We are living through a period of rapid economic change manifested in the globalization, neoliberalization, financialization and urbanization of economic activity, the emergence of new motor industries, rapidly occurring climate change and environmental destruction and increasing inequality at the national and international scales. This course shows how these processes are shaped by and shape the economic landscape, how a stretching of economic relations across the world implied by globalization simultaneously requires the investment of capital in particular places resulting in rapid urbanization, in nodes of economic activity from which those global flows of money, people and commodities are managed. The result of the myriad of decisions made by states, multi-national corporations, politicians, workers and consumers is a world characterized by geographically uneven economic development. Some countries, regions, cities benefit from those processes while others loose. Trying to explain uneven spatial development is one of the hallmarks of economic geographic research and in this course we will see what this means in the context of the real world economy.

The course is divided into three modules. Module 1 will provide the basic conceptual building blocks and definitions.  It explores why and how geography is relevant for economics and business, how changes in organizing our livelihoods affect spatial economic patterns and how those existing patterns shape future economic activity. Module 2 will focus on globalization, on what is new, why it does not only produce winners, why and how its impact varies across states and regions and finally, how China has become a key player in the global economy. In Module 3 we will examine more closely regional and urban success stories in the Global North: High-Tech industrial spaces, Creative Cities, Global Cities.

After completing this course students should be able to

• appreciate the relevance of a spatial approach to Economics
• realize how economic geographic research complements economic research
• comprehend why globalization does not lead to the end of geography
• get some grounding in contemporary issues in economic geography
• understand that markets and economy are always embedded in historically and geographically differentiated social, political and environmental relations
• learn how to read, interpret and critically discuss scientific journal articles related to the topics in modules 2 and 3

Students are required to attend 50% of all classes (i.e. lecture and discussion sessions).
Attendence is required in all four discussion sessions, and for at least three lecture slots. However, we strongly reccomend attending all seven lecture slots, as past experience demonstrates that attending lectures correlates with achieving a good grade for the course!

• independent critical reading of compulsory literature
• brief lectures
• videos
• weekly online quizzes
• class-discussions
• case study analysis
• in class data analysis and interpretation 

There is a total of 108 points, of which 8 points are counted as bonus points:

• 4 in-class online quizzes  - (max. 5 points each) (20 points)
  • About the reading of the seminar
  • In weeks 3-6
• 4 discussion sessions
  • Group exercises relation to the assigned readings (max. 5 points each) (20 points)
  • Participation in seminar (max. 2 points each) (8 bonus points)

Please be aware that your submissions must be your own work. Cheating (eg. copying from your classmates, using artificial intelligence tools like Chat GPT, ...) will result in 0 points for the assignment. Repeated offenses will be passed on to the VR Lehre, potentially resulting in a FOUR-MONTH BAN on exams and courses.

• Final exam (60 points)
  • A minimum of 30 points has to be reached in the final exam in order to pass the course. The exam will consist of multiple choice as well as open questions.
  • The exam is about the material covered in lectures. It includes power point slides, a number of textbook chapters complementing the lectures, as well as the reading for the homework assignments.
  • NOTICE: If you provide documentation that you cannot participate in the exam at the given date (e.g. doctor’s note) or if you fail to obtain at least 30 points (50%) but achieve at least 6 points (10%) at the first attempt, then you are allowed a second attempt. Please notice that the second attempt will be held at the end of the current semester! Work-related or holiday-related excuses are not tolerated!
  • The exam will take place  in the mid-term exam week, on November 28, 2023

Grading Scale:

• 0.0 to < 50.0 points: Fail 
• 50.0 to < 62.5 points: Sufficient
• 62.5 to < 75.0 points: Satisfactory
• 75.0 to < 87.5 points: Good
• >= 87.5 points: Excellent 

Please log in with your WU account to use all functionalities of read!t. For off-campus access to our licensed electronic resources, remember to activate your VPN connection connection. In case you encounter any technical problems or have questions regarding read!t, please feel free to contact the library at readinglists@wu.ac.at.

COURSE STRUCTURE