The focus on the relationship between subjective well-being and social cohesion holds unexploited potential in migration studies. However, conducting quantitative, country-of-birth-based data analysis at the local level presents numerous practical challenges.

This meta-analysis aims to examine large-scale European surveys that have recently explored subjective well-being (SWB), particularly those relevant to our case study on Vienna and Budapest. We will systematically evaluate when, where, and how this multidimensional concept was assessed by EU-SILC, EQLS, ESS, QLECS, VQLS, the Migration Survey of Statistics Austria and the Hungarian microcensus. The analysis will explore the advantages and limitations of these databases regarding sample size, consistency, representativeness, the inclusion of spatial data, and other factors. The main research question is to what extent we obtain similar or differing results when examining the same social phenomenon using different data sources. The phenomenon we tested was the SWB gap between the country-of-birth groups in Vienna and Budapest. The presentation will also reflect on temporal trends and spatial patterns.

Preliminary results indicate that our knowledge is highly fragmented, and direct comparisons of variables across different surveys are rarely feasible. The same concept is operationalised by partly distinct variables, measured on different scales. Furthermore, most databases are still characterized by “methodological nationalism”, which makes comparative analyses at the local level even more challenging. The results also indicate that while Austria boasts one of the highest average life satisfaction score in Europe, the SWB scores of major immigrant groups, remain remarkably lower than those of the native-born population, despite a narrowing gap over the past decade. In contrast, Budapest rank in the EU's bottom quartile for overall life satisfaction, where the native-born population’s SWB lags behind that of the foreign-born.
*** This work was carried out within the framework of the WELLCOH project, which has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions. Grant agreement No. 101066352

This paper examines the aspirations of young people to remain in Governador Valadares, Brazil, a region characterized by a deep-seated "migration culture" and historical emigration to the United States and Europe. While migration studies often prioritize movement, immobility remains underexplored, despite its significance as an active and meaningful decision. This research builds on an emerging body of work reframing the choice to stay as a deliberate, empowering decision rather than a passive default. Drawing from ethnographic research and 17 in-depth interviews conducted between 2022 and 2023, the study explores the complex interplay of socio-economic, cultural, and personal factors shaping immobility among young Brazilians.

The analysis employs the concepts of "retain and repel factors" to investigate why young people prefer staying and how their aspirations for a "good life" challenge dominant migration narratives. Retain factors, such as family ties, emotional belonging, and local engagement in social movements, contrast with repel factors like the risks and uncertainties of undocumented migration, financial instability, and the alienation faced by migrants abroad. These findings highlight that economic motivations alone cannot explain migration decisions. Instead, values like emotional well-being, community connection, and personal fulfillment significantly influence the choice to stay.

Central to this analysis is the concept of "relative endowment," which posits that individuals assess their current circumstances relative to potential alternatives. For many participants, staying allows them to preserve familial and social bonds, maintain inner peace, and contribute to their communities. These subjective evaluations often outweigh the perceived economic advantages of migration. Furthermore, the study challenges conventional assumptions equating immobility with inertia or low aspirations. It argues that choosing to remain is a form of agency, reflecting ambition to cultivate meaningful lives within one's local context.

This paper advances migration studies by integrating subjective well-being and non-economic dimensions into the analysis of immobility. It underscores the importance of understanding diverse interpretations of the "good life," particularly in contexts shaped by strong migration pressures. Ultimately, this research reframes staying as a dynamic and relational process, contributing to broader debates on mobility, aspirations, and social inclusion.

This thesis investigates the identity negotiation processes of young adult asylum seekers during prolonged waiting periods on the island of Lesvos, Greece. Drawing on Dialogical Self Theory (DST) and phenomenological perspectives, the study explores how temporal and spatial dimensions of waiting intersect with identity formation in a liminal island setting. Through qualitative analysis of life stories, the research examines the emotional and psychological impact of indefinite waiting and reveals the emergence of varied identity positions (I-positions), including "I as an asylum seeker," "I as a dreamer," and "I as participating in NGOs." These positions evolve in response to the socio-spatial constraints and interactions encountered during the asylum process.

The findings underscore how the spatiality of Lesvos, as both a physical and symbolic space, profoundly shapes the narratives and identity construction of asylum seekers. Waiting periods are characterized by temporal disruptions—moments of stagnation, rupture, and fleeting hope—that deeply affect personal agency and future aspirations. NGO interactions emerge as pivotal in reshaping participants' perceptions and fostering a sense of agency, though these engagements often remain transient and context-dependent.

Methodologically, the study employs a qualitative approach, including 19 in-depth semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and complementary methods such as photovoice, vignettes and landscape-assisted conversations. These methods provide a multidimensional understanding of identity construction, capturing how individuals navigate the uncertainty and constraints imposed by institutional systems.

This thesis contributes to migration and island studies by emphasizing the intersection of place, temporality, and identity in forced migration contexts. It highlights the critical role of spatial and temporal dimensions in shaping psychosocial processes and the broader implications of asylum policies on identity formation. The study calls for more humane and responsive policy frameworks to mitigate the psychological and emotional hardships experienced by asylum seekers in liminal spaces like Lesvos.

This project explores feelings of belonging and contributes to the understanding of islandness. Considering the potential difficulties associated with moving to a new place, exploring the experiences of home-making and belonging is particularly relevant to island communities that tend to be highly mobile. Its importance is highlighted by Baumeister and Leary, who argued in 1995 that belonging is such a fundamental human need that it forms a motivation permeating our thoughts, behaviours, and feelings. As a case study on the island of Lesvos, forming part of the Greek archipelago, this project presents the stories of twelve Greeks who moved to Lesvos, gathered through in-depth semi-structured interviews and a visual method of mapping their home(s). The results highlight the intricate connections between mobility, belonging, and islandness. The analysis identifies the main factors constituting islandness, including (i) the proximity of the sea and its impact on identity formation, (ii) the unique sense of freedom offered by the island, and (iii) a distinction between being an insider and an outsider on the island. Furthermore, feelings of belonging and home are shown to be influenced by mobility in unique ways between the participants; the increased mobility resulted in a diminished feeling of belonging for some, while for others, islandness facilitated its development. Undoubtedly, archipelagos constitute unique environments for studying the impact of mobility on belonging.

Over the past decade, Croatia has transitioned from being predominantly an emigration country to a country of positive net migration, with significant increases in immigration in 2022 and 2023. The number of immigrants in 2023 nearly doubled compared to 2020 and 2021. This influx of migrant workers, particularly from South and South-East Asia, is helping to alleviate the country’s labour market shortages, gradually replacing migrant workers from neighbouring countries and introducing greater cultural diversity into what was ethnically once a relatively homogeneous society.

Drawing on the basic concepts of R. Penninx’s migrant integration model – specifically the socio-economic dimension of integration, this paper aims to analyse integration challenges of foreign workers coming to Croatia. Their integration experiences are related to socio-culturally relevant indicators of objective dimensions of the quality of life with a special focus on residential integration and actual living conditions linked to the material situation i.e. jobs, housing and income of migrant workers in Croatia (Coates et al, 2013).

The study employs qualitative semi-structured interviews with a range of stakeholders, including representatives of the state and public administration, employers, employment agencies, professional associations, trade unions, and migrant workers themselves, as part of the ongoing project Croatia as an Immigration Country: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives.

Preliminary findings highlight several significant challenges in the employment process, especially for third-country nationals. Key issues include lack of supervision over employers and agencies for employment of foreign workers related to accommodation, antagonisms with domestic workers due to their perception of better working conditions for foreign workers, workplace discrimination, economic issues and constraints of foreign workers etc. Residential conditions for foreign workers vary widely, ranging from organised, paid collective accommodation to individual housing arrangements, with some workers experiencing satisfactory living conditions and others facing more deficient circumstances. These challenges can be largely attributed to Croatia’s underdeveloped migration and integration policies, and are explored in further detail within the paper.

Reference:

Coates, D., Anand, P., & Norris, M. (2013). Housing and Quality of Life for Migrant Communities in Western Europe: A Capabilities Approach. Journal on Migration and Human Security, 1(4), 163-209. https://doi.org/10.1177/233150241300100403

Our research group has been working on Swedish social dynamics for several years and has also conducted surveys among Hungarians living in Sweden. Our results show that a significant proportion of Hungarians in Sweden have a very negative view of the social conditions there. This negative perception is reinforced by the Hungarian government's narrative that Sweden has become a dangerous, disintegrated society. Meanwhile, it should be noted that the available survey data do not confirm these perceptions and opinions, but show that social cohesion in Sweden is high by European comparison. Thus, according to the various dimensions of social capital, Swedish society is not in a bad shape at all, and in fact has a high level of trust, strong social relations and, basically, collective values of cooperation prevail. Compared with Hungary, the “culture of trust” is less favourable, personal interactions are less frequent and less deep, and self-oriented values that threaten the harmonious functioning of society are more strongly present.

