Institute of Geography

Economic Geography

SNF Project: Places that don't matter? Socio-economic transformation of industrial towns in Switzerland and Slovenia

Mendrisio

The project "Places that don't matter? Socio-economic transformation of industrial towns in Switzerland and Slovenia" deals with small- and medium-sized towns (SMSTs) and their various socio-economic transformation paths. So far, economic geography has paid far too little attention to SMSTs. Our research follows a case study design, with an in-depth analysis of six towns, three in each participating country—Slovenia and Switzerland. In Switzerland, we focus on Biel/Bienne, Mendrisio and Glarus. We collaborate with colleagues from the Anton Melik Geographical Institute in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Read first insights about our research in this Storymap

Link Storymap 

Background information

CRED Research Paper 34 

Next Steps (January 2022-November 2023)

  • To explore specific policy initiatives - such as for instance FabLabs - in our case-study towns using a cross-country comparative approach.
  • To conduct interviews with key stakeholders.
  • To conduct participatory action research in one case study town in Switzerland and in Slovenia.

Publications

Morisson, A., & Mayer, H. (2021). An agent of change against all odds ? The case of Ledger in Vierzon , France. Local Economy, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1177/02690942211052014

Bole, D. (2021). ‘What is industrial culture anyway?’ Theoretical framing of the concept in economic geography. Geography Compass, 15(11), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1111/gec3.12595