*** Apologies for cross-postings *** ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Call For Papers: Do Extraordinary Things Happen in Ordinary Cities? AAG Annual Meeting 2020 (Denver, 6-10 April 2020) Organizers: John R. Bryson (University of Birmingham, UK), Ronald V. Kalafsky (University of Tennessee, US) & Vida Vanchan (SUNY Buffalo State, US)
Sponsored by: the Economic Geography Specialty Group Extraordinary things happen in ordinary towns and cities. This session brings together papers on smaller towns and cities. The focus is on the development of an alternative approach to urban theory and economic geography that foregrounds smaller towns and cities rather than much larger cities and conurbations. The argument is that urban studies has tended to focus on exploring extraordinary cities rather than ordinary cities. An ordinary city is defined as a smaller urban center that will be connected in many complex ways to regional, national and international flows of people, goods, ideas, materials. The focus of too much social science research has been on special, extraordinary, or global cities. We are not suggesting that researching extraordinary cities is not required, but rather that a more inclusive urban economic research agenda should emerge that acknowledges urban heterogeneity. Recently, a number of papers have argued that the emphasis placed on large cities ". . .has ensured that a large number of cities are essentially labelled as 'lesser' or irrelevant" (Bell and Jayne, 2009: 684). But, in many accounts these smaller cities are not considered to be irrelevant but simply ignored. The difficulty is smaller cities have local economies and processes, providing settings for urban lifestyles that may be very distinctive or different compared to those found in larger or more extraordinary cities. Moreover, the drivers of economic growth within ordinary cities are also different in myriad ways (Erickcek and McKinney 2006). Thus, we argue that it is timely to develop a research agenda on ordinary cities or those places in which the majority of people live, but have been largely overlooked by most urban and economic geographers. This call for papers is intended to stimulate a debate on ordinary cities. We welcome papers that cover all dimensions of living and working in ordinary cities. Papers may examine topics including, but are not restricted to: * Economic geographies of ordinary cities. * Living and working in ordinary cities. * Restructuring of ordinary city economies. * Linkages between ordinary cities and other places. * Finance, financialization, local property markets and ordinary cities. * International business and ordinary cities. * Immigration/migration and ordinary cities. * Ordinary cities and global production networks. * Ordinary cities and identity. * Governance. * The culture economy of ordinary cities. Abstract Submission Please send your abstract (max. 250 words) conforming to the requirements of the AAG (see https://nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww2.aag.org%2Faagannualmeeting%2Fsubmit_an_abstract&data=02%7C01%7CECONOMICGEOGRAPHY-L%40LISTSERV.UCONN.EDU%7Cc261502219cf45fa563908d7437f2c64%7C17f1a87e2a254eaab9df9d439034b080%7C0%7C1%7C637052085794845551&sdata=Rmw4wKs4bJbeBIWH0KLHIiW5zrxWOpgSYHgO1VN9rBg%3D&reserved=0) and provide your PIN by Monday, October 25, 2019 to John Bryson (j.r.bry...@bham.ac.uk<mailto:j.r.bry...@bham.ac.uk>) and Vida Vanchan (vanc...@buffalostate.edu<mailto:vanc...@buffalostate.edu>). References: Bell, D. and Jayne, M. 2009. Small cities? Towards a research agenda. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 33, no.3, 683-699. Erickcek, G. and H. McKinney (2006) 'Small cities blues': looking for growth factors in small and medium-sized cities. Economic Development Quarterly. 20(3): 232-258. Dr. Vida Vanchan Associate Professor, Department of Geography and Planning Affiliated Faculty, Public Administration Division, Department of Political Science State University of New York (SUNY) Buffalo State 1300 Elmwood Ave. Buffalo, NY 14222 USA Tel: 716-878-5209 E-mail: vanc...@buffalostate.edu<mailto:vanc...@buffalostate.edu>