Our research aims to explore and understand this seemingly contradictory situation in more depth. One possible explanation is that the widespread legitimisation of the negative image of Sweden portrayed by the domestic government narrative, and the discomfort felt by some Hungarians in Sweden, is linked to the negative characteristics of Hungarian social culture mentioned above. This is because a high level of collective social capital, a "culture of trust", has a wide range of positive individual consequences, and vice versa, while a low level of social capital, a "culture of distrust", inhibits individual fulfilment, increases anxiety and limits coping skills, among other things. We can assume that Hungarians settled in Sweden, coming from a “culture of distrust”, find it much more difficult to cope with new and unfamiliar challenges and have a more negative perception of the social problems that Sweden undoubtedly faces than the Swedes themselves. We can suggest that this difference may be due to the fact that Swedes are more able to rely on their own supportive social culture in times of collective challenges in difficult situations. In this presentation, we will try to find answers to these questions in relation to the closely related issue of well-being.

• The emigration of educated individuals from Iran has become a prominent and multifaceted issue in recent years, eliciting diverse perspectives. Statistical analysis reveals a substantial surge in the number of Iranian students electing Germany as their preferred destination for higher education. Notably, the count of Iranian students studying in Germany has witnessed a more than threefold increase, soaring from 4,182 students in 2008 to 15,200 in 2024. Moreover, the student population has nearly tripled from 4,182 in 2008 to 11,573 in 2021, signifying a 45% surge compared to the preceding year. This prompts an inquiry into the factors underpinning Iranian students' preference for Germany. To delve into this phenomenon, a survey was conducted among Iranians residing in Germany. The survey outcomes reveal that the deteriorating living conditions in Iran, coupled with Germany's political stability and robust social welfare system, have played pivotal roles in motivating students and university graduates to pursue education abroad. Educational advancement emerges as a secondary consideration in their decision-making process.

Driven by globalization, as observed in other European countries, the last decade has witnessed a significant student migration in Latvia. This phenomenon has created an opportunity for Latvian higher education institutions to compete on an international scale by attracting an increasing number of international students especially for young people from Asian countries who want to obtain higher education in the European Union. As a result, the number of international students has more than doubled over the ten-year period, now constituting 14% of the total student population.

In recent years, students as a research object have gained prominence also in the social sciences and geography, as researchers seek to better understand the phenomenon of studentification and the role of students in shaping urban spaces (Murzyn-Kupisz, Szmytkowska 2015; Fabula et at. 2017; Revington 2018). The study of international students has also become a topical issue among geographers (e.g., Apsite-Berina et al., 2023).

In order to encourage international students to contribute to the economy, their successful integration into the local community is essential. This process requires the local community to be receptive and facilitate the integration of international students into the labor market. Existing research in Latvia has concentrated predominantly on societal attitudes towards immigrants as a whole (Kaprāns, Saulītis, Mieriņa 2021). Yet, to date, there has been a dearth of research examining local community attitudes towards students as a distinct social cohort, differentiated from other immigrant groups. Therefore, this study aims to determine local community attitudes towards international students and assess the level of acceptance towards this immigrant group.

To achieve this aim, a survey of the general public on social cohesion will be conducted between the winter of 2024 and the spring of 2025, supported by the State Research Programme of Latvia. The survey will explore whether the public believes that international students contribute positively to the local environment, safety, and economy. Furthermore, the survey will examine public opinion on the desirability of retaining international students in the local economy post-graduation.

The institutionalization of geography emerged in the 19th century with the establishment of geographical societies and university departments. In many nation-states, the discipline primarily served to support colonization and imperialist ambitions. However, the development of geography within the Habsburg Empire was significantly more complex, particularly in relation to its legal system. The empire underwent profound transformations in governance, transitioning from a centralized absolutist system to a dualistic state structure following the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867. This compromise created a distinctly divided political framework between Austria and Hungary, where the science policy was also bifurcated. Given this intricate administrative-legal context, a critical question arises: How did the discipline of geography respond to this complex legal and political structure in terms of institutionalization and intellectual development? This paper addresses this question by examining three key aspects of the development of Austrian and Hungarian geography from the mid-19th century to the end of World War I. First, it explores the evolution of geography’s institutionalization within the empire’s two halves. Second, it introduces the most influential scholars in Austrian and Hungarian geography across generations, analyzing their intellectual impacts within the broader international scientific context. Finally, the paper investigates the shifting research agendas of Austrian and Hungarian geographers through an analysis of articles published in the leading journals of the Austrian and Hungarian Geographical Societies between 1857 and 1918. The findings reveal that geography’s role in the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy was more complex than in other nation-states. The institutional division of geography between Austria and Hungary profoundly influenced both the intellectual development of the discipline and the way its research agendas were shaped by the political narratives of the respective governments. However, the findings also demonstrate that the common foreign policy objectives of the shared government played a significant role in aligning their research agendas, particularly in studies concerning regions beyond the empire's borders. As an epilogue, the paper briefly examines the legacy of geographical knowledge produced during the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, shedding light on its impact in the post-imperial era.

Erwin Hanslik (1880-1940) has been an object of a limited number of biography-oriented studies. A student of the renown (and notorious) German geomorphologist, Albrecht Penck (1858-1945), Hanslik developed a holistic ‘philosophy of humanity’ and cooperated broadly with Austrian artists and men of culture at the turn of the 20^th century. During the First World War his pamphlets, published under the auspices of the Institut für Kulturforschung, advocated the Habsburg cause by means of cultural geography inspired by his earlier work on Galician/Silesian borderland. Both his philosophical musings and undeterred Habsburg patriotism contributed to Hanslik’s marginal position among his peers, a cohort including such strong personalities (and ardent nationalists) as Eugeniusz Romer (1871-1954), Jovan Cvijić (1865-1927), or Stepan Rudnytskyi (1877-1937). Perceived as incurably idealist and, later in his life, mentally ill, he has not been seen as a political actor.

This paper situates Hanslik’s wartime writings and cartography within the context of the Austro-Hungarian politics and the debate on the Monarchy’s war aims. Basing on Hanslik’s writings, cartographic works, and sparse archival documents, it establishes a link between his eccentric worldview and Austria’s unfulfilled expansionism during the First World War.

This paper examines competing ideas on geography and boundaries held by different British and Hungarian geographers during and immediately following WWI. There are two strands to the analysis. The first is epistemological: how and why did different geographers develop the ideas they did on Europe’s political boundaries in this period? Among British geographers, attention is paid to the work of Lionel Lyde and his Some Frontiers of Tomorrow: An Aspiration for Europe (1915), to Thomas Holdich’s Frontiers and Boundary Making (1916) and his Boundaries in Europe and the Near East (1918), and to Cyril Fawcett’s Frontiers. A Study in Political Geography (1918). Hungarian geographers include Pál Teleki and Ferenc Fodor, and we analyse the Manifesto of the Hungarian Geographical Society to the Geographical Societies of the World (fundamentally the work of Teleki, and published in Hungarian in 1918, and French in 1919). The second is historiographical: how should we conceive of the geographical community at this time? Lyde and Fawcett were leading figures in the development of a ‘modern’ academic British geography. Holdich was a prominent geographically minded civil servant within the Royal Geographical Society. Teleki was a politician and a leading academic geographer at a time when Hungary’s boundaries were dramatically altered after WWI. His protégé Fodor was a schoolteacher prior to the peace talks. Arguably the leading figure in Britain over discussions on how to map the borders of the ‘new’ Europe was also a schoolteacher, Bertram (‘Bertie’) Cotterrell Wallis. Wallis was a significant figure in the geographical and British military intelligence communities in this period. In his teaching, he was also a leading advocate of statistical approaches in teaching geography – themes quite different from those of Holdich, Lyde, and Fawcett. How then should we understand these different histories within early twentieth century geography? How may we think of ‘the geographical community’ at this time given international similarities and intranational differences?

Zoltán Hajdú

Abstract

Since the last third of the 19th century, and largely due to changing foreign policy circumstances, modern Hungarian geography has become increasingly interested in Russia. If we review the material of the volumes of the most important journal of Hungarian geography - Geographical Bulletins - from 1873 to 1923 with the help of the Arcanum internet database, we can conclude that there is hardly a volume in which there has not been some kind of material (geographical exploration, railway construction, statistics, territorial conflict, nationality, emigration of Jews, etc.) about the Russian Empire. The question of Ukrainian hostel territories and Ukrainians (Little Russians) appeared only rarely and incidentally. In 1914, István Rudnickyj's basic work on Ukraine was published in Budapest, which received substantial criticism. During World War I, interest in the internal affairs of hostile Russia increased. A part of Hungarian science (history, literary history, linguistics, ethnography, geography), especially with the financial support of Miklós Szemere, focused on research into the complexities of Ukraine. This work became organised through the publication of the journal "Ukrania". The journal, published in 1916, made a significant contribution to raising awareness of Ukrainians. Ukrainian ideas concerning the territory of the Hungarian state were not only criticised but also rejected.

