Political and Economic Geographies
Human Geography, Planning and International Development Studies
Globalization and global issues like climate change are constantly changing the economic and political landscapes. Technological advancements in transportation and data commodification have significantly altered social, economic, and political relationships. The PEG group’s research continuously adapts to these evolving dynamics.
PEG is driven by practical issues, public engagement, societal challenges, conflicts related to identity, territory, and truth claims, and the ongoing climate crisis. From urban housing markets in China to entrepreneurial spaces in Amsterdam; from regional and national identities in the European Union to the digital labor platforms restructuring global production relations between the North and the South.
The expanding influence of 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.
Research Themes
- 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
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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
Duration: 1 Sept 2024 – 31 Aug 2028
Project leaders
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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
Duration: 1 Sept 2021 - 31 Aug 2025
Project Leader
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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
Duration: 1 Feb 2019 - 30 June 2023
Project leader