The essay competition ran from 2002 – 2015. It invited young authors to submit essays on Urban and Regional themes. Prizes included £1000 and £100 in Wiley-Blackwell titles. Some of the winning essays were published in the IJURR Journal but this was not a guarantee. It was coordinated by Professor Eduardo Marques (University of Sao Paulo) and Professor Enzo Mingione (University of Milano Bicocca). Essays were reviewed by members of the wider IJURR family. The competition was discontinued due to falling application numbers.
BEST ESSAY ON URBAN AND REGIONAL THEMES BY YOUNG AUTHORS
2015
The 2015 FURS Essay Competition received 25 applicants from 15 countries – Taiwan, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, China, Germany, Hungary, India, Mexico, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Uganda and USA.
In the two first phases of evaluations, reviews were provided by: Agata Lisiak (Humboldt Universität, Germany); Alberta Andreotti (Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, Italy); Chris Pickvance (University of Kent, UK); Edmond Preteceille (Sciences Po Paris, France); Eduardo Marques, (USP, Brazil); Enzo Mingione (Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, Italy); Fulong Wu (UCL, UK); Gautan Bahn (IIHS Bangalore, India); Jan Dujvendak (UVA, The Nederlands); Jeremy Seekings (University of Cape Town, South Africa); Lícia Valladares (Université Lille, France) and Sonia Arbacci (UCL, UK). In the third and final phase, reports were provided by Paula Meth (University of Sheffield, UK); Simon Parker (University of York, UK) and Tim Butler (Kings College, UK).
First prizes:
Space for citizenship: The liminal politics of undocumented activism, by Thomas Swerts, University of Antwerp, Belgium. Published in IJURR: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1468-2427.12480
Social mix through daily practices and connections: the relevance of place for networks and social capital of upwardly mobile Turkish-Germans, by Christine Barwick, Sciences Po Paris, France (German nationality)
Third Prize:
Building a new hometown of Chinese kung fu: Rethinking locality and Shaolin martial arts education, by Xuan Dong, Department of Education, East China Normal University (Chinese nationality)
The two first prize winners shared £1000.
2012
OVERALL WINNER:
Designing for Mobile Activities. WiFi Hotspots and Users as Inspiration for the Creative Programming of Place, by Michael Robert Doyle, USA, Category 1.
The author will receive a prize of £1,000 plus £100 worth of Wiley-Blackwell titles .
Second Prizes:
China’s Displaced Peasants under Urban Expansion, by Yueming Zhang, China, Category 2.
Jóvenes y efecto barrio en las ciudades del sur de Europa: un apunte sobre algunas cuestiones pendientes de analizar, by Ana Cano, Spain, Category 3.
Each author received a prize of £500 plus £100 worth of Wiley-Blackwell titles.
Third Prize:
The politics of urban life: Equality, order and exclusion in Bogota’s lively public spaces, by Juan Pablo Galvis, Colombia, Category 2.
The author received a prize of £250 plus £100 worth of Wiley-Blackwell titles.
The other finalists are:
“The Zona Rosa is for everyone”: Class analysis of a nightlife district in Bogota, Colombia, by Sebastian Felipe Villamizar-Santamaria, Colombia, Category 2.
Chronicle of a School Fence. Social Dynamics in a Problematic Neighbourhood of Bucharest, by Ioana Alexandra Florea, Romania, Category 2.
Disincentives to connect the poor to water supply: the case of Jakarta, Indonesia, by Simran Sing, India, Category 2.
A geografia da atividade econômica no estado de São Paulo, Para uma regionalizacao baseada na tecnologia e conhecimento, by Alexandre Abdal, Carlos Torres-Freire, Victor Callil, Brazil, Category 3
These authors received a prize of £100 worth of Wiley-Blackwell titles.
2010
OVERALL WINNER:
Running head: Then I’ll Huff, and I’ll Puff, and I’ll…: A Natural Experiment on Property Titling, Housing Improvement and the Psychology of Tenure Security by Jean Louis Van Gelder, The Netherlands/Belgium, Category 2.
The author received a prize of £1,000 plus £100 worth of Wiley-Blackwell titles .
This paper was published in IJURR Vol 37.2, March 2013. It can be found online here.
Second Prizes:
The Governing of Urban Marginality in Western Europe, by Justus Uitermark Netherland, Category 2.
Los Desafios de las Ciudades Intermedias Sudamericanas, en un Contexto de Urbanizacion Global, by Juan Carlos Santa Cruz Grau, Chile, Category 3.
Each author received a prize of £500 plus £100 worth of Wiley-Blackwell titles.
Third Prize:
Migrants as Entreprenerus. Local Economic Development, Rescaling and Migration in Southeast Turkey, by Ayse Seda Yuksel, Turkey, Category 2.
The author received a prize of £250 plus £100 worth of Wiley-Blackwell titles.
The other finalist was:
Intercambios internacionales, estrategias urbanísticas y aspectos políticos entre España y Argentina (1976-1993), by Guillermo Jajamovich, Argentina, Category 3.
The author received a prize of £100 worth of Wiley-Blackwell titles.
2008
Overall Winner:
Planning for Diversity; Planning for Equity: Race, Culture and Capacities in US Cities, by Suzanne Hague, USA.