The paper examines the evolving scientific and political agendas of the geographical societies in Budapest and Vienna, focusing on their role in shaping colonial geographical research in the late Habsburg Monarchy and, later, interwar Austria and Hungary during the 1920s and 1930s. Although Austria-Hungary did not pursue direct forms of overseas colonization, it was indirectly involved in imperial pursuits by organizing expeditions and contributing to the production and dissemination of knowledge tied to colonial frameworks.

The geographical societies founded in Vienna in 1856 and in Budapest in 1872 played a distinguished role in this process as institutional platforms for the promotion of geographical research not just within the empire and its broader surroundings, but also in Africa, Asia, Oceania, and the polar regions. Their activities included the accumulation and scientific accreditation of knowledge, the coordination of research projects, and the dissemination of findings that reinforced imperial or national identities and claims to global relevance. In addition to promoting the Habsburg Monarchy’s cultural and economic dominance, the geographical societies also contributed to articulating the particular and sometimes clearly conflicting geopolitical interests of the Austrian elites in Vienna and the Hungarian elites in Budapest.

Drawing on printed and archival materials, this paper analyzes how these societies navigated the political and social constraints of the prewar period and how their agendas were reconfigured after the collapse of the Habsburg Monarchy in 1918. The comparative study highlights both geographical societies’ role as arenas for negotiating the tensions between imperialism, nationalism, and scientific internationalism. It also provides new insights into how these societies framed colonial aspirations through research and rhetoric, aligning them with broader imperial and national goals. We pay particular attention to how discourses of colonialism and exploration adapted to changing geopolitical and institutional contexts, reflecting wider transformations in the relationship between science, statehood, and civil society in Central Europe.

There is very little research on German colonial geography in general, and the boom in this subdiscipline during the National Socialist period has not received any scholarly attention so far. Against that backdrop, this paper aims to contribute: a) to a finer-grained picture of colonial, racial-Völkish thinking – and its application – in German geography during the National Socialist period and b) to our understanding of the continuities and ruptures in German (colonial) geographical scholarship after WW II. For that end, I focus on the biography of Oskar Schmieder (1891–1980) who, after holding professorships at the Argentine National University of Córdoba (1920–1924) and the University of California, Berkeley (1925–1930), moved to Kiel University and went on to become one of the most influential German (colonial) geographers of the 1930s and 1940s. More specifically, two strongly interrelated aspects of Schmieder’s writings will guide the analysis: firstly, his conceptualization of race, Volk, and soil with regard to South America and particularly South American Germans and, secondly, the political colonial project that he pursued for (Nazi) Germany drawing heavily on fascist colonization experience in Mussolini’s Italy. Studying Oskar Schmieder shows that German geographers not only stood up for the re-establishment of a German colonial empire during the National Socialist period, but also fought for its Fascist orientation – which, at least for Schmieder, was to differ from the German colonial empire pre-WW I in a number of key areas. Being primarily known as a representative of Länderkunde, Schmieder‘s institutionally and conceptually influential career after WW II can certainly be seen as a prime example of the continuities within the discipline in Germany.

Despite the renewed critical interest in the colonial traces of much geographical knowledge, many geographies and geographers from the era of inter-imperial rivalry (1875-1945) remain under-explored, for instance that of Dutch colonial geography. This paper traces Dutch colonial geopolitics of present-day Indonesia through a biobibliographical reading of the work of Louis van Vuuren (1873-1951), whose lifespan almost perfectly aligns with the era of late European imperialism. While Van Vuuren is mostly remembered for his contributions as one of the founding figures of Dutch human geography and spatial planning, navigating German and French influences, much less attention has been paid to his colonial career and geography. Born in colonial Indonesia in 1873, Van Vuuren participates as a young Dutch colonial officer in the final violent phase of the Aceh war, which was instrumental in bringing the outer reaches of present-day Indonesia under Dutch territorial control. Under the tutelage of his commanding officer and future oil magnate and prime minister of the Netherlands, Hendrik Colijn, he consecutively becomes a colonial administrator and director of an encyclopaedic bureau for regional geography of colonial Indonesia, which would eventually lead him to a professorship in human geography at Utrecht University in 1927. Because of his positionality and proximity to powerful colonial circles, Van Vuuren’s geography is indicative of an important conservative strand of Dutch geopolitical thought. In the paper we analyse Van Vuuren’s colonial writings and geographical theorizing from a critical geopolitics framework utilizing Agnew’s notion of the “geopolitical imagination” and Toal’s concept of geopower. We subsequently trace the civilizational, naturalised and ideological dimensions of Dutch interbellum geopolitics, including its alignment with German geopolitics. The sobering result is that the history of Dutch geography loses its innocence as a colonial legacy that equals its great-power counterparts comes into focus.

The influence of religious positionalities on late 19th- and early 20th-century geographical research has often been overlooked, despite its centrality to regional geographical discourses. In regional geographical accounts, religion served as a key criterion for spatial differentiation. Religious phenomena played a pivotal role in territorialization strategies, where religious affiliation delineated boundaries, defined group belonging, and reinforced geopolitical agendas. The intersection of religious beliefs and geographical concepts highlights religion’s dual role as both a stabilizing and disruptive force within the discipline.

This exploration will be framed within a transnational perspective, examining how religious spatial concepts were shaped not only by national contexts but also by broader global discourses, particularly in relation to imperialism and the rise of new nation-states. The analysis draws on regional geographical writings from various scholars around the turn of the century, who addressed religious phenomena from within their respective national communities. The role of Christian missions, for instance, was deeply contested in the context of territorial domination and colonial exploitation. Moreover, religious affiliation (e.g., with so-called "primitive religions") often served as an indicator through which societies were subjected to temporal frameworks of order, such as evolutionary cultural stage models. These frameworks, in turn, legitimized corresponding political practices, including "civilizing missions". Furthermore, the relationship between religious phenomena and physical-geographical factors warrants closer examination. This includes exploring how religious beliefs were linked to natural conditions and how these connections shaped interpretations of the relationship between religion and space.

Insights into the research processes shed light on the self-conception of geographers at the time. Examining research practices reveals how geographers' self-perception, often presented as impartial, was shaped by political and religious convictions. By focusing on religion's role in regional geographical research, this presentation will offer new insights into the social conditionality of geographical knowledge and its cultural influences.

The past years were characterized by events that influenced and still influence global, national and regional migration flows. How do wars, pandemics, economic crises, etc. affect migration patterns at the urban regional level? For the Vienna urban region, answers can be given because the settlement development there has been monitored and evaluated for 20 years.
Which migration flows determine urban-regional growth, which demographic patterns are stable and which change? What direct or indirect influence do global events and megatrends have on settlement development in the Vienna urban region?
We report on the latest monitoring of the Vienna urban region (2023/2024) and take a look back at previous monitoring to determine whether and to what extent global events have an impact on migration patterns.
This is a report from applied spatial research, with a focus on answering specific questions relevant to planning policy in the Vienna urban region. Therefore, there is no dedicated theoretical framework. The “theoretical position” in the analysis and interpretation of the results is, however, that the urban region is a functionally and structurally highly interconnected network in which the city is the main node, but would not be viable without its surroundings. This is associated with cooperative and cross-border planning approaches and the necessary change in the planning culture and policy at all spatial levels in the urban region of Vienna.
The monitoring is based on two main areas of analysis. Firstly, a quantitative analysis of settlement development with a focus on population development, demography and migration. This is followed by a cartographic analysis of settlement development, which, in addition to these topics, also deals with commuting relationships, urban-regional interdependencies, settlement structures, building land reserves and spatial types in the study region.
The final monitoring in 2023 will also conclude with a formulation of urban-regional challenges.
The studies are based on population data at the 1km-grid level, as well as migration and commuting relationships between the 273 municipalities in the study region. Furthermore, data on public transport and other socio-economic indicators were included in the study.

