Planetary Urban and Rural Transformations

Research under this theme explores the way ideas about, and the experiences of, the urban and the rural are transforming and transformative. Our research is at the forefront of both urban studies and rural studies, and strategically we seek to inform one with the other. Our research is ‘planetary’ in scale and we use this term deliberately to indicate the blurring of urban and rural, we look at diverse geographical contexts in both the Global North and the Global South (and indeed seek to unpick these ‘colonial’ geographical categorizations).

Our research asks

• How is planetary gentrification affecting communities worldwide?
• What are the differences and similarities between urban and rural transformations globally today?
• How are communities resisting such changes?