Andreas Back is an assistant professor in social and economic geography. His research is about second-home tourism, regional development, public planning and housing.
My research so far has been connected to three broad themes. First, I am interested in public authorities’ planning activities, particularly the relation between implementation and spatial context. Second, I think regional development and uneven development are fascinating areas of research, for example to see how societal phenomena are mediated by market forces with spatially uneven outcomes. Third, I have studied spatial effects of human mobility such as tourism.
In the research for my thesis and current postdoctoral project, I have had the opportunity to combine these three themes, albeit with different specific emphases. In the case of my thesis, the focus was the spatially uneven impacts of second-home tourism on planning and housing markets. In my postdoctoral project, the focus is on planning challenges surrounding rapidly changing tourism flows and land-use conflicts in rural peripheries.
I teach on bachelor and master level. My teaching is mainly focused on tourism and public planning, but also fundamental concepts and perspectives in human geography.