Dr. Bas van Heur

Postdoctoral Researcher

I am a post-doctoral researcher at the Maastricht Virtual Knowledge Studio within the Department of Technology and Society Studies, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Maastricht University. Broadly speaking, my main research interest is in the politics of urban development and the role of research in engaging with and analyzing urban development strategies and their effects. I have published on creative/cultural industries, music networks, conflict and the politics of scale, cultural political economy, small cities, the digitization of heritage, urban laboratories, and the built environment of higher education and research.

After doing my BA and MA in Cultural History at Utrecht University and the Humboldt University in Berlin, I started my PhD in Media and Communications at Goldsmiths College, University of London. Relocating to Berlin, I was a DFG-Fellow at the Center for Metropolitan Studies and received my PhD from the Department of Earth Sciences of the Free University in Berlin. I have also taught at Utrecht University and Goldsmiths College and now teach courses on BA and MA level within the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences of Maastricht University. Before coming to university, I completed Intermediate Vocational Training (MBO) and one year of Higher Vocational Training (HBO) in building construction. In addition to my academic work, I try to maintain active connections with the cultural sector as well as policy makers through consultancy work and the organization of and participation in workshops and other events.

Current and forthcoming projects:

- 2-4 Sep. 2010: EASST 2010 Conference, Trento, Italy. Paper presentation (together with Sally Wyatt) of 'Turning to Ontology in STS? Turning to STS through Ontology'.

- 24-25 Sep. 2010: After the Cultural City - New Positions for Culture in Urban Development Conference, Pecs, Hungary. Invited Speaker.

- Nov. 2010: Via2018University: Emancipatory Practices, Regional Strategies, and a Research Program. Position Paper for the Via2018 project office in preparation for the bid book Maastricht European Capital of Culture 2018. Co-authored with Peter Peters.

- Feb. - Jun. 2011: 'Nature and the City: the Politics of Community Gardens and Urban Farming'. Coordination of research-based course for 3rd-year BA students.

- 15-17 Jun. 2011: The Distinctiveness of Cities - Modes of Re-Production Conference, Darmstadt, Germany. Invited Speaker.

- 2011: Cultural Political Economy of Small Cities. Volume for the Regions and Cities series of Routledge co-edited with Anne Lorentzen.

Keywords

Urban studies, creative/cultural industries, knowledge-based economy, innovation, architecture and the built environment, science and technology studies, cultural political economy, social and cultural theory