field trips. The international and comparative nature of his research is reflected in his teaching, which is largely about the topics mentioned above. The research master programme he currently is the director of is interdisciplinary and very international, both in terms of the programme content and the student population.

Key publications

Articles in peer-reviewed journals (selection)

 Grossmann, K., M. Bontje, A. Haase & V. Mykhnenko (2013) Shrinking cities: notes for the further research agenda. Cities 35: 221-225.

Bontje, M. & P. Lawton (2013) Mobile policies and shifting contexts: city-regional competitiveness strategies in Amsterdam and Dublin. TESG 104 (4): 397-409.

Bontje, M. & S. Musterd (2012) Understanding shrinkage in European regions. Built Environment 38 (2): 153-161.

Bontje, M., S. Musterd, Z. Kovacs & A. Murie (2011) Pathways toward European creative knowledge city-regions. Urban Geography 32 (1): 80-104.

Wijk, M. van, K. Brattinga & M. Bontje (2011) Exploit or protect airport regions from urbanization? Assessment of land-use restrictions in Amsterdam-Schiphol. European Planning Studies 12 (2): 261-277.

Bontje, M. & S. Musterd (2009) Creative industries, creative class and competitiveness: expert opinions critically appraised. Geoforum 40 (5): 843-852.

Bontje, M. & S. Musterd (2008) The multi-layered city: the value of old urban profiles. TESG 99 (2): 248-255.

Musterd, S., M. Bontje & W. Ostendorf (2006) The changingrole of old and new urban centers: the case of the Amsterdam region. Urban Geography 27 (4): 360-387.

Bontje, M. & J. Burdack (2005) Edge Cities European-style: examples from Paris and the Randstad.Cities 22(4): 317-330.

Bontje, M. & J. Latten (2005) Stable size, changing composition: recent migration dynamics of the Dutch large cities. TESG 96 (4): 444-451.

Bontje, M. (2004) Facing the challenge of shrinking cities in East Grmany: the case of Leipzig. GeoJournal 61 (1): 13-21.

Bontje, M. (2004) Sustainable new economic centres in European metropolitan regions: a stakeholders' perspective. European Planning Studies 12 (5): 703-722.

Bontje, M. (2004) From suburbia to post-suburbia in the Netherlands: potentials and threats for sustainable regional development. Journal of Housing and Built Environment19 (1): 25-47.

Bontje, M. (2003) A 'planner's paradise' lost? Past, present and future of Dutch national urbanization policy. European Urban and Regional Studies 10 (2): 135-152.

Bontje, M. (2001) Dealing with deconcentration: population deconcentration and planning response in polynucleated urban regions in North-West Europe. Urban Studies 38 (4): 769-786.

Monographs

Bontje, M., S. Musterd & P. Pelzer (2011) Inventive city-regions: path dependence and creative knowledge strategies. Ashgate, 272 pp.

see link to book flyer below

 

Book chapters

Bontje, M. & K. Kepsu (2013) Creative knowledge strategies for polycentric city-regions.  In: S. Musterd & Z. Kovacs (eds.) Place-making and policies for competitive cities, pp. 191-208.  Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.

Egedy, T., A. von Streit & M. Bontje (2013) Policies towards multi-layered cities and cluster development. In: S. Musterd & Z. Kovacs (eds.) Place-making and policies for competitive cities, pp. 35-58.  Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.

Bontje, M. & J. Burdack (2011) Post-suburbia in continental Europe. In: N. Phelps & F. Wu (eds.) International perspectives on suburbanisation: a post-suburban world? , pp. 143-162. Palgrave Macmillan.

Streit, A. von, M. Bontje & E. d'Agnese (2010) Stable trajectories towards the creative knowledge city? Amsterdam, Munich and Milan. In: S. Musterd & A. Murie (eds.), Making competitive cities, pp. 43-66. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.

Pareja-Eastaway, M., M. Bontje & M. d'Ovidio (2010) Attracting young andhigh-skilled workers: Amsterdam, Barcelona and Milan. In: S. Musterd & A.Murie (eds.),Making competitive cities, pp192-207. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.

Ph.D. thesis

Bontje, M. (2001) The challenge of planned urbanisation. Urbanisation and national urbanisation policy in the Netherlands in a Northwest-European perspective. Amsterdam: AME, University of Amsterdam / Thela Thesis.

Edited journal issues

Bontje, M. & S. Musterd (2012) Editors of special issue of Built Environment 38 (2): 'Understanding shrinkage in European regions'. 

Ploeger, R., J. Lawson & M. Bontje (2001) Editors of special issue of Journal of Housing and the Built Environment 16 (1): 'The methodological challenge of comparative research'.

Edited volume

Deben, L. & M. Bontje (2006) Creativity and diversity: key challenges to the 21st-century city. Amsterdam: Het Spinhuis.

