Dr. Maarten Van Ham

Biography

Maarten van Ham has been Professor of Urban Geography at the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment since 2011. He became Professor of Human Geography at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. He is fascinated by the changes in cities and neighborhoods and how these changes impact the neighborhood characteristics in people's lives. His research focuses on the relationships between housing and neighborhoods, exploring how neighborhoods influence residential mobility and how these factors affect people's lives. With current literature primarily concerned with housing, he emphasizes the major role neighborhoods play in daily life, especially regarding questions about the effects of neighborhoods on their inhabitants and the processes leading to neighborhood changes. His work has been supported by long-term data, enabling valuable insights into people's circumstances over extended periods, which allows for international comparisons. Van Ham studied economic geography at Utrecht University and obtained his PhD with honors in 2002. He has worked at the University of Amsterdam and Utrecht University and was affiliated with the Max Planck Institute in Berlin. He served as the Director of the Centre Housing Research at the University of St Andrews for six years. Van Ham has published widely in leading journals and authored books on neighborhood dynamics, becoming a highly cited academic.

Research Interests