Jan Fransen
Biographic Data
| ID | 4416760 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Jan Fransen |
| GIVEN NAMES | Jan |
| FAMILY NAME | Fransen |
| SIGNATURE | FRANSEN J |
| AFFILIATIONS | Erasmus University Rotterdam |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-1127-7307 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 15 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 24 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 15 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2017 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Informal smart urbanism
Informal smart urbanism is an emerging field that explores how digital technologies shape urban development in contexts marked by informality. We understand informality as a dynamic set of interactions that arise when formal regulations fail to meet people’s needs. Our study analyses digital resilience practices—the everyday ways households respond to shocks through digital technologies. These practices are widespread but often overlooked, especi…
Planning digital inclusion together, barriers to include marginalised urban communities in the Global South
Cities in the Global South are often unable to include marginalised communities in smart city programmes. This paper identifies barriers to inclusion and explores new roles of urban planners within the context of informality. We explore case studies from India, Kenya and Indonesia, employing a qualitative meta-analysis. We conclude that informality serves as a paradox, both hindering and facilitating collaborative planning. We identify three barr…
Cultural and institutional determinants in city-branding practices
Place-branding strategies are increasingly used in cities and territories to improve reputation, attract investors, realise urban transformation and reach economic development goals. Most scholars advocate for a participatory approach, with the national government playing a limited role. However, multi-level governance models are used in culturally and administratively centralised countries like Saudi Arabia, where the central government also sig…
Riyadh
Platforms for the urban poor
Limited attention has been paid to platforms in informal settlements, where residents face multiple, simultaneous resource constraints. We address this challenge by elucidating how informal settlement residents use platforms to address resource constraints and by identifying limitations to platform deployment. Conceptually, we combine literature on platforms and informal settlements with that on frugal innovation to distinguish various platform d…
Resilience Pathways of Informal Settlements in Nairobi
Adaptive governance by community based organisations
Adaptive governance describes the purposeful collective actions to resist, adapt, or transform when faced with shocks. As governments are reluctant to intervene in informal settlements, community based organisations (CBOs) self‐organize and take the lead. This study explores under what conditions CBOs in Mathare informal settlement, Nairobi initiate and sustain resilience activities during Covid‐19. Study findings show that CBOs engage in multipl…
Community vitality and frugal practices in informal settlements in Nairobi
While community vitality is of increasing importance, it remains understudied. This study explores community vitality in informal settlements by turning to the concept of frugal practices, defined as activities to develop and implement low-cost robust solutions that address communities' needs within resource-constrained contexts. Based on literature and case study analysis in Nairobi, we define community vitality as dynamic relationships between …
Reclaiming the city from an urban vitalism perspective
This article analyses four of the most prominent city discourses and introduces the lens of urban vitalism as an overarching interdisciplinary concept of cities as places of transformation and change. We demonstrate the value of using urban vitalism as a lens to conceptualize and critically discuss different notions on smart, inclusive, resilient and sustainable just cities. Urban vitalism offers a process-based lens which enables us to understan…
Vital entrepreneurial ecosystems
Entrepreneurial ecosystems (EE) are concentrations of urban economic activity where businesses start-up, innovate, grow, and create opportunities for other businesses. Successful cases of EE in cities in the global South call for a contextualisation of the framework to those challenging conditions. We argue that their success results from their vitality, defined by growth and reputation, density and diversity of actors, networks coordinated on tr…
Can creative cities be inclusive too? How do Dubai, Amsterdam and Toronto navigate the tensions between creativity and inclusiveness in their adoption of city brands and policy initiatives
Creative cities tend to generate higher levels of innovation and economic growth as well as be vibrant places to live. Many cities in the world have adopted the creative city label to realise these benefits. It is not certain, and in fact disputed by authors such as Richard Florida (2017), that creative cities will also show high levels of inclusion. Inclusiveness is a multi-dimensional concept that needs to be unbundled before its connection wit…
The emergence of Urban Community Resilience Initiatives During the Covid-19 Pandemic
All over the world, urban communities take initiative in order to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. This study conducts a literature review and an international exploratory study in order to identify pathways within which Community Resilience Initiatives (CRIs) emerge within different governance contexts. The CRIs target vulnerable communities, which are hard to reach. Our study results identify four pathways: (1) informal bottom-up community init…
Lock-in and New Path Development of China Commodity City
China Commodity City (Yiwu) has evolved from a poor, isolated region into one of the world largest mass-producers of low-tech products. This study applies the concept of path dependence in order to trace Yiwu’s industrial development trajectory. It zooms in on factors leading towards lock in, path extension and path creation. The study identifies multiple factors leading towards a lock-in and possible path decay. At the same time, related diversi…
Learning and Upgrading of Craft Exporters at the Interface of Global Value Chains and Innovation Systems
Absorptive Capacity as a Mediator
Innovation processes in emerging economies tend to differ from those in developed countries in that a larger share of firms absorb existing knowledge. The paper assesses how firms’ absorptive capacity mediates the impact of global value chains on the innovation of handicraft exports in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The study draws three conclusions. First, the incremental innovation of craft exporters demands specific but rather mundane absorptive capac…
The emergence of Urban Community Resilience Initiatives During the Covid-19 Pandemic
All over the world, urban communities take initiative in order to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. This study conducts a literature review and an international exploratory study in order to identify pathways within which Community Resilience Initiatives (CRIs) emerge within different governance contexts. The CRIs target vulnerable communities, which are hard to reach. Our study results identify four pathways: (1) informal bottom-up community init…
Community vitality and frugal practices in informal settlements in Nairobi
While community vitality is of increasing importance, it remains understudied. This study explores community vitality in informal settlements by turning to the concept of frugal practices, defined as activities to develop and implement low-cost robust solutions that address communities' needs within resource-constrained contexts. Based on literature and case study analysis in Nairobi, we define community vitality as dynamic relationships between …
Reclaiming the city from an urban vitalism perspective
This article analyses four of the most prominent city discourses and introduces the lens of urban vitalism as an overarching interdisciplinary concept of cities as places of transformation and change. We demonstrate the value of using urban vitalism as a lens to conceptualize and critically discuss different notions on smart, inclusive, resilient and sustainable just cities. Urban vitalism offers a process-based lens which enables us to understan…
Absorptive Capacity as a Mediator
Innovation processes in emerging economies tend to differ from those in developed countries in that a larger share of firms absorb existing knowledge. The paper assesses how firms’ absorptive capacity mediates the impact of global value chains on the innovation of handicraft exports in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The study draws three conclusions. First, the incremental innovation of craft exporters demands specific but rather mundane absorptive capac…
Adaptive governance by community based organisations
Adaptive governance describes the purposeful collective actions to resist, adapt, or transform when faced with shocks. As governments are reluctant to intervene in informal settlements, community based organisations (CBOs) self‐organize and take the lead. This study explores under what conditions CBOs in Mathare informal settlement, Nairobi initiate and sustain resilience activities during Covid‐19. Study findings show that CBOs engage in multipl…
Vital entrepreneurial ecosystems
Entrepreneurial ecosystems (EE) are concentrations of urban economic activity where businesses start-up, innovate, grow, and create opportunities for other businesses. Successful cases of EE in cities in the global South call for a contextualisation of the framework to those challenging conditions. We argue that their success results from their vitality, defined by growth and reputation, density and diversity of actors, networks coordinated on tr…
Can creative cities be inclusive too? How do Dubai, Amsterdam and Toronto navigate the tensions between creativity and inclusiveness in their adoption of city brands and policy initiatives
Creative cities tend to generate higher levels of innovation and economic growth as well as be vibrant places to live. Many cities in the world have adopted the creative city label to realise these benefits. It is not certain, and in fact disputed by authors such as Richard Florida (2017), that creative cities will also show high levels of inclusion. Inclusiveness is a multi-dimensional concept that needs to be unbundled before its connection wit…
Absorptive Capacity as a Mediator
Innovation processes in emerging economies tend to differ from those in developed countries in that a larger share of firms absorb existing knowledge. The paper assesses how firms’ absorptive capacity mediates the impact of global value chains on the innovation of handicraft exports in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The study draws three conclusions. First, the incremental innovation of craft exporters demands specific but rather mundane absorptive capac…
Learning and Upgrading of Craft Exporters at the Interface of Global Value Chains and Innovation Systems
Lock-in and New Path Development of China Commodity City
China Commodity City (Yiwu) has evolved from a poor, isolated region into one of the world largest mass-producers of low-tech products. This study applies the concept of path dependence in order to trace Yiwu’s industrial development trajectory. It zooms in on factors leading towards lock in, path extension and path creation. The study identifies multiple factors leading towards a lock-in and possible path decay. At the same time, related diversi…
The emergence of Urban Community Resilience Initiatives During the Covid-19 Pandemic
All over the world, urban communities take initiative in order to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. This study conducts a literature review and an international exploratory study in order to identify pathways within which Community Resilience Initiatives (CRIs) emerge within different governance contexts. The CRIs target vulnerable communities, which are hard to reach. Our study results identify four pathways: (1) informal bottom-up community init…
Can creative cities be inclusive too? How do Dubai, Amsterdam and Toronto navigate the tensions between creativity and inclusiveness in their adoption of city brands and policy initiatives
Creative cities tend to generate higher levels of innovation and economic growth as well as be vibrant places to live. Many cities in the world have adopted the creative city label to realise these benefits. It is not certain, and in fact disputed by authors such as Richard Florida (2017), that creative cities will also show high levels of inclusion. Inclusiveness is a multi-dimensional concept that needs to be unbundled before its connection wit…
Adaptive governance by community based organisations
Adaptive governance describes the purposeful collective actions to resist, adapt, or transform when faced with shocks. As governments are reluctant to intervene in informal settlements, community based organisations (CBOs) self‐organize and take the lead. This study explores under what conditions CBOs in Mathare informal settlement, Nairobi initiate and sustain resilience activities during Covid‐19. Study findings show that CBOs engage in multipl…
Community vitality and frugal practices in informal settlements in Nairobi
While community vitality is of increasing importance, it remains understudied. This study explores community vitality in informal settlements by turning to the concept of frugal practices, defined as activities to develop and implement low-cost robust solutions that address communities' needs within resource-constrained contexts. Based on literature and case study analysis in Nairobi, we define community vitality as dynamic relationships between …
Reclaiming the city from an urban vitalism perspective
This article analyses four of the most prominent city discourses and introduces the lens of urban vitalism as an overarching interdisciplinary concept of cities as places of transformation and change. We demonstrate the value of using urban vitalism as a lens to conceptualize and critically discuss different notions on smart, inclusive, resilient and sustainable just cities. Urban vitalism offers a process-based lens which enables us to understan…
Vital entrepreneurial ecosystems
Entrepreneurial ecosystems (EE) are concentrations of urban economic activity where businesses start-up, innovate, grow, and create opportunities for other businesses. Successful cases of EE in cities in the global South call for a contextualisation of the framework to those challenging conditions. We argue that their success results from their vitality, defined by growth and reputation, density and diversity of actors, networks coordinated on tr…
Resilience Pathways of Informal Settlements in Nairobi
Riyadh
Platforms for the urban poor
Limited attention has been paid to platforms in informal settlements, where residents face multiple, simultaneous resource constraints. We address this challenge by elucidating how informal settlement residents use platforms to address resource constraints and by identifying limitations to platform deployment. Conceptually, we combine literature on platforms and informal settlements with that on frugal innovation to distinguish various platform d…
Informal smart urbanism
Informal smart urbanism is an emerging field that explores how digital technologies shape urban development in contexts marked by informality. We understand informality as a dynamic set of interactions that arise when formal regulations fail to meet people’s needs. Our study analyses digital resilience practices—the everyday ways households respond to shocks through digital technologies. These practices are widespread but often overlooked, especi…
Planning digital inclusion together, barriers to include marginalised urban communities in the Global South
Cities in the Global South are often unable to include marginalised communities in smart city programmes. This paper identifies barriers to inclusion and explores new roles of urban planners within the context of informality. We explore case studies from India, Kenya and Indonesia, employing a qualