Key Thinkers on Space and Place

`It is a safe bet that Key Thinkers will emerge as something of a ′hit′ within the undergraduate community and will rise to prominance as a ′must buy′

-Environment and Planning

`Key Thinkers on Space and Place is an engagingly written, well-researched and very accessible book. It will surely prove an invaluable tool for students, whom I would strongly encourage to purchase this edited collection as one of the best guides to recent geographical thought′

-Claudio Minca, University of Newcastle

`Key Thinkers is the best encyclopedic tool for human geographers since the Dictionary of Human Geography. It takes into its orbit discussions of the lives and work of the last three decades′ major thinkers on space and place. It is hugely useful for students who want an easy way to access the roots of where some major themes and debates in contemporary geography. It is organized so that each chapter details the scholar′s biography, their contribution to spatial and place-based theory and the controversies that arise through their work′

- Stuart Aitken, San Diego State University

Key Thinkers on Space and Place is a comprehensive guide to the latest work on space. Each entry is a short interpretative essay of 2,500 words, outlining the contributions made by the key theorists, and comprises:

· a concise biography, indicating disciplinary background, career trajectory and collaboration with others

· an outline of the key theoretical, conceptual and methodological ideas each has introduced to human geography

· an explanation of the reaction to, and uptake of, how these ideas has changed and evolved over time

· an explanation of how these theories have been used and critiqued by human geographers

· a selective bibliography of each thinker′s key publications (and key secondary publications)

The text is introduced by a contextual essay which outlines in general terms the shifting ways in which space and place have been theorised and which explains how Key Thinkers on Space and Place can be used. A glossary that defines key traditions, with cross-links to key theorists and a timeline of key article/book publication date is also included.

Phil Hubbard is Professor in Urban Studies in the University of Kent’s School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research.

Rob Kitchin is a Professor in Maynooth University Social Sciences Institute and Department of Geography. He was a European Research Council Advanced Investigator on the Programmable City project (2013-2018) and a principal investigator on the Building City Dashboards project (2016-2020) and for the Digital Repository of Ireland (2009-2017). He is the (co)author or (co)editor of 31 other academic books, and (co)author of over 200 articles and book chapters. He has been an editor of Dialogues in Human Geography, Progress in Human Geography and Social and Cultural Geography, and was the co-Editor-in-Chief of the International Encyclopedia of Human Geography. He was the 2013 recipient of the Royal Irish Academy’s Gold Medal for the Social Sciences.

Professor Valentine has held prestigious international visiting fellowships at the Universities of Sydney, Australia and Otago, New Zealand and has visited and given keynote addresses at a range of prestigious international conferences. She was co-founder and co-editor of the international journal Social and Cultural Geography, and co-edited Gender, Place and Culture. She has undertaken international research in Europe, Africa and the USA and is committed to developing the University of Sheffield′s international strategy within the Faculty of Social Sciences.