At heart, transportation policy and research are about people: connecting individuals and the places they live, ensuring sufficient and equitable access, and facilitating movement. Whether at the regional, city, or neighborhood scale, the loss of population presents unique challenges where transport is concerned. It is not only about preservation of existing access, but possibly even a question of increased need for connectivity and mobility. Demographic changes that accompany depopulation--aging for example-- also impact existing systems, preferences, and needs.
- High quality and focused contributions on a complex and urgent topic
- A clear focus on qualitative analyses and mixed method approaches
Rachel Franklin is a professor of geographical analysis at Newcastle University, affiliated with the Centre for Urban and Regional Development Studies (CURDS). She was previously associate director of the Spatial Structures in the Social Sciences (S4) initiative at Brown University and associate professor (research) of population studies in Brown’s Population Studies and Training Center (PSTC).
Franklin’s research is centered on the interaction between geography and demography, from spatial analysis methods for population change to migration to the evolution of population composition. Her current research focuses on the measurement, impacts, and demographic sources of population loss in the United States and Europe. Other ongoing work investigates the impacts of college student migration on human capital distribution in the U.S., as well as the shifting geographical patterns of racial/ethnic diversity across U.S. counties and states. Franklin has also published on migration trends and data in the United States, as well as regional fertility change in Italy.
Franklin is the current editor of Geographical Analysis and past book review editor of the Journal of Regional Science. She serves on the editorial boards of Population, Space and Place, as well as Urban Climate and Raumforschung und Raumordnung | Spatial Research and Planning. She is also the outgoing president of the Population Specialty Group of the American Association of Geographers and a past executive director of the Western Regional Science Association.
Her research has been supported internally by Brown University, as well as by the United States’ National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation.
Eveline van Leeuwen (1978) graduated in Land Use Planning (MSc) at the Wageningen University and obtained a PhD in Economics at VU Amsterdam on the thesis entitled "Towns today : Contemporary Functions of Small and Medium-sized Towns in the Rural Economy" in 2008. She is now affiliated to Wageningen University as professor and chairholder of the Urban Economics group.
Eveline has a broad interest in economic and social interactions between places at the regional and urban level and how these interactions impact wellbeing/happiness; economic activities and participation. In her research, she focusses on the integration of micro- and macro approaches in the field of regional science. Linking agent-based modelling and microsimulation, with macro models is an important common thread. This novel approach was rewarded several awards.
Currently, Eveline and her group are working on how social and physical neighbourhood characteristics contribute to individual level decisions. They focus on sustainable energy consumption and the uptake of renewable energy, local participation and social networks, and healthy lifestyles. In addition, she works on urban-rural interactions and synergies between different regions and localities.
The outcomes of this research is of interest to both academics and policymakers. Therefore she is often asked to present and discuss her insight at international conferences, as well as with local policymakers. She is also a member of the scientific reflection group for population decline initiated by the Dutch Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations and the Knowledge Platform Demographic Transition.
Eveline has been active in the Regional Science Association for many years. She is a board member of the Dutch speaking group (RSAN), acted as local organiser of the ERSA congress in Groningen and has joint several prize committees. Furthermore, she is part of the editorial board of the Regional Science Policy and practice, Regional Science Regional Studies and the International Journal of Microsimulation.
Dr. Antonio Paez teaches at McMaster University, Canada
