The Urban and Culture Research Group explores diverse urban experiences in multiple ways. It highlights its interdisciplinary nature by engaging disciplines such as sociology, economics, history, geography, anthropology, management, public policy, cultural studies and other related areas. With a particular focus on the East Asian Region, especially Greater China Region studies (mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan), this research group highlights its particularities by comparatively conducting research by engaging existing research across different countries to push forward the theoretical boundary, it also carries out cross-disciplinary research to inform and influence debates on a broad range of issues on urban environments. The group’s three main strands of research are: urban development, which focuses on processes such as urbanization, economic growth, and social change; urban sustainability, addressing the environmental, social, and economic aspects of maintaining sustainable urban spaces; and cultural and economic transformations, which examine how tourism, culture, and economic activities influence and reshape urban environments and their management.
John C. Ryan is a writer, teacher, critic, and ethnographer. His current affiliations are Adjunct (Honorary) Associate Professor at Southern Cross University and Adjunct (Honorary) Senior Research Fellow at the Nulungu Institute, Notre Dame University, Australia. He has held academic positions as Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Edith Cowan University (2012–15) and University of New England, Australia (2017–20). He also served as Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Western Australia (2015–20).
His work comprises 18 academic books (authored and edited), 44 book chapters, 86 refereed journal articles, 16 refereed conference publications, and 82 conference and symposia presentations. He has published in high-impact journals such as Educational Theory and Philosophy, Australian Humanities Review, Continuum, Environmental Humanities, Environmental Philosophy, Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment, Global Media Journal, Oral History Australia Journal, Media International Australia, and TEXT; and with Bloomsbury, Brill, McGill-Queen’s, NewSouth Books, Routledge, Rowman and Littlefield, SUNY Press, University of Michigan, University of Minnesota, and University of Washington. To date, his research has attracted $218,350 US in competitive international funding.
His poetry and non-fiction have been published internationally by Fremantle Press, Margaret River Press, Arc Poetry Magazine, Australian Geographic, Axon, Cordite Poetry Review, and Griffith Review. Reviews of my work have appeared in Australian Poetry, Sydney Morning Herald, The Conversation, and Weekend Australian.
Visiting Fellows AY2023-24
Prof Michele Lancione
Michele Lancione is full Professor of Geography at the Polytechnic of Turin, Italy, and Visiting Professor of Urban Studies at the University of Sheffield, UK. Co-founder and editor of the Radical Housing Journal and corresponding editor at IJURR, his work focuses on radical forms of inhabitation and housing struggles (through a five-year European Research Council project). With AbdouMaliq Simone, he has founded and co-directs the new Beyond Inhabitation: A Collective Study Lab (https://beyondinhabitation.org/). His latest books include Grammars of the Urban Ground (Duke University Press, ed with Ash Amin), Global Urbanism (Routledge, ed with Colin McFarlane) and the recent monograph For a Liberatory Politics of Home (Duke University Press).
Visiting Fellows AY2024-25
Prof Erik Albæk
Since 2005 Erik Albæk has been professor in and from 2005-2024 he was research director of the Centre for Journalism at the University of Southern Denmark. He built up and developed from scratch one of the world’s leading milieus of journalism research and political communication. He has been a visiting professor at MIT and Harvard University, US, University of Vilnius, Lithuania, University of Potsdam, Germany, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and the Catholic University of Chile, Santiago de Chile. Amongst other publications, he is the(co-)author of the twice award-winning book Political Communication in Comparative Perspective”. He has recently started a new research project on architecture as political communication.
Dr Takahiro Ota
Takahiro Ota is Associate Professor in the Environmental Coexistence Studies lab, Global Studies Division, Graduate School of Human Sciences at The University of Osaka. He earned his Doctor title in Engineering from Nagoya University in March 2013 and an M.Sc. in Biodiversity and Conservation from the University of Leeds in September 2008. Dr. Ota’s research focuses on ecosystem services, payment for ecosystem services (PES), cultural ecosystem services, wetlands, and environmental policy. He develops methodologies to enhance PES policies and assess ecosystem service needs—particularly in forests and wetlands—across contexts such as Japan and Indonesia. Active in academic service, he serves as an editor for Sustainability Science, and holds board positions in multiple Japanese environmental academic societies.
Visiting Fellows AY2025-26
Dr Pedro Aznar
Pedro Aznar is an Associate Professor of Economics at Esade Business School (Universitat Ramon Llull). He holds a PhD in Economics and Business from the University of Málaga and specializes in applied microeconomics, with a particular focus on tourism and hospitality markets.
His research lies at the intersection of industrial organization and tourism economics, examining competition, pricing strategies, and market structure in the hotel industry, as well as the disruptive role of digital platforms such as Airbnb. His work also analyzes the impact of public policies and macroeconomic shocks, most notably COVID-19, on tourism demand and firm performance. His research has been published in leading international journals and has attracted over 800 citations, reflecting its academic impact. He serves as a reviewer for leading international journals in the field, including Annals of Tourism Research, International Journal of Tourism Research, Current Issues in Tourism, and Tourism Management, among others. In addition to his research, he teaches across undergraduate, graduate, and executive programmes and has extensive experience in economic and financial consulting.