During the last three decades the most spectacular urban development processes was observable in the Budapest Metropolitan area: The residential suburbanization. Until now the capital city of Budapest and its functional urban areas concentrate the 27% of the Hungarian population and 45% of the national GDP. The Budapest metropolitan area is the only region in the country that shows massive population growth during the last decades. This population gain comes from two migration processes (Schuhmann, 2024)[1]. The one is the residential suburbanization, the second the increasing immigration from the other regions of Hungary towards the capital regions. The spectacular population growth in the outskirt areas of Budapest can be explained by the changes in the residential preferences as well. Due to the many problems of the inner areas of Budapest (noises, traffic, problems of urban transportation, lack of green spaces, homelessness, rising price of housing, impacts of the climate change on urban spaces etc.) a major part of the citizens decide to move out from Budapest to the suburban zones. During and after the Covid-19 pandemic based on the relevant data we can experience an accelerating residential suburbanization (Szirmai-Schuchmann-Uzzoli, 2023)[2]. The main aim of the presentation is to reveal the major changes in the residential suburbanization in the metropolitan area of Budapest. To highlights the social-spatial inequalities in the residential preferences, and also to discover the reasons.

[1] Schuchmann, Júlia (2024): The Regional Inequalities between the Budapest Metropolitan Region and the Large Urban Regions in Hungary In: Caragliu, Andrea; Martins, Elisabete (ed.) Proceedings: 14th World Congress of the RSAI: Sustainable Regional Economic growth: Global challenges and new regional development trajectories Angra do Heroísmo, Portugália : Regional Science Association International (RSAI) (2024) pp. 313-318. , 6 p.

[2] Szirmai, V ; Schuchmann, J ; Uzzoli, A.(2023):The social-spatial features of the Covid-19 pandemic : the formation of new disability issues (global and Hungariantrends)

FOGYATÉKOSSÁG ÉS TÁRSADALOM: A FOGYATÉKOSSÁGTUDOMÁNY ÉS A GYÓGYPEDAGÓGIA FOLYÓIRATA 1 pp. 41-52. , 12 p. (2023)

In recent decades, urban growth has been geographically uneven across the globe, with some places experiencing rapid population increases and other places being in decline, effectively losing their share in the national urban hierarchy. Many major population centres of the world and their imitate suburbs, rapidly growing in the past, were among places with declining population shares, whereas most rapidly growing locations have been slightly remote from major urban areas. The reasons for these changes are not completely clear, and the present study investigates this phenomenon. The study was carried out in several phases. First, urban areas around the world were identified by the density of the world’s population using satellite imagery. The population change in each urban area was estimated next by comparing its population size in 2000 and 2020, while referencing this change to the total urban population of the country as a whole. The changes observed in each urban area were then encoded as a dichotomous variable: a positive change (that is, an improvement in rank) in the national hierarchy between 2000 and 2020 (1) or a negative change, that is, a deterioration in the national urban ranking (0). These changes were then linked to several performance measures and important location determinants were identified by stepwise regression analysis. The models were estimated first with the main effects only and then jointly with the main effects and interaction terms. Then, each factor identified as important was analysed to determine its value in a way that is in the highest share of urban areas that exhibit a positive change in population share (PSC). The location of an urban area on one of these ‘optimal bends’ was considered a location advantage or a disadvantage otherwise. The total number of LP advantages was then calculated for each urban area and the proportional shares of urban areas with positive PSC were estimated for location counts. The analysis was carried out separately for the entire global urban system and western Europe separately. In both cases, the probability that an urban area exhibits a positive PSC was found to increase with the number of locational advantages the place has, effectively highlighting the importance of an integrated location package for urban growth.

This study explores residential preferences and housing aspirations of first-year university students through a method combining sketch mapping and comparative analysis. Focusing on students from two distinct academic and cultural environments—Palacký University Olomouc, Czechia, and the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada—the research examines how young people conceptualize their ideal places to live within the geographic boundaries of Europe.

Theoretical foundations draw on the concepts of housing pathways, perception of space, and neighbourhood effect, with particular attention to the potential impact of proximity bias in the Czech student sample. For example, it might be expected that Czech students show stronger preferences for nearby European regions (e.g., Germany or Slovakia) due to geographic familiarity or socio-cultural ties, reflecting the influence of the neighbourhood effect. Methodologically, the study employs a mixed-methods approach: qualitative insights from students’ justifications for their choices are combined with GIS-based quantitative analysis to identify spatial patterns and regional trends.

The core research question asks: To what extent do socio-cultural and geographic contexts shape residential preferences among university students, and how do these preferences reflect broader societal patterns? Using sketch maps as a data collection tool, participants outlined specific regions across Europe they associate with positive or negative residential aspirations. These areas were scored on a Likert scale and annotated with keywords or short explanations. Respondents were also asked to rank the three best and worst countries in Europe for permanent living based on their subjective evaluations.

Preliminary results suggest universal preferences, such as favouring more developed regions, but also potential variations that could be linked to differing socio-cultural contexts of Canada and Czechia (e.g., language proximity). The neighbourhood effect appears particularly strong among Czech students, whose preferences are influenced by proximity and familiarity, in contrast to the more globalized outlook of Canadian students. These findings offer valuable insights into how young people navigate housing aspirations within Europe and contribute to discussions on how housing policy and education strategies can better address diverse needs.

This study investigates how young adults' housing preferences are evolving in the context of smart city development and contemporary challenges in everyday life in the context of smart systems.Using survey data collected from students at HafenCity University Hamburg (HCU), the University of the Built Environment and Metropolitan Development, this study investigates how perceptions of smart buildings and cities influence their housing decision-making processes. A mixed-methods approach was applied, combining quantitative analysis of survey data with qualitative insights. The participants, HCU students, represent a key demographic whose views are critical to understanding the future of urban housing.

The findings indicate that students perceive smart buildings primarily in terms of their implications for sustainability and privacy. Many respondents emphasised the potential of smart buildings to improve energy efficiency and reduce environmental impact, aligning with broader sustainability goals.

The paper concludes by discussing the implications for urban planning and design, particularly the need to consider the housing parameters of younger generations in shaping smart cities with a focus on architectural education. For architects and planners, this research underscores the importance of creating urban environments that balance technological advancements with social inclusivity and resilience. By exploring the intersection of innovation, personal preferences, and housing trends, this study contributes to a deeper understanding of how smart cities can meet the needs of their future residents.

The outbreak of the global Covid-19 pandemic accelerated digital transition (DT) altering conventional perspectives and conceptual frameworks on how we understand the residential mobility. New opportunities created by remote work and expansion of digital services reduce location-dependence (Milasi et al 2022) allowing new flows of residential mobility to more distant locations whereas new residential choices further reshape daily living arrangements and social interactions. Opportunities created by DT, however, influence more those who are exposed to the opportunity to work remotely – i.e. white-collar middle and higher income earners rather than blue-collar workers whose work is still more place-bound (Randall and Norlén 2022). The article looks at the suburban and outer-urban location choices by those households who are more affected by the DT in case of Tallinn, Estonia. Based on the qualitative research methodology the study aims to understand the context of digitalization and polycrisis on such residential relocations. The individual lifecourse events, transformed values and preferences are being investigated in order to understand how the residential decisions came about in specific time and spatial context, and how do other interventions – for example reorganization of work or change of attitudes by the employers - enabled households to opt for their new more distant locations. In other words, the systemic openings and aspects of socio-technological transformation brought by the DT are identified as regards to their influence on the level of individual households’ residential behaviour. Tallinn urban region is characterised by fast internet connections and overall highly advanced level of digitalization; the ICT sector is expanding fast, with increasing number of private and public e-service provision, contributing to the shift of activities to digital space.

Renovating the housing stock in the Netherlands is one of the main mitigation strategies of the Dutch government (EZK, 2016; Koninkrijksrelaties, 2022). However, renovations do not only change the house itself, they also impact how residents live in that house (Hellwig, 2019; Sunikka-Blank & Galvin, 2012; van den Brom et al., 2019). Renovations considered to be an impactful moment of change in the everyday life of residents. Before, during, and after the renovation, a residents’ relationship with home is renegotiated (Cook, 2021). In the process of renovations, residents (implicitly and explicitly) anticipate what the future of their everyday life looks like during and after the renovation, which impacts the process and outcome of the renovation itself (Cook, 2021). For tenants living in social housing, renovations add additional uncertainties, as they have less control over the renovation process and contents compared to home-owners.

The study shows diverging perceptions of futures of everyday life between professionals and residents, which can lead to injustices and potentially escalate conflict (van Uffelen, 2024). As shown in previous research it is the diverging and opposing expectations of the future around which justice claims can form (Haarbosch et al., 2021).Moreover, renovation processes can give rise to diverging (normative) justice claims in regards to what the renovation process and everyday life should look like (Breukers et al., 2017). Issues with the execution of policy instruments can potentially lead to a failure to deliver energy saving promises (Kaufmann et al., 2023; Sovacool, 2021).

