After successful completion of the course, students are able to:
- critically engage with issues of european spatial development, multi-scalar relations and data availability in the context of urban and regional research
- delineate a topic area in a manageable way
- present the core findings of the existing literature on the topic area
- develop a clear research question
- identify, analyse and illustrate relevant data sources
- select research methods appropriate to the research question (e.g.: statistical analyses, spatial visualisations, qualitative analyses, theoretical work, ...)
- analyse the results of their research work
- independently write a scientific paper according to generally accepted scientific criteria.
European development is evermore integrated, boths spatially as well as economically, socially and environmentally. The past decades marked a growth of EU-wide spatial data. In this seminar we focus on the available data sources. Moreover, we asked which influence the European level as for spatial development.
Possible topics for the Bachelor's thesis can be, but are not limited to: Country financial equalisation, EU cohesion policy, relevance of EU policies, trends of spatial development, comparative spatial analysis.
The Bachelor thesis can be written both as theory or literature work as well as an empirically based work, for example through a case study or statistical analysis. We encourage the use of EU-wide data sources.
Exemplary literature
Atteslander, Peter, et al. Methoden der empirischen Sozialforschung. 14., neu bearbeitete und erweiterte Auflage, Schmidt, Erich, 2023.
Egner. Theoretische Geographie. WBG, Wiss. Buch-Ges., 2010.
Pfaffenbach,Carmella & Reuber, Paul . Methoden der empirischen Humangeographie. Westermann, 2005.
Weber, Karsten. Einführung in die Erkenntnis-und Wissenschaftstheorie. Frankfurt/Oder 2004.
- Bathelt, H., & Glückler, J. (2018). Kapitel 4.4 Möglichkeiten und Grenzen der Messung räumlicher Verteilungen. In: Bathelt, H., & Glückler, J. (2018). Wirtschaftsgeographie. Stuttgart: Ulmer.
- Glaeser, E. L., Kahn , M. E., & Rappaport, J. (2008). Why do the poor live in cities? The role of public transportation. Journal of Urban Economics, 63, 1-24.
- Rodríguez-Pose, A. (2018). The revenge of the places that don’t matter (and what to do about it). Cambridge journal of regions, economy and society, 11(1), 189-209.
- Abreu, M., & Öner, Ö. (2020). Disentangling the Brexit vote: the role of economic, social and cultural contexts in explaining the UK’s EU referendum vote. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 52(7), 1434-1456.
- Neufeld, M. (2017). Eine Frage des Maßstabs? zum Verhältnis von Kohäsion und Polarisierung in Europa. Europa regional, 23(4), 15-29
- Ganzleben, C., & Kazmierczak, A. (2020). Leaving no one behind–understanding environmental inequality in Europe. Environmental Health, 19(1), 1-7.
- Independent preparation of a written academic thesiss according to the generally accepted scientific requirements on a topic of spatial inequality.
- 3 presentations on the status of the work
Registration and deregistration modalities:
Registration and deregistration for exams and courses after the TISS registration deadline are to be sent in justified cases (cases of illness, etc.) only by e-mail to srf@tuwien.ac.at. Please note that late registration and deregistration will only be accepted upon submission of an appropriate justification (medical certificate, proof of a technical problem). E-mails sent to the respective lecturers in this regard will remain unanswered.
