Professor Hyun Bang Shin

Professor Hyun Bang Shin is Professor of Geography and Urban Studies and Director of the Saw Swee Hock Southeast Asia Centre. He also co-directs the MSc programme in Urbanisation and Development.

Professor Shin’s research centres on the critical analysis of the political economy of urbanisation with particular attention to cities in Asian countries such as Vietnam, Singapore, South Korea and China. His research themes include the politics of displacement; gentrification; real estate speculation; the right to the city; mega-events as urban spectacles. His most recent project on circulating urbanism has also brought him to work on Ecuador.

Professor Shin has published widely in major international journals and contributed to numerous books on the above themes. His most recent books include Planetary Gentrification (Polity Press, 2016) and Global Gentrifications: Uneven Development and Displacement (Policy Press, 2015). Other forthcoming books include Neoliberal Urbanism, Contesting Cities and Housing in Asia (Palgrave Macmillan), The Political Economy of Mega Projects in Asia (Routledge) and Making China Urban (Routledge).

For more information on Professor Hyun Bang Shin's research and publications please see his personal website.

"One of the best parts of my course was that it included a one-day field trip to visit the inner city of Beijing, which allowed students to intuitively experience urban development in Beijing. The knowledge I gained from the lectures and seminars have broadened my insight in developing cities in East Asia and will definitely be helpful in my future research and study in the field of real estate." Jacky Qi Zhu, University of Aberdeen, UK

"I took the course with Dr. Shin. We studied the impact of urban renewal process on Chinese cities, mega-events and their legacies, as well as the historic preservation issues and debates in current day China. I chose this course because it helped me to develop writing and research skills, and the fieldwork we did in one of the historic neighbourhoods in Beijing provided me with hands-on experience on many topics we discussed in class." Mingqian Liu, Texas A&M University, USA

Click here to read more of our alumni testimonials.

There are no prerequisites for this course.

Assessment will be based on a mid-term coursework (essay outline, worth 20% of the final mark) and a final end-of-term essay (worth 80% of the final mark).

The list below provides an indication of some of the main recommended texts for the course, but a full reading list and electronic course pack will be provided to registered students approximately six weeks before the beginning of the programme.

• Campanella, T J. (2008) The Concrete Revolution: China’s Urban Revolution and What it Means for the World. New York: Princeton Architectural Press
• Friedmann, J. (2005) China’s Urban T ransition. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press
• Gordon, M. (2011) Ghetto at the Center of the World: Chungking Mansions, Hong Kong. Chicago: University of Chicago Press
• Hsing, Y, (2010) The Great Urban Transformation: Politics of Land and Property in China, Oxford: Oxford University Press
• Lees, L., Shin, H.B. and López - Morales, E. (eds.) (2015) Global Gentrifications: Uneven Develop ment and Displacement, London: Policy Press
• Lees, L., Shin, H.B. and López - Morales, E. (2016) Planetary Gentrification. Cambridge: Polity Press
• Loh, K.S. (2013) Squatters into Citizens: The 1961 Bukit Ho Swee Fire and the Making of Modern Singapore. Singapore: NIAS Press
• Merrifield, A. (2013) The Politics of Encounter: Urban Theory and Protest under Planetary Urbanization. Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press
• Park, B - G. et al. (2012) Locating Neoliberalism in East Asia: Neoliberalizing Spaces in Developmental States. Chichester: Wiley - Blackwell
• Shao, Q. (2013) Shanghai Gone: Domicide and Defiance in a Chinese Megacit y . Rowman & Littlefield Publishers