Short CV

Marco Bontje

Born 20 March 1973 in Alkmaar, Netherlands

Current position

Since 2009: assistant professor at the Department of Geography, Planning and International Development Studies, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Since 2011: Secretary of Exam Committee Bachelor and Master Human Geography and Urban/Regional Planning

Career

2006-2013: Programme director of Research Master Urban Studies (programme name until 1 September 2012: Research Master Metropolitan Studies)

2006-2010 Programme director of Research Master Human Geography, Planning and Development Studies; and Master Urban Studies

2005-2009: researcher and lecturer at the Department of Geography, Planning and International Development Studies, Amsterdam, Netherlands

2001-2005: post-doc researcher at the Department of Geography, Planning and International Development Studies, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands

2002-2004: post-doc researcher at the Leibniz Institute of Regional Geography, Leipzig, Germany (Marie Curie Host Fellowship)

1997-2001: Ph.D. researcher at the Amsterdam studycentre for the Metropolitan Environment(AME), University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands. Ph.D. thesis successfully defended 30 October 2001.

Memberships, committees etc.

Member of Management Committee, COST TU0803 'Cities Regrowing Smaller' (2009-2013)

Member of editorial board, Journal of Housing and Built Environment (since 2007)

Member of editorial board, International Journal of Knowledge-Based Development (since 2012)

Member of editorial board, Ruimte & Maatschappij (since 2009)

Member of editorial board, Geografie (2001-2010)

Member of scientific advisory council of Raad voor Ruimtelijk, Milieu- en Natuuronderzoek (Schaduwraad Wetenschap RMNO) (2008-2009)

Contact

Work address: Department of Geography, Planning and International Development Studies, University of Amsterdam, Plantage Muidergracht 14, 1018 TV Amsterdam, Netherlands

Phone: +31 20 5255240

E-mail: M.A.Bontje@uva.nl

Teaching

Some of my current and recent teaching activities in the bachelor and master programmes of Human Geography and Planning and in our research master programmes:

  • Secretary of Exam Committee Bachelor and Master Human Geography and Planning since September 2011
  • Programme director and academic adviser of the Research Master Urban Studies, 2006-2013 (programme name until 1 September 2012: Research Master Metropolitan Studies)
  • Programme director of the Research Master Human Geography, Planning and Development Studies, 2006-2010 (meanwhile the programme has changed its name and thematic focus and is now the Research Master International Development Studies)
  • Programme director of the Master Urban Studies, 2006-2010
  • First year bachelor course 'Mondialisering en Stedelijke Ontwikkeling' ('Mondialisation and Urban Development'): introducing geography students to the many dimension of mondialisation and its influence on urban development. Includes both thematic and regionally oriented lectures; working groups; fieldwork assignments in and around Amsterdam.
  • First year bachelor course 'Steden in Noord en Zuid' ('Cities in North and South'): lectures and working groups introducing students to similarities and differences in urban development across the globe.
  • First year research project 'Project Stad' ('Project City'): students in geography and planning get acquainted with doing academic research in an urban setting, specifically focusing on neighbourhoods in transition in Amsterdam.
  • Second year bachelor course 'Leeronderzoek Planologie': students learn how to design, carry out and report an academic research, working in small groups (4 to 5 students). Group themes have included planning for regional shrinkage in several Dutch regions, and revitalizing the neighbourhood economy in Amsterdam-Noord.
  • Third year bachelor courses 'Scriptieproject Sociale Geografie' (Thesis Project Human Geography) and 'Scriptieproject Planologie' ('Thesis Project Urban/Regional Planning'): in working group sessions, students design the research design for their bachelor thesis step-by-step and present it to each other and the teaching staff. Then each of them gathers data, analyses it and writes a bachelor thesis under our supervision. Students define their own specific theme within a broad overarching theme. Themes have included: the city and the crisis; the university and the city; shrinkage and growth; neighbourhood careers; creativity, diversity and the city; polycentric urban regions.
  • Portfolio Research Masters: students compose their own portfolio of extracurricular activities, which may include research or professional internships, attending lecture series and conferences, writing articles, presenting at academic meetings etc.
  • Thesis Seminar Research Master Urban Studies
  • Supervisor of several master theses in Human Geography and Planning, and of several bachelor theses in Planning based on research internships (stage-scripties).

2015

2014

2013

  • K. Grossmann, M. Bontje, A. Haase & V. Mykhnenko (2013). Shrinking cities: notes for the further research agenda. Cities : The International Journal of Urban Policy and Planning, 35, 221-225. doi: 10.1016/j.cities.2013.07.007
  • M. Bontje & P. Lawton (2013). Mobile policies and shifting contexts: city-regional competitiveness strategies in Amsterdam and Dublin. Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, 104 (4), 397-409. doi: 10.1111/tesg.12024
  • T. Egedy, A. von Streit & M. Bontje (2013). Policies towards multi-layered cities and cluster development. In S. Musterd & Z. Kovács (Eds.), Place-making and policies for competitive cities (pp. 35-58). Chichester: Wiley Blackwell.
  • M. Bontje & K. Kepsu (2013). Creative knowledge strategies for polycentric city-regions. In S. Musterd & Z. Kovács (Eds.), Place-making and policies for competitive cities (pp. 191-207). Chichester: Wiley Blackwell.