This study explores the intersection of renovations, expected futures, and justice in the context of everyday practices of social housing tenants in the Netherlands. It maps residents’ and local professionals’ expectations of renovation processes, expected changes in energy practices, and analyses justice claims that arise before, during, and after a renovation. Through ethnographic methods, including engagement with living labs, ‘cultural probes’ (a creative method from design research), and focus groups, this study focuses on three renovation projects in two Dutch municipalities. Insights can be used to redesign renovation processes to take into account residents’ justice claims, and ways residents use and make futures in everyday life.

Urban renewal involves modifying building structures to meet evolving challenges and aspirations. These processes are shaped by diverse actors and interventions. A key challenge lies in identifying and analyzing these interventions and the underlying dwelling aspirations. The Soft Urban Renewal programme in Vienna, initiated in the 1970s, exemplifies a ‘gentle’ and participatory approach to modernizing historic neighborhoods. At the time, Vienna faced over 300,000 substandard flats lacking water or sanitary facilities, making urban renewal imperative. Civil society played a crucial role in shifting the program’s paradigm, advocating for cautious modernization and participatory processes instead of demolition.

One significant example is the “Planquadrat” documentary film, which featured resident interviews and brought their perspectives into public media discourse. This visibility influenced urban projects, such as transforming unused courtyards into collective gardens. Similarly, an interview series with 220 participants in the Ottakring pilot area showcased diverse aspirations, further shaping renewal strategies.

Today, urban renewal faces new challenges, including decarbonization and climate change mitigation. The “Soft Urban Renewal” research project examines these evolving processes through 16 biographical interviews with key pioneers and archival analyses. The study traces strategies and practices over decades, highlighting how participatory methods and local preferences shaped the modernization and adaptation of housing and public spaces.

These interviews reveal not only how structural challenges have evolved but also the diversity of residents' needs, wishes, and ideas about urban living. They also showcase the methodological approaches used to identify and incorporate these aspirations into urban planning. By examining the dynamic interplay of aspirations and interventions, the research underscores how participatory processes have historically influenced and continue to shape urban renewal strategies in Vienna.

This paper examines the intersection of political geography and tagging, focusing on political graffiti as a form of territorial marking within urban spaces. Drawing on the conceptual framework articulated by Ley and Cybriwsky in 1974, this study positions political graffiti as a tool for diverse political ideologies to assert presence, mark their own territories, and contest space.

Through field research conducted in Linz, a regional centre in Upper Austria, and applying the Place-Based Observation method, this research maps the spatial distribution and content of political graffiti. The findings reveal distinct patterns of political dialogue and conflict, illustrating how political actors strategically target significant and symbolic locations to amplify their messages and ideologies. The study further integrates insights from spot theory and the concept of political symbolic space, shedding light on how urban landscapes become arenas of ideological contestation.

By situating this analysis within political geography, the paper contributes to understanding the spatial dimensions of political dialogue and symbolism in cities. It specifically addresses the role of graffiti as a medium through which political actors reshape urban political landscapes and engage with the dynamics of ideological contestation.

The paper explores graffiti, street art, and murals in the context of the neoliberal city, highlighting the transformation of these forms in the context of growing commodification, touristification and gentrification of urban space. Through an ethnographic research in Ljubljana (Slovenia), the paper gives attention to the visual transformations in autonomous zones. In particular, it focuses on how an anarcha queer feminist group use graffiti and street art as media for voicing radical activism, while relying on collective muralism to build a political community. The paper argues for a nuanced understanding of the role of graffiti, street art and murals in the context of the neoliberal city and within social movements, emphasizing the multi-layered nature of political graffiti and street art as a form of radical political activism.

In recent decades, Porto has experienced a large-scale renovation of its built environment and public spaces. These operations resulted in demographic shifts and a change in the way people live the city (Mendes, 2018; Fernandes et al., 2021). In addition, the city’s widespread acceptance of street art fostered a new creative and political expressive medium. Taking as a starting point the Historical Urban Landscape approach (HUL) (UNESCO, 2011), and integrating ethnographic (Ferro et al., 2018) and phenomenological methodologies (Thrift, 2008; Wyllie, 2013), we will explore street art’s role in generating emotional and affective experiences (Crouch et al., 2015; Nomeikaite, 2023) in order to understand the ongoing urban, heritage, and social-political processes in Porto. In the last decade, street art has received more attention in both heritage studies and the geography field (Guinand et al., 2018). Street art's crucial connections to everyday life and change, as well as its socio-political performative power, have not been adequately explored in current research (op cit). The preservation of urban heritage is no longer focused solely on the protection of material and historical assets, but also on the management of transformations taking place in the urban landscape (Bandarin and Van Oers, 2012; 2014; Ginzarly, Pereira Roders, and Teller, 2019). Through a qualitative survey carried out in Porto, two main axes of analysis will be highlighted: the ambivalent relationship between street art, tourism and gentrification; the street art as a tool to address the right to housing (Zieleniec, 2016; Nomeikaite, 2017) in connection with real estate speculation and the loss of identity. The importance of street art, emotions, and affect will be recognized in both dimensions concerning change and the socio-politically re-engagement with heritage urban landscapes.

This paper explores the role of visual communication in the context of the 2024 European Parliament elections in Vienna, Austria. Offline, election posters play a significant role in reaching voters in public spaces, often conveying strong, immediate messages that capture attention. However, they cannot be seen as static but reflect dynamic and sometimes contentious political debates as they are smeared, torn, or altered by the public. In addition, Graffiti, political slogans or stickers in particular, reflect grassroot political engagement and can serve as a form of protest or alternative expression. Today, political discourse is not confined to offline world and physical spaces as societal negotiations are increasingly taking place online. Social media and communication forums have gained in importance and election campaigns as well as struggles over political meaning unfold online. Social media has given rise to the circulation of political memes, which are easily shareable, humorous, and often carry subversive or satirical undertones. Memes circulate quickly and widely, making them a powerful tool for engaging younger voters and creating viral political discourse.

With this paper, we explore how both traditional urban visual forms—such as graffiti and election posters—and digital visual expressions like memes shape political narratives and politicize online and offline spaces. Drawing on a diverse set of data, including photographs, election posters, and graffiti from urban spaces, as well as memes circulating on social media, we ask what messages these visuals convey, what in- and outgroups the construct and what the level of violence is and how these two spheres are interconnected. This paper argues that the intersection of these two realms—offline street-level visuals and online meme culture—demonstrates the increasingly hybrid nature of political communication. By examining both traditional visual materials in physical spaces and emerging meme culture online, this research highlights the dynamic relationship between different forms of visual communication, illustrating how political messages are transmitted and reinterpreted across various platforms. This paper offers insights into the evolving role of visual media in electoral campaigns, contributing to the broader understanding of media convergence and the power of images in modern politics, while providing valuable insights into political discourse and tensions today.

The paper explores how urbanization and the growing influence of English in daily culture affect landscape-related vocabulary, concepts, and understanding. Landscape is a recorder of cultural activities (Lowenthal 1986) and a mediator of national memory (Cosgrove 1998), functioning through mappable patterns (e.g., settlements, road networks), representation in art (e.g., painting, literature), and language, especially vocabulary and concepts. Globally, landscape studies have evolved from examining how landscapes are formed (how landscape is made), to how they are perceived (how landscape is seen), and now to how they are experienced (how landscape is felt) (Sidaway 2009, Harvey 2024). From here, a study lines leads towards landscape identity, which in terms is largely related to place names, words and terms we use in everyday languages and the comprehension of the meaning of these. As an example, Striedl et al. (2024) analyzed the meanings of landscape concepts (e.g., mountain, sea) across English, German, and French speakers, identifying both similarities and culturally rooted differences.

This paper will draw on two planned studies. First, a word listing experiment will map Estonian landscape-related vocabulary. Results will be analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively, e.g., calculating a cognitive salience index to identify the psychological salience of prototypical words (Sutrop 2001). Second, an association test will use stimuli such as mägi (mountain), soo (bog), and mets (forest) to explore associations tied to landscape terms. This method will reveal not only the vocabulary but also the perceptual units linked to these words (cf. Striedl et al. 2024).

The United Nations has designated the year 2025 as the "International Year of Glacier Preservation," aiming to underscore the significance of glaciers worldwide. Glacier history is intertwined with climate history, as glaciers respond to changing conditions with a time lag. Since the conclusion of the Little Ice Age (LIA) in 1850, glaciers in the Austrian Alps have significantly diminished in volume, which has also impacted toponymy. The geographic name landscape of the high mountains is evolving, particularly concerning glacier names.

Topographic maps have served as vital sources of geographical names for centuries, reflecting their transformations. Glaciers, or more precisely their names, shape the appearance of topographical maps. A diachronic analysis of glacier names from the Austrian national surveys (“Landesaufnahmen”), spanning from the latter half of the 18th century to the present, reveals the enduring changes in toponymy and their effects on cartographic representation.

