Dr Han Chu
Visiting Research Fellow
Dr Han Chu
Visiting Research Fellow
Han Chu is a postdoctoral researcher in Economic Geography at Kiel University, Germany, and a Visiting Research Fellow at the Oxford Internet Institute. Her research sits at the intersection of economic geography, urban and regional studies, and digital platform studies, with a particular focus on how digital platforms reshape places, industries, and regional development trajectories.
With academic training in urban planning and socio-cultural geography at the undergraduate and master’s levels, Han received her PhD in Economic Geography from Kiel University in 2024, where her dissertation Exploring the Impact of Digital Platforms on Regional and Cluster Development was awarded summa cum laude with distinction. Her work combines strong theoretical engagement with rich empirical analysis, drawing on evolutionary and relational approaches to rethink how regions, clusters, and local economies evolve in the platform economy era.
Han has published in leading international journals, including Progress in Human Geography, Regional Studies, and the Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society. Her research addresses topics such as platform-based place-making, cluster development, digital entrepreneurial ecosystems, and the geography of the creator and influencer economy, with a particular empirical focus on China in comparative perspective.
Beyond her publications, Han is deeply engaged in international academic networks. She serves as guest editor of multiple special issues in journals such as Regional Studies, Geoforum, Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, and Area Development and Policy and has co-organised many special sessions and panels at major conferences, including the Global Conference on Economic Geography, the AAG Annual Meeting, and the Regional Studies Association Conference. She is also an active reviewer for a wide range of leading journals in geography and regional studies, including Economic Geography, Progress in Human Geography, Journal of Economic Geography, Regional Studies, Environment and Planning A and Journal of Rural Studies.
Han’s work has been recognised with several international and institutional awards, including the Leopold-Scheid Prize for Economic Geography (2024), the RSA Paul Benneworth PhD Student Award (2024), the AAG Best Paper (Runner-up) Award Geography & Entrepreneurship (2025) and the Faculty Prize of Kiel University (2025). Through her research, teaching, and international collaborations, she is committed to advancing critical and policy-relevant understandings of how digital platforms transform places, economies, and everyday life across different regional contexts.