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Research Interests & Work in Progress

Professor Sorensen's edited volume "Megacities: Urban Form, Governance and Sustainability" will be published by Springer in December, 2010. His current research includes work applying the theoretical and conceptual insights of Historical Institutionalism to the study of cities and urban planning, with a particular focus on institutional continuity and change in the regulation of space. Particular focus is on property rights, urban form, and non-market spaces in the city.

Teaching Interests & Responsibilities

  • Cities and Environments
  • Urban Geography
  • The Toronto Region

Awards & Grants

  • 2007-2011 SSHRC Standard Research Grant "Scaling the Urban Conversation" Principal Investigator $68,000.

Publications

  • Sorensen, A. (2010 forthcoming) ‘Uneven processes of institutional change: Path dependence, scale, and the contested regulation of urban development in Japan’, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research
  • Sorensen, A. (2010 forthcoming) ‘Urban sustainability and compact cities ideas in Japan: the diffusion, transformation and deployment of planning concepts’ chapter 6 of ‘Crossing Borders: International Exchange and Planning Practices’ Patsy Healey and Robert Upton (Eds.) London: Routledge
  • Sorensen, A. (2010). "Land, property rights and planning in Japan" institutional design and institutional change in land management." Planning Perspectives 25(3): 279-302.
  • Sorensen, A. (2009). "Neighborhood Streets as Meaningful Spaces: Claiming Rights to Shared Spaces in Tokyo." City & Society 21(2): 207-229.
  • Sorensen, A., S. Fujii, J. Okata (2009) 'Urban Renaissance as Intensification: Deregulation and the Rescaling of Place Governance in Tokyo's High-Rise Building Boom" Urban Studies 47(3):556-584.
  • Sorensen, A. (2007) ‘Liveable Cities in Japan: Population ageing and decline as vectors of change’ International Planning Studies Vol. 11 No.3/4 pp. 225-242
  • Sorensen A. (2005) ‘The Developmental State and the Extreme Narrowness of the Public Realm: The 20th Century Evolution of Japanese Planning Culture’ ‘Comparative Planning Cultures’ Bishwapriya Sanyal, (ed.) London: Routledge pp. 223-258
  • Sorensen, A. (2003) ‘Building World City Tokyo: Globalization and Conflict over Urban Space’ Annals of Regional Science, Vol. 37 No. 3 pp. 519-531