The loss of a glacier does not necessarily entail the complete disappearance of its name; instead, depending on natural conditions, a new name type may emerge that retains part of the original name. In areas where glaciers once existed, other types of toponyms can arise due to altered topography. The geographical conditions may lead to the formation of new natural lakes from glacial meltwater, or artificial lakes may be created through damming. These newly assigned names fall under the category of hydronyms. When a glacier ceases to exist, the corresponding type of name, known as a glazionym, also disappears. However, a toponym may still appear on the map in that region due to the transition of the name type, where a glazionym evolves into an oronym or a name for a landform. The naming process will be analyzed through specific examples.

The aim of this presentation is to illustrate how the retreat or disappearance of glaciers influences geographical names on topographical maps.

It is well known that toponyms in cartography help ‘reading’ the landscape in its plano-altimetric and environmental features. Sometimes, however, they do not show any correspondence from a linguistic standpoint or are inappropriate, as erroneously associated with location and/or morphology of the landscape. What is reported above was observed in some maps of the Campania region (Southern Italy). The first mismatch (i.e. the linguistic one) witnesses the frequentation of the locations by civilisations or cultures now disappeared. Of such civilizations, only the toponomy handed down by local tradition survives. On the other hand, the second mismatch (i.e., the one with the plano-altimetric features of the landscape), only indirectly indicates the morpho-topographic landscape features and/or its geomorphic evolution. However, very often, these apparent discrepancies in toponomy became established and entrenched in local communities over time, allowing for the definition of widely recognised geographical entities, even reported in official non-cartographic acts and documents. This increases the chronological dimension and sense of territorial belonging. This happened in some inland areas (e.g. Sannio and Irpinia) of the Campanian Apennines that experienced a long history of occupation by different cultures and civilisations: these latter connoted the locations and landscapes features with their own names, which “survived” to the natural geomorphic evolution also. Toponyms, history and geomorphological landscape peculiarities intertwined in these areas, allowing the geographer/geomorphologist to reveal geo-environmental scenarios hitherto unimaginable in a landscape that has always been anthropised. They are therefore able to ‘unveil’ river and slope dynamics that shaped a given landscape with its human presences. The lack of understanding or even cancellation led, in some cases, to landscape mismanagements in terms of planning and natural risk assessment. It remains confirmed, however, that the study of toponyms in these areas proved to be of great importance, also because they allowed detecting and highlighting locations of considerable scientific importance (e.g. geomorphosites). These latter further enrich the geological heritage of these landscapes form a geo-touristic point of view and from a sustainable development perspective.

The paper analyses place names tied to physical-geographical and human features of the Antola Natural Regional Park (Ligurian Apennines) to provide insights into the understanding of landforms and their evolution through time. The protected area is around 5,000 ha wide and was established in 1995; it is included in the metropolitan city of Genoa along the border with the regions of Piedmont, Emilia and Lombardy.

The park owes its name to Mount Antola (1597 m a.s.l.), known as “the mount of the Genoese”, which represents the watershed between the park's main valleys: the Vobbia and Brevenna valleys (which flow into the upper Scrivia valley) and the Brugneto and Cassingheno valleys, which flow into the upper Trebbia valley. This position allowed the mountain to become an important commercial crossroads between the inhabitants of the two main valleys during the past centuries.

Preliminary cartographic research was based exclusively on the Military Geographical Institute's 1:25,000 scale maps, surveyed between 1936 and 1937; the selection is linked both to the abundance of detail of this cartography and to its consolidated use in this type of research, with particular reference to the studies on Ligurian toponymy developed since the 1960s.

The research highlighted numerous place names with a clear geographical connotation, linked not only to aspects of physical geography, but also to vegetation and agriculture, livestock breeding, animal life, human settlement, industries, crafts and communication routes.

Toponyms tied to elements of physical and human geography can be classified into main categories:

• those linked in general to hydrography and the presence of water (eg. Fontanino, Fontanasse, Fontana dell’Asino, Acquabuona, Moglia);
• those associated with the nature and character of the ground, including a clear geological component often connected with human features (eg. Castello della Pietra, Bric delle Ciappe, Chiappa, Costa delle Scabbie)
• those associated with valleys, plains and other geomorphological features (Pian d’Orio, Piancassina, Pianelli, Pian dei Curli, Campo di dietro, Cugni, M. Crosi, Valle Crosa)

In my paper, I present a research design for the participatory art workshops which will be implemented as a part of the data collection of my dissertation on sex workers’ possibilities to impact the discourse about themselves in public city space. Despite the challenges of being excluded in the public sphere, we know multiple examples when sex workers have reclaimed and occupied the city space. In Finland, suring the previous years, sex workers have been actively arguing for their rights in city spaces e.g., in demostations and exhibitions. However, hegemonic social norms and moral geographies, which are not usually in favor for sex workers, play a significant part in managing access to urban space and the safety and livelihoods of sex workers. Access to public space impacts the possibility of expressing stories that maintain an understanding of the historically marginalised and stigmatised group and shape societal inclusion and the possibility of claiming rights. This makes it vital to pay attention to changes in the ways through which sex work is articulated in public spaces.

The participatory art-based workshops of the study are mainly based on theater and puppet theater methods and utilize other related artistic ways of expression, such as moving, singing, and writing, that the participants feel most comfortable with. The participants are sex workers based in Finland. The aim is to bring the lived experiences and utopias onto the stage and discuss the themes that are brought up. In the workshops, sex workers are welcome to express (1) their experiences of achieving visibility, becoming heard, and reshaping shared imagination on sex work in city space and, (2) their experiences of barriers that limit their possibilities to participate or be heard in the public discourse and (3) visions of how they would like to become heard in public space. The method aims to break the prevailing hierarchies between the active researcher and the passive research object. Art-based and theatrical methods are new in sex work research even if they have been considered useful in the study of marginalized groups' identity narratives, social positions, and power relations.

In the project “VISION: Envisioning Convivial Europe” we work with migrant and cross-border workers in a multiplicity of small cities on both sides of the Polish-German border, using creative collaborative workshops and other sensory and multimodal methods. This paper presents insights derived from these artistic and creative research practices. Drawing from the theories of the play ethic and conviviality, our collaborative approach pushed us to have confidence to be spontaneous, creative and empathic, and centre our research methodology around the passions and enthusiasm of all involved. We aimed to advance a convivial research approach, which integrates methods of cooperative knowledge production while enhancing a deeper understanding of how people can live together and cooperate despite differences.

Through a series of art workshops we engaged in a dialogue with our research participants/ partners. Key topics of activism and engagement, identities, recognition, and fluid perspectives on the future emerged organically during these sessions. Moreover, the influence of the Russian-Ukrainian war and the relationships formed with Ukrainians in the small cities in which our participants live, appeared to play a pivotal role in shaping the their narratives and perspectives.

Through this paper we approach on the one hand the question of opportunities created by collaborative, art-based methods, and on the other hand the question of limits and possible alternative routes of what we call urban research. Having ourselves a longstanding experience of urban research in the context of big cities which are full of activities, diverse communities and opportunities for research, we often find challenging our new field of multiple small cities in regions considered “inner peripheries” that suffer from remoteness and are nothing as lively as cities on which urban research usually focuses. Through art we explore what it means to live in such a city, how different lifeworlds intersect in these places, and how they can be sensibly explored using multimodal, multisensory and engaged research methods.

This paper explores how transcultural artistic events within Istanbul's post-migration spaces contribute to the reimagination of migrant identities and foster community cohesion. Focusing on the "Spaces of Everyday Solidarity" initiative within the Hubban project, the research examines how public spaces such as grocery stores, cafes, and barbershops—widely used by migrants—are transformed into venues for cultural interaction through exhibitions, performances, and workshops. This collaborative effort, led by two urban-focused organizations, aims to investigate the evolving dynamics of refugee communities in major cities across Turkey.

Employing Participatory Action Research (PAR), this study captures the dynamics of these artistic encounters, emphasizing their role in facilitating cultural dialogue and social integration. Researchers actively participate in and document these events, analyzing the interactions between migrant and local communities. The project involves in-depth interviews with artists, organizers, venue owners, and participants, along with on-site observations and feedback collection to assess the impact of these transcultural practices on community dynamics.

The study aims to provide insights into how art, as a form of expression and communication, transcends language barriers and socio-cultural differences, creating a platform for political engagement and community building. By focusing on the transformative potential of art in migrant-dense and transforming Istanbul neighborhoods such as Laleli, Sultanbeyli and Küçükçekmece, the research contributes to broader discussions on the role of cultural practices in shaping social interactions and promoting integration in urban settings. The findings are expected to inform future initiatives that leverage public spaces for fostering cultural exchange and resilience within migrant communities.
This presentation is sponsored by Theatre and Gentrification in the European City (Acronym: THEAGENT), which has received funding from the European Research Council (Grant Agreement No: 101043740).

