The Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning has its focus on the enhancement of long-term socio-economic developments of cities, how to cope with social inequalities, and how to accelerate sustainability transitions of cities and infrastructures. Research on these topics takes place within our research program “Urban Futures: Transitions Towards Economic and Social Sustainability for Cities”.
Your jobIn this programme, faculty members from different sub disciplines of human geography and spatial planning – urban and economic geographies, international development studies and spatial planning – work closely together on topics like governance of urban transitions, urban infrastructures, healthy urban living, urban inequalities and diversities, transnational mobilities, economic resilience and networks and flows in and between urban regions.
For our
NWO Cooperation Indonesia - Netherlands Merian Fund project “The Urban-Ocean Nexus: Towards Developing Inclusive, Resilient, and Sustainable Blue Economy in Indonesia and the Netherlands” at the International Development Studies (IDS) group, we are looking for a PhD candidate.
The project backgroundThe blue economy is increasingly vital for maritime countries such as Indonesia and the Netherlands. The ocean supports diverse functions, including biodiversity conservation, carbon sink, energy production, fisheries, aquaculture, transportation, and tourism. Proponents emphasize the benefits of a diversified blue economy for achieving multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Critics, however, contend that the blue economy leads to new territorial and resource conflicts, displacements of coastal communities, and degradation of ecosystems because of the increased infrastructure development. Both arguments fail to recognize that maritime countries such as Indonesia and the Netherlands have been urbanizing, with blue economy development and urbanization processes intricately linked, co-shaping urban and blue frontiers in the coastal and offshore spaces.
As urbanization expands the seaward frontier of infrastructure development and blue economy development causes landward flows of materials and people, this project conceptualizes a novel, ‘urban-ocean’ nexus to assess the impacts of the urban and blue frontier development and to align marine spatial planning and urban planning in coastal and offshore areas. Specifically, the project applies this urban-ocean nexus to coastal and offshore areas of the Makassar Strait in Kalimantan in Indonesia and the North Sea off the Netherlands’ coast. The overall objectives of the project include: (1) to map and assess seaward and landward impacts of urban and blue infrastructure development on coastal and marine environments and territories; (2) to develop and apply a practical model to address the impacts and establish synergies between marine spatial planning and urban planning; and (3) to create a platform of co-creation and exchange of knowledge and experiences between researchers, students, and practitioners to design desirable urban and ocean governance arrangements.
Through an inter-and-transdisciplinary approach and based on a well-established Indonesian-Dutch research consortium, this project contributes to multiple SDGs while advancing the Indonesian Vision 2045 and Blue Economy Roadmaps of Indonesia and the Netherlands. Within this Urban-Ocean Nexus project, the PhD candidate will conduct in-depth comparative research on the urban-ocean relationships in Indonesia and the Netherlands, with a particular focus on the planetary health of various interconnected groups of people and natural and infrastructural landscapes in coastal and off-shore spaces. The PhD candidate is also expected to engage in creative methods leading to visualization of human and environmental health hazards and everyday experiences.
The PhD research is embedded in the IDS group at Utrecht University in close collaboration with the project partners, especially the Faculty of Geography at Gadjah Mada University of Indonesia. The PhD candidate will focus specifically on how coastal communities experience landward and seaward infrastructure development. Using intersectionalities and urban-blue frontier perspectives, the PhD candidate is expected to deepen knowledge on: 1) who and what will be affected by urbanization and off-shore infrastructure development; and 2) the environmental and planetary health for different water and land users, livelihoods, and landscapes. In collaboration with various societal and academic partners in Indonesia and the Netherlands, the PhD candidate will include an analysis on infrastructure, policies, and planning in such a way as to contribute to the urban-ocean planning scenario co-designed with other project researchers based in Indonesia and the Netherlands. This means that the PhD candidate is expected to be an excellent team worker.
More specifically, the project demands the following activities:
- Conducting a literature study on urbanization and off-shore infrastructure development in the Global South and North;
- Conducting qualitative and spatial research on the urban-ocean nexus with the focus on environmental/planetary health in Kalimantan in Indonesia and Zeeland in the Netherlands;
- Writing and publishing the results in academic and professional publications;
- Presenting the findings at international conferences;
- Managing the work package and planning workshops in collaboration with other researchers in the project;
- Teaching relevant courses and supervise the project’s bachelor/master thesis projects in the Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning (max. 10% of the appointment).