The author received a prize of £1,000.
Second Prizes:
Category 1:
– Fiscal Responsibility or Perversity? How Fiscal Reforms in Brazil Imperil Slum Upgrading in São Paulo, by Gabriella Carolini, USA.
Category 2:
– Rethinking the Creative City: the Role of Complexity in the Urban Creative Economy, by Roberta Comunian, Italy.
– Multilevel Urban Governance Analysis: Challenges, Obstacles and potentialities, by Nico Giersig, Germany.
Category 3:
– Segregação residencial e acesso à infra-estrutura urbana no Municipio de São Paulo, by Renata Mirandola Bichir, Brazil.
Each author received a prize of £500 plus £100 worth of Wiley-Blackwell titles.
Third prizes:
Category 2:
– Metropolitan restructuring in Montreal: space, identity and political attitudes, by Mariona Tomas, Spain.
Category 3:
– Ensaios para Reestruturacao da Paisagem do Corredor Ferroviario Suburbano, by Marcus César Martins da Cruz, Brazil.
Each author received a prize of £250 plus £100 worth of Wiley-Blackwell titles.
The other finalists were:
– Can We say a Word, Too? Negotiating Milwaukee’s Sowntown Development, by Sandra Zupan, Croatia.
– Urban/Regional Governance, Chinese Style – A Perspective of Asymmetric Decentralization, by Chien Shiuh Shen, Taiwan.
Each author received a prize of £100 worth of Wiley-Blackwell titles.
2006
68 essays were submitted by the deadline of 31st May 2006, of which 12 written in English by native English speaking authors (category 1); 26 written in English by non-native English speaking authors (category 2); and 30 written in Portuguese (13) – Spanish (11) – French (3) – Italian (2) and German (1) (category 3).
We received essays from 27 countries: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Italy, Kenya, Korea, Mexico, Peru, Slovak Republic, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, USA, Venezuela.
Overall Winner:
–The Lost Community? Public Housing and Social Capital in Santiago de Chile, 1985-2001, , by Manuel Tironi Rodò, Chile.
The author received a prize of £1,000. His paper was published in the International Journal of Urban and Regional Research after revisions suggested by the referees: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1468-2427.2009.00893.x
Second Prizes:
Category 1:
– Planning for Nomads at the Urban Periphery: Paradox or Possibility? , by Wendy Tao, USA.
Category 2:
– Institutions and local growth coalitions in China’s urban land reform: the case of Hangzhou high technology zone, by Zhu Qian, China.
Category 3:
– A Cidade dos Catadores de Papéis. Os papéis, o espaço e as perspectivas dos catadores de papel na cidade de Belo Horizonte – Brasil by Rodolfo Nazareth Fonseca, Brasil.
The authors received a prize of £500 plus £100 worth of Blackwell titles.
Third prizes:
Category 2:
– Site-specificity vs. Globalisation.The works of Richard Serra and Frank Gehry in the light of creative city marketing, by Bettina Springer, Germany.
Category 3:
– L’Ecologia del Piano. L’Actor-Network Theory nell’interpretazione della Carta di Rete ecologica della città di Roma, by Roberto Marcelli, Italy.
The authors received a prize of £250 plus £100 worth of Blackwell titles.
The other finalist is:
– ‘Liveability’, revanchism and the development of a new hegemony on urban development in Antwerp, Belgium, by Maarten Petrus Loopmans, Belgium.
The author received a prize of £200 worth of Blackwell titles.
2004
111 essays were submitted by the deadline of 31st May 2004, of which 8 written in English by native English speaking authors (category 1); 56 written in English by non-native English speaking authors (category 2); and 47 written in Portuguese (26) – Spanish (10) – French (5) – Italian (4) and German (2) (category 3).
The final results were as follows:
Overall Winner:
–Towards a nomadic geography – Rethinking space and identity for the potential of progressive politics in the contemporary city, by Kenny Cupers, Belgium.
The author received a prize of £1,000. His paper was published in the International Journal of Urban and Regional Research after revisions suggested by the referees: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1468-2427.2005.00619.x
Second Prizes:
Category 1:
– Spatial Formations: Low-riders, Police, and Urban Space, by Ben Chappell, USA.
Category 2:
– Gender; Social Capital and Political Participation in the Barrio, by Emmanuelle le Texier, France.
Category 3:
– Wien, eine Global City? Neue Daten fur die Global City Forschung, by Robert Musil, Austria.
The authors received a prize of £500 plus £100 worth of Blackwell titles.
Third prizes:
Category 2:
– Restricted urban experiences: Class, consumption and domesticity in South China, by Ip Iam Chong, Hong Kong, Nationality: Portuguese.
Category 3:
– Cidades ‘Italianas’ ou a Complex(c)idade em Italo Calvino, by Silvio José Conceicao, Brazil.
The authors received a prize of £250 plus £100 worth of Blackwell titles.
The other finalist is:
– Vida obrera y espacio urbano: El caso de la huelga de inquilinos de 1907 en la ciudad de Buenos Aires, by Mariana Soledad Gomez, Marcelo Summo, Gustavo Quintana, Argentina.
The authors received a prize of £ 200 worth of Blackwell titles.