This paper examines participatory governance models and local policies of urban citizenship as sociopolitical and cultural tools that facilitate literary engagement among displaced communities and help create alternative imaginings of the city. Studying both political and literary practices through a local and small-scale lens, the paper focusses on En Palabras, a civil society initiative in Barcelona that promotes collective storytelling among the Latin American community. I contextualize its activities in relation to the participatory and cosmopolitan policy agenda of Barcelona en Comú, the citizen platform governing the city at the time the organization was created. While urban citizenship policies are often seen as rights-giving practices that enable multiple forms of legal identification for unauthorized migrants, the paper shows how the promotion of cultural expression of minorities through writing can act as a bottom-up, rights-claimingactivity that enables migrants to carve a symbolic space within the local public sphere. I illustrate this subjective reappropriation of the city through a (para)textual analysis of Intraducibles / Intraduïbles, En Palabras’ bilingual anthology published in 2024. The publication offers an alternative cartography of Barcelona by crossing Catalan, peninsular as well as Latin American Spanish and incorporating images of the city that show the authors’ personal entanglement with the urban space described in the texts. These creative engagements with the city redefine notions of national (and regional) identity and add an affective dimension to local participatory policies, translating collective measures into tangible, singular acts of speaking up and taking space.

• Research questions: How does a small-scale and local approach to literary production and migration redefine notions of citizenship and belonging? How do local citizenship policies and governance models interact with symbolic reappropriations of the city?
• Theoretical framework: Citizenship Studies, Transnational Literary Studies, Spatial Theory
• Methodological approach: close reading of the texts and paratexts, collaborative research, qualitative interviews
• Data: Intraducibles/Intraduïbles anthology + interviews with partners from the organization

Albeit enjoying considerable public recognition as the biggest public park of Florence, Italy, Le Cascine is subject to a discursive transformation that gradually reshapes the park’s overall affective atmosphere through ideas of fear, insecurity, and stigmatisation of the (racialized and classed) “other”.

Approaching Le Cascine not simply as living but also as lived urban text, this contribution presents an arts-based urban-geographic research with a three-fold aim: to question the dominant affective atmosphere; to invent ways to enter inside it together with people who cross it; and to contribute to its remoulding in inclusive, creative, and participatory ways. The “Vis-à-vis with the park” project, a collaboration between three geographers and an illustrator, consists of a handcrafted photo booth simulation popping up in the park wherein passers-by can enter to become research participants. Departing from one out of seven available panoramas of the Cascine (designed purposefully so as to represent the park’s variable aspects), the illustrator intervenes on the panorama inspired by the unfolding guided discussion around the participant’s relationship with the park.

Inside the park’s abstracted affective atmosphere, “Vis-à-vis” produces an intimate spatiality that enables the emergence of emotions, memories and personal relations. Therefore, an alternative inter-subjective micro-atmosphere is shaped momentarily allowing us to reveal the park’s alternative affective dimensions, as well as to give space to the participants’ agency in knowledge production: With the researchers remaining outside of the booth to not disrupt the intimacy, the participant’s words guide the illustrator’s hand thus co-producing a personalised visual product. The project is telling also in performative terms: The booth’s out-of-place visibility, reinforced by the structure’s temporary, pop-up character, allows us to reach a sample of park users that would have been difficult to reach through “conventional” methods. Moreover, the unusual, playful and mysterious character of the practice resulted in a spontaneous engagement of participants.

Whilst the dominant affective atmosphere constructs textually Le Cascine as a potential spatial “other” to Florence’s homogenized and pacified city centre, the creative, affective and performative dimensions of the “Vis-à-vis”, together with its artistic-geographic representations, allows for a counter-atmosphere based on intimacy, inter-subjectivity, and the more-than-textual.

This paper introduces printmaking as an innovative arts-based research method that enhances the study of urban spaces by visualizing the layered, complex and multifaceted perceptions of urban citizens. Printmaking techniques are used not only as a tool to explore physical spaces but also as a mean to make on-site interventions and visualize ideas, emotions, and experiences of participants. For this contribution we engage children and elderly people in a typical Viennese park located in the 16th district, to explore the question how different users experience, perceive and use the space. Through the use of various stencil techniques, we provide participants with a medium to express feelings, memories and ideas connected to the park, allowing for a nuanced exploration of how different groups experience the same urban environment. The use of printmaking as a participatory tool not only empowers participants but also contributes to the co-creation of urban knowledge, revealing layers of identity, belonging, and emotional attachment that are often excluded from conventional research. In particular, the method mirrors the layering effect of stencils, revealing multiple perspectives that would otherwise be overlooked in traditional research approaches. The paper argues that printmaking as an arts-based method can expand the toolkit of urban studies by offering new ways to represent urban spaces and experiences. It demonstrates how this approach makes it possible to include often overlooked voices and to adapt the research tools according to the needs of research participants. For example, when working with small children, it is possible to let them design and visualize memories and ideas concerning a particular place and its surroundings. Similarly, when working with elderly people, printmaking offers an accessible and creative medium that allows for the expression of their personal histories, emotions, and connections to urban spaces.

Turin was considered one of the automotive capitals of the world, along with Detroit and Stuttgart and other sites scattered across the continents. This was not only because the city was the centre of a large manufacturing group, Fiat, but also because, historically, it had seen a succession of skills in the sector that was unique in the world. Known and shaped for a century as a factory-town, at the turn of the 1980s and 1990s it experienced a moment of serious crisis, coinciding with the onset of globalisation processes, with the radical change in the way companies compete and with the choices made by industrial companies to relocate production. Before other Italian cities, Turin has in fact witnessed a profound downsizing of its manufacturing industry.

Over the last two decades, and particularly after the 2006 Winter Olympics, this dynamic city has undergone a very significant change: it now presents itself as a cultural and tourist city, characterised by an innovative force capable of shaping and changing its identity. The city has enriched its roots with new vocations, realising that the industrial vocation alone would not be sufficient to guarantee past prosperity and that it was therefore necessary to broaden the spectrum of its excellence. Through diversification strategies and numerous projects, it moved in the direction of the knowledge economy: research and start-ups, university and education system, and culture. Culture has been a key element, and investing in culture has been and is strategic both for the inhabitant involvement that for tourist attraction. In this transition frame, a role of excellence is played by the museums, some of which are world-famous, others less well-known but equally valuable. Turin has become one of the favourite tourist destinations for Italians and has increasingly opened its doors to foreign tourists.

Within this general framework, the research proposes to share some insights on the intertwining of geography and urban tourism in the city of Turin: its transformation from the city of the car to a city that has been able to renew its image and exploit its potential to become one of the most interesting cultural and tourist centres on the national scene today can certainly be an interesting case study.

Burgess (1925) observed that “In all cities there is the natural tendency for local and outside transportation to converge in the central business district... we expect to find … great hotels, theaters, art museums …” (p. 52). This idea of concentrated tourist activities influenced later geographical studies inspired by the Chicago School, which sought to identify and define distinct visitor-oriented areas. Consequently, terms such as "Tourism Business Districts" (Getz, 1993) emerged, highlighting the spatial segregation of tourism within specific zones.

Such confinement has been criticised as creating 'artificial bubbles' (Judd, 1999), distancing tourists from local urban life. Contemporary perspectives, however, have come to view the "tourist city" as an overlay on other urban functions, reflecting diverse uses and users (Ashworth & Page, 2011). Concepts such as the flâneur (Nuvolati, 2009) and the choraster (Wearing & Foley, 2017) emphasise tourists’ integration into everyday urban spaces, shifting the focus to their interaction and co-creation of cities.

Despite these shifts, the division between tourist-dedicated and resident spaces remains central, encompassing ecological, morphological, and sociological dimensions. The “invasion” process has been described as transformative—and often disruptive—with McKenzie (1925) stating, " … there takes place displacement and selection determined by the character of the invader and the area invaded" (p. 76).

In the context of tourism, some observers posit that such "invasions" can foster convergence between tourists and local communities, thereby reinforcing shared perceptions and urban bonds (Russo & Quaglieri-Dominguez, 2013). Others underscore the potential risks of conflict and imbalance, with overtourism giving rise to tensions, resistance, and even "tourism-phobia" (Novy & Colomb, 2017; Milano, 2018).

In Italy, an urban demographic crisis, rising housing costs, and speculative real estate ventures linked to platform capitalism (Aalbers, 2018) have reshaped city centres. The proliferation of short-term rentals and the decline of traditional accommodations have driven gentrification, which is often disconnected from local well-being.

This study investigates how urban tourism reshapes historic Italian cities with significant visitor flows. It employs specific indicators to analyse the transformation of tourist spaces.

