Academic Career
- 2021 onwards: Head of Geography and Environment, º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ.
- 2003 onwards: Lecturer; Senior Lecturer; Reader; Professor of Human Geography, º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ.
- 1994-2003: Lecturer in Human Geography, University of Heidelberg.
Professional Responsibilities
- 2017-2022: Co-Organiser, Research Network Polycentric Urban Regions (PURs), Regional Studies Association.
- 2010-2022: Editorial Board Member, Raumforschung und Raumordnung | Spatial Research and Planning.
- 2008 onwards: Associate Director, Globalization and World Cities Research Network (https://gawc.lboro.ac.uk/).
- 1998-2007: Editor, Hettner Lectures Book Series.
Michael’s research interests are in urban economic and social geography, with a focus on the formation of transnational networks in a globalising world. This work theorises and maps new geographies of globalised urbanisation, advancing the development of a relational approach in global urban analysis. Current and recent research includes projects investigating the conceptualisation and measurement of global urban networks (ESRC), the dispersion of global city functions into wider (mega) city-regions and associated polycentric metropolitan development (EU, Regional Studies Association), the role of cities in economic expansion (The Leverhulme Trust), and London and Frankfurt as ‘world cities’ (Anglo-German Foundation).
He has published widely in the field of urban studies including Global Urban Analysis (Earthscan, hb 2011, pb 2016), the International Handbook of Globalization and World Cities (Edward Elgar, hb 2012, pb 2015), Cities in Globalization (Routledge, 2013), Megaregions: Globalization’s New Urban Form? (Edward Elgar, hb 2015, pb 2017), Doing Global Urban Research (Sage, hb/pb 2018) and Global City Makers (Edward Elgar, 2018).
He is also investigating transnational academic networks and internationalisation strategies of universities as part of a wider interest in the changing global geographies of higher education. This has included research on migrant academic staff and on the geographies of philanthropic engagement in global higher education, both in the UK and in the Global South.
Michael’s teaching examines the geographies of globalised urbanisation (both conceptually and on location in major cities such as London, Paris and Singapore). He also teaches geographical methods with a focus on digital mapping and visualisation.
Current Postgraduate Research Students
- Jiaying Xue: Polycentricity in China’s ‘Greater Bay’ area’
Recent Postgraduate Research Students
- Daniel Giles (2021): Triathlon geographies: a mixed-method investigation into spatial, social and digital sporting worlds.
- Swayam Das (2020): Placing Indian cities in the world city network.
- Natalie Tebbett (2019): Internationalising UK students through migrant academic staff.
- Özgür Sayın (2018): Istanbul: the making of a global city between East and West.
- Yifei Chen (2016): Understanding city expansion into larger city-regions: the case of the Yangtze River Delta.
- David Rigby (2016): Nascent geographies of austerity – understanding the implications of a (re)new(ed) welfare-to-work discourse.
Selected Publications
- Watson A, Derudder B and Hoyler M (2023) Transnational media corporations in global media cities: a geographical approach to understanding media power through corporate office networks Global Media and Communication 19(3) 399-423.
- Sayin O, Hoyler M and Harrison J (2022) Doing comparative urbanism differently: conjunctural cities and the stress-testing of urban theory Urban Studies 59(2) 263-280.
- Derudder B, Meijers E, Harrison J, Hoyler M and Liu, X (2022) Polycentric urban regions: conceptualization, identification and implications Regional Studies 56(1) 1-6.
- Taylor PJ and Hoyler M (2021) Lost in plain sight: revealing central flow process in Christaller’s original central place systems Regional Studies 55(2) 345-353.
- Hoyler M and Watson A (2019) Framing city networks through temporary projects: (Trans)national film production beyond ‘Global Hollywood’ Urban Studies 56(5) 943-959.
- Hoyler M, Parnreiter C and Watson A (eds) (2018) Global City Makers: Economic Actors and Practices in the World City Network. Edward Elgar: Cheltenham.
- Harrison J and Hoyler M (eds) (2018) Doing Global Urban Research. Sage: London.
- Hoyler M and Harrison J (2017) Global cities research and urban theory making Environment and Planning A 49(12) 2853-2858.