The Urban and Culture Research Group explores diverse urban experiences in multiple ways. It highlights its interdisciplinary nature by engaging disciplines such as sociology, economics, history, geography, anthropology, management, public policy, cultural studies and other related areas. With a particular focus on the East Asian Region, especially Greater China Region studies (mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan), this research group highlights its particularities by comparatively conducting research by engaging existing research across different countries to push forward the theoretical boundary, it also carries out cross-disciplinary research to inform and influence debates on a broad range of issues on urban environments. The group’s three main strands of research are: urban development, which focuses on processes such as urbanization, economic growth, and social change; urban sustainability, addressing the environmental, social, and economic aspects of maintaining sustainable urban spaces; and cultural and economic transformations, which examine how tourism, culture, and economic activities influence and reshape urban environments and their management.
Members
Virtual/Visiting Fellows AY2022-23
John C. Ryan
John C. Ryan is a writer, teacher, critic, and ethnographer. His current affiliations are Adjunct (Honorary) Associate Professor at Southern Cross University and Adjunct (Honorary) Senior Research Fellow at the Nulungu Institute, Notre Dame University, Australia. He has held academic positions as Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Edith Cowan University (2012–15) and University of New England, Australia (2017–20). He also served as Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Western Australia (2015–20).
His work comprises 18 academic books (authored and edited), 44 book chapters, 86 refereed journal articles, 16 refereed conference publications, and 82 conference and symposia presentations. He has published in high-impact journals such as Educational Theory and Philosophy, Australian Humanities Review, Continuum, Environmental Humanities, Environmental Philosophy, Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment, Global Media Journal, Oral History Australia Journal, Media International Australia, and TEXT; and with Bloomsbury, Brill, McGill-Queen’s, NewSouth Books, Routledge, Rowman and Littlefield, SUNY Press, University of Michigan, University of Minnesota, and University of Washington. To date, his research has attracted $218,350 US in competitive international funding.
His poetry and non-fiction have been published internationally by Fremantle Press, Margaret River Press, Arc Poetry Magazine, Australian Geographic, Axon, Cordite Poetry Review, and Griffith Review. Reviews of my work have appeared in Australian Poetry, Sydney Morning Herald, The Conversation, and Weekend Australian.
Visiting Fellows AY2023-24
Prof Michele Lancione
Michele Lancione is full Professor of Geography at the Polytechnic of Turin, Italy, and Visiting Professor of Urban Studies at the University of Sheffield, UK. Co-founder and editor of the Radical Housing Journal and corresponding editor at IJURR, his work focuses on radical forms of inhabitation and housing struggles (through a five-year European Research Council project). With AbdouMaliq Simone, he has founded and co-directs the new Beyond Inhabitation: A Collective Study Lab (https://beyondinhabitation.org/). His latest books include Grammars of the Urban Ground (Duke University Press, ed with Ash Amin), Global Urbanism (Routledge, ed with Colin McFarlane) and the recent monograph For a Liberatory Politics of Home (Duke University Press).
Visiting Fellows AY2024-25
Prof Erik Albæk
Since 2005 Erik Albæk has been professor in and from 2005-2024 he was research director of the Centre for Journalism at the University of Southern Denmark. He built up and developed from scratch one of the world’s leading milieus of journalism research and political communication. He has been a visiting professor at MIT and Harvard University, US, University of Vilnius, Lithuania, University of Potsdam, Germany, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and the Catholic University of Chile, Santiago de Chile. Amongst other publications, he is the(co-)author of the twice award-winning book Political Communication in Comparative Perspective”. He has recently started a new research project on architecture as political communication.
Dr Takahiro Ota
Takahiro Ota is Associate Professor in the Environmental Coexistence Studies lab, Global Studies Division, Graduate School of Human Sciences at The University of Osaka. He earned his Doctor title in Engineering from Nagoya University in March 2013 and an M.Sc. in Biodiversity and Conservation from the University of Leeds in September 2008. Dr. Ota’s research focuses on ecosystem services, payment for ecosystem services (PES), cultural ecosystem services, wetlands, and environmental policy. He develops methodologies to enhance PES policies and assess ecosystem service needs—particularly in forests and wetlands—across contexts such as Japan and Indonesia. Active in academic service, he serves as an editor for Sustainability Science, and holds board positions in multiple Japanese environmental academic societies.
Visiting Fellows AY2025-26
Dr Pedro Aznar
Pedro Aznar is an Associate Professor of Economics at Esade Business School (Universitat Ramon Llull). He holds a PhD in Economics and Business from the University of Málaga and specializes in applied microeconomics, with a particular focus on tourism and hospitality markets.
His research lies at the intersection of industrial organization and tourism economics, examining competition, pricing strategies, and market structure in the hotel industry, as well as the disruptive role of digital platforms such as Airbnb. His work also analyzes the impact of public policies and macroeconomic shocks, most notably COVID-19, on tourism demand and firm performance. His research has been published in leading international journals and has attracted over 800 citations, reflecting its academic impact. He serves as a reviewer for leading international journals in the field, including Annals of Tourism Research, International Journal of Tourism Research, Current Issues in Tourism, and Tourism Management, among others. In addition to his research, he teaches across undergraduate, graduate, and executive programmes and has extensive experience in economic and financial consulting.