A tourist destination extends beyond administrative boundaries and is closely tied to the perceptions of tourists and day-trippers, who define the tourist territory. So, how large is the tourist destination of Venice? From the municipality’s perspective, it extends within the administrative borders of the metropolitan city; for the region, Venice encompasses the entire regional territory (examples of tourism promotion include the Dolomites, marketed as Venice’s mountains; the province of Treviso, described as Venice’s gardens; Caorle, promoted as the “small Venice”; and the northern Adriatic coast, referred to as “Venice’s beach”). But what do visitors to the historic city think? Or rather, what does their behaviour reveal about how the boundaries of the destination can be defined?

Using high-frequency data from mobile phone cells, this study conducts an in-depth analysis of "hit-and-run" visitors—day-trippers who visit Venice for just a few hours during a day trip. Do they really return to their place of residence? And most importantly, what behaviors do foreign visitors exhibit?

The findings present maps illustrating the behaviors of so-called “false day-trippers”—individuals (mainly foreigners) who visit Venice for a single day but stay overnight in nearby municipalities such as Padua, Treviso, Cavallino Treporti, and even Cortina d’Ampezzo.

These results prompt several reflections: How can these flows be controlled and managed? Is there a way to coordinate between municipalities? Should taxation measures (such as the tourist tax and access contribution) be reconsidered?

Sport, like other human activities, is an engine of development and transformation in economic, socio-political and environmental terms (Bale, 1989; Mc Gillivray, 2019). One of the most interesting dimensions of sport studies refers to the role of cities. As noted by some authors (Turner, Carnicelli, 2017; Balletto, Borruso, 2018), the reflections of the management of the sports issue in a city are linked to its representation and how it can be experienced not only by residents, but also by potential visitors (Slobodyan, 2018).

Nowadays there is a tendency for cities to compete for international awards such as “European Capital of Sport” recognition (ACES Europe), the goal is to trigger local transformation processes that have positive impacts on the territory as a whole and on social cohesion. The reflection presented here fits into this perspective with a case study analysis: Genoa as the “European Capital of Sport 2024”. This recognition - is relevant both in terms of mobilising resources and concrete territorial spin-offs, and in terms of attracting events and tourist flows.

In the first part of this contribution, a general overview of sport-related activities in Italy will be offered, also in a comparative perspective with the rest of Europe; a second part of the research will focus on the case study of the city of Genoa and the related implications of the recognition as the “European Capital of Sport 2024”; finally, the transformations in the field of sport that have already taken place and/or are evolving in the Genoa area will be highlighted, as well as the related development trajectories in a tourism perspective. In order to support the reflections presented and to assess the phenomena described, also from a quantitative point of view, secondary data from official sources have been used.

The territorial analysis carried out makes it possible to affirm that also Genoa is part of that process of enhancing sport at an urban level that does not only have attraction and territorial marketing purposes, but also intends to promote sport as a fundamental practice for individual wellbeing and social cohesion.

One of the current challenges for urban dynamics concerns the role that urban tourism plays in cities in the creation of economic, social, and cultural opportunities. Transformations of tourist sites within cities are relevant in urban regeneration and contribute to reshape and reorganize the city and its image.

The aim of the contribute is to focus on the dynamics of urban tourism in medium-sized cities that in Europe play an important role connecting metropolitan areas with rural areas.

In particular, the authors will analyse the emerging trends and challenges fostered by the implementation of programmes and projects that affect the urbanised area and redesign part of its structure and image thanks to national and international sport events.

Novara will be presented as a useful case study in order to point out how a medium-sized cities, named European city of sport 2025, can face the economic and social transition from the traditional industrial model to the contemporary response to global urban challenges.

The contribute explores the experiences of the city and synthesizes the main strategies adopted by the local administration of Novara in reshaping the urban space to favourite incoming tourism. The contribute argues a critical geographical approach and pays a special attention to urban space transformation processes, social practices and collaborative/conflictual relations. The authors will focus on various aspects connected to the main sport events that took and will take place in the city (e.g. Rink Hockey World Championships 2024) and on the impacts of tourism on urban socio-spatial dynamics.

A significant phenomenon of sacral complexes in a landscape is their cultural heritage dimension. They are part of historical landscape structures, representing a type of cultural landscape. In addition, they are often perceived as important landscape landmarks and symbols. In Slovakia (Central Europe), most such complexes are abandoned and deteriorated. In this context presented paper deals with the assessment and possible future human use of Calvary in Hliník nad Hronom (Slovakia) in order to preserve it for future generations. A central aspect of our research work presented in this contribution is to elaborate a sustainable and feasible concept for the Calvary following the integrated approach of its revitalization. Firstly, we analyzed Calvary´s historical and regional setting with the help of a thorough review of literature, historical maps, and pictures. Then we evaluated architectural, landscape, and vegetation values, as well as landscape structure changes using relevant methodologies. Based on this evaluation, much fieldwork, and social survey we were able to identify the current problems of the place connected with abandonment and use, evaluated values, socio-economic factors, and preservation policies. Subsequently, we prepared a future concept for the Calvary following the selected criteria and distinguishing features and looking at the Calvary as a result of collective work. Finally, recommendations were formulated for legal framework and spatial planning procedures in order to enforce better preservation of values of sacral complexes in the country.

Highlights for public administration, management and planning:
• Calvaries are important landmarks, but most such sacral complexes are abandoned and deteriorated.
• This study presents a proof-of-concept for the integrated approach to revitalisation with a focus on both spiritual and tourist purposes.
• The revitalisation concept includes proposals for religious and architectural elements, landscape and greenery elements, monuments and landscape protection needs, and they pose suitable socio-economic utilisation of the site.
• The concept shows that the contrast between the open landscape at the foot of the hills and the hilltop is very important and must be maintained in revitalisation actions.

Gentrification is a phenomenon prevailing in many cities around the world, affecting them
socioeconomically. Although gentrification may benefit a city, there is evidence of segregation and
displacement in urban population. It is crucial to recognize any negative consequences, in order to take
action and mitigate them. This paper investigates the manifestation of gentrification in the Attiki basin,
to promote a better understanding regarding any unique characteristics. Additionally, the purpose of
this paper is to categorize gentrification in three different typologies (marginal gentrification,
mainstream gentrification and super gentrification), detect the potential and development in the next
years. The data was retrieved by the Hellenic Statistical Authority and the Mapping Panorama of Greek
Census Data. Also, spatial analysis methods were applied. The parameters taken into consideration
were demographics, such as age, education level, nationality (refugees and immigrants), profession and
tenure. Athens is one of the most touristic cities in Europe, due to the rich ancient history and important
monuments situated in many of the city’s areas. It is indicated from previous authors that gentrification
may not be such a prominent urban typology in touristic areas, but rather touristification. Athens
embodies the role model of a “Touristic City”. In order to determine the influence of certain points of
interest in the urban fabric (archaeological spaces, metro stations, pedestrian areas, bike lanes, squares)
as well the road network, Space Syntax methods were applied. The latter was used to assess the
potential dispersal of gentrification in other neighborhoods. The findings show that there marginal
gentrification is to be found in the western areas, mainstream gentrification near the City Center and
super gentrification in the northern and southern suburbs. The dispersal of those typologies is linked to
the specific demographics of the population in each area. Moreover, the metro lines influence in a great
level the development of gentrification. Finally, touristification is likely to have developed in the
historical center rather than mainstream gentrification. These findings indicate that it is crucial to take
action, in order to enhance regional urban planning and prevent citizens from becoming displaced from
their communities.

The accelerated development of urban tourism has led to the emergence of phenomena associated with overcrowding in mature urban destinations at a global level. Overtourism is a growing phenomenon that has placed the management of tourist flows on the political agenda of urban destinations. The urban problems generated by overcrowding fundamentally involve challenges of coexistence between residents and visitors, and can lead to a feeling of rejection of overcrowding (tourismophobia). This feeling of rejection is a consequence of different types of problems within urban centres linked to tourism development; among which it is worth highlighting: the proliferation of tourist housing, Airbnb, touristification or gentrification. The analysis of the cases of Pontevedra and Sanxenxo (Galicia, Spain) allows us to review the measures adopted by two different models of tourism management by public administrations to address the problem of this overdemand. The results show the need to move towards comprehensive tourism governance to improve the management of urban destinations. In this sense, co-governance between stakeholders is key to the success of territorial tourism management in the face of such challenges; as well as coordination between all public administrations. Management that must be based on intelligent strategic tourism planning based on the implementation of a basic system of indicators based on quantitative and qualitative variables, the latter resulting from an approximation to the assessments of the resident population for the tourist situation of a destination. The final objective is to have objective criteria to subsequently establish lines of action with the aim of controlling and alleviating problems such as tourist over-frequency in certain urban enclaves or the regulation of tourist housing.