2012

  • M. Bontje (2012). Creatieve stadsinnovatie? Kansen en beperkingen van creativiteit als aanjager van stedelijke vernieuwing in middelgrote steden. Ruimte & Maatschappij, 3 (4), 28-47.
  • M. Bontje & S. Musterd (2012). Understanding shrinkage in European regions. Built Environment, 38 (2), 153-161. doi: 10.2148/benv.38.2.153

2011

2010

  • M. Pareja-Eastaway, M. Bontje & M. d'Ovidio (2010). Attracting young and high-skilled workers: Amsterdam, Milan and Barcelona. In S. Musterd & A. Murie (Eds.), Making competitive cities (pp. 192-207). Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.
  • A. von Streit & M. Bontje (2010). Stable trajectories towards the creative knowledge city? Amsterdam, Munich and Milan. In S. Musterd & A. Murie (Eds.), Making competitive cities (pp. 43-66). Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.
  • R. de Mey, N. Vallet, K. Marchand & M. Bontje (2010). Het creatieve geheugen: stadsinnovatieprojecten rond openbare bibliotheken en creatieve economie. Brussel: Politeia.

2009

2008

2014

2011

  • M. Bontje & J. Burdack (2011). Post-suburbia in continental Europe. In N.A. Phelps & F. Wu (Eds.), International perspectives on suburbanization: a post-suburban world? (pp. 143-162) Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

2010

  • K. Marchand & M. Bontje (2010). Creatieve economieën. In R. de Mey, N. Vallet, K. Marchand & M. Bontje (Eds.), Het creatieve geheugen: stadsinnovatieprojecten rond openbare bibliotheken en creatieve economieën (pp. 161-224). Brussel: Politeia.

2013

2012

  • M. Bontje (2012). [Review of the book The aging population and the competitiveness of cities: benefits to the urban economy]. International Journal of Housing Policy, 12(1), 110-112.
  • M. Bontje (2012). Rechtvaardige planners. Agora, 28 (1), 7.

2011

  • M. Bontje (2011). [Review of the book Krimp!]. Stedebouw & Ruimtelijke Ordening, 92(2), 63-64.
  • M. Bontje (2011). [Review of the book The just city]. Journal of Urban Affairs, 33(5), 595-597.
  • M. Bontje & P. Pelzer (2011). De creatieve hype. Agora, 27 (3), 18-21.

2010

2009

2008

Andere

  • M. Bontje & M. Bernt (2011). organizers of workshop session ‘Changing Urban Geographies of Growth and Decline’. RC21 Conference ‘The struggle to belong’: Amsterdam (2011, July 7 - 2011, July 9).

Spreker

  • M. Bontje (2012, March 13). De universiteit en de kennismetropool. Amsterdam, Presentation at the Beta-Symposium.
  • M. Bontje (2012, April 18). Shrinking cities in the Netherlands: past, present and future. Pittsburgh, Paper presented at the Urban Affairs Association Conference, Pittsburgh, 18-21 April 2012.
  • M. Bontje (2012, February 28). Creativiteit, kennis en stadsregio’s. De stadsregio Amsterdam in Europees perspectief. Utrecht, Presentation at VUGS.
  • M. Bontje & P. Lawton (2011, March 16). Competing for talent, firms and capital: city-regional competitiveness strategies in Amsterdam and Dublin. Amsterdam, Paper presented at the Urban Affairs Association Conference, New Orleans, 16-19 March 2011.
  • M. Bontje (2011, May 19). Inventive City-Regions: de stadsregio Amsterdam in Europees perspectief. Den Haag, Presentation at Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (Planbureau voor de Leefomgeving).
  • K. Elzerman & M. Bontje (2011, February 16). Urban shrinkage in Parkstad Limburg. Amsterdam, Paper presented at the conference ‘Shrinkage in Europe: causes, effects and policy strategies’.

Tijdschriftredactie

  • T. Wiechmann & M.A. Bontje (Eds.). (2015) European Planning Studies, 23(1).
  • M.A. Bontje (Ed.). (2014) Journal of Housing and the Built Environment.
  • M.A. Bontje (Ed.). (2014) International Journal of Knowledge-Based Development.
  • M.A. Bontje (Ed.). (2014) Ruimte & Maatschappij.
  • M.A. Bontje (Ed.). (2012) Journal of Housing and the Built Environment.
  • M.A. Bontje (Ed.). (2012) International Journal of Knowledge-Based Development.
  • M.A. Bontje & S. Musterd (Eds.). (2012) Built Environment, 38(2).
  • M.A. Bontje (Ed.). (2012) Ruimte & Maatschappij.
  • M.A. Bontje (Ed.). (2011) Journal of Housing and the Built Environment.
  • M.A. Bontje (Ed.). (2011) Ruimte & Maatschappij.
  • M.A. Bontje (Ed.). (2009) Geografie.
  • M.A. Bontje (Ed.). (2009) Journal of Housing and the Built Environment.
  • M.A. Bontje (Ed.). (2009) Ruimte & Maatschappij.

Tijdschriftredactie

  • M. Bontje (2013). [Review of the book Reurbanisierung: Materialität und Diskurs in Deutschland]. Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, 104(2), 251-253.
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