Global cities, megaregions, urban networks, polycentric urban regions, advanced producer services, urban theory
Michael Hoyler is Reader in Human Geography at Loughborough University, UK, and Head of its Department of Geography and Environment. He has been a key contributor to GaWC since 1999, when he first worked with Jon Beaverstock and Peter Taylor on some of the pioneering studies that laid the groundwork for the development of a relational urban geography of cities in globalisation. Michael’s research focuses on the expansion of global city functions into wider (global/mega) city-regions and associated polycentric metropolitan development, the study of the role of cities in economic expansion, and the conceptualisation and measurement of global urban networks. He created and curates the GaWC website.
Michael has published widely in the field of urban studies, including Global Urban Analysis (2011, with Peter J. Taylor, Pengfei Ni, Ben Derudder, Jin Huang and Frank Witlox, Earthscan), the International Handbook of Globalization and World Cities (2012, with Ben Derudder, Peter J. Taylor and Frank Witlox, Edward Elgar), Cities in Globalization (2013, with Peter J. Taylor, Routledge), Megaregions: Globalization’s New Urban Form? (2015, with John Harrison, Edward Elgar), Doing Global Urban Research (2018, with John Harrison, Sage) and Global City Makers (2018, with Christof Parnreiter and Allan Watson, Edward Elgar). Other key outputs include co-edited special issues in the leading international journals Environment and Planning A, Regional Studies, Urban Studies and Territory, Politics, Governance.