Apologies for cross posting. Please see the call for papers below.

AAG 2008, Boston, USA 15th-19th April 2008

Organisers: James Faulconbridge, Lancaster University and Donald McNeill, University Western Sydney.

Cultural economies of space design

This session aims to consider how detailed studies of the agents and conditions of the production of urban space can invigorate existing theoretical discussions of the city.  Architectural firms, property developers, interior designers, and software firms are now receiving increasing attention, not least because of the implications of their work for local/regional economies and development. In this session we aim to explore the business practices and strategies of these and other space designers. Potential topics of interest might include (but are not limited to):

*       the organisational tactics of firms and the way these influence the geographies of design;

*       theoretical debates relating to how space designers shape regional economies and milieu.

*       Evaluations of the conceptualisations of such agents as 'symbolic analysts' and alike

*       the way designers and their firms interact with and are part of the development of 'creative', 'cultural' industry clusters;

*       the geographical practices of architects and other designers;

*       the new international division of labour and design firms;

Expressions of interest should be sent to James Faulconbridge ( j.faulconbridge@...) and Donald McNeill (D.Mcneill@...) in the form of an abstract acceptable to the AAG (see http://www.aag.org/annualmeetings/2008/papers.htm#abstracts ) by 9th October 2007.  

Dr James R Faulconbridge

Lecturer in Human Geography

Department of Geography

Farrer Avenue

Lancaster University

Lancaster

LA1 4YQ

UK

Telephone: +44(0)1524 510265

Email: j.faulconbridge@...

www.geog.lancs.ac.uk