Geography

Reflections on current developments in contemporary urban geography

Document Type

Article

Abstract

The UGRG post-graduate conference held at the
University of Reading on 30 November 2002
provided a forum for PhD students from various UK
universities to come together to discuss not only
their own research but to reflect on current
developments in contemporary urban geography in
the UK and elsewhere. The format of the day-long
meeting was divided into a morning devoted to
group discussions of three recent publications (Amin
and Thrift 2002; Dear and Flusty 2002; Ethington
and Meeker 2002), and an afternoon session
wherein each post-graduate presented a poster
reflecting how their own research incorporates
elements of ‘the urban’.

The objective of the day was to engage critically with the readings and to stimulate discussion surrounding current thinking in ‘urban geography’ and the role we as new researchers might play in shaping the sub-discipline. Following this event, a smaller group of students participated in a lively (often heated) internet-based discussion. The collective commentary which follows is the result of this on-line forum and it aims to summarize some of the points raised at the Reading event, and also to review the issues with which the participants of the smaller group were grappling.

Publication Title

Area

Publication Date

6-1-2003

Volume

35

Issue

2

First Page

217

Last Page

219

ISSN

0004-0894

DOI

10.1111/1475-4762.00316

Keywords

cities, urban geography, geography, urban studies, urban schools, area development, observational research, political debate

Link to Full Text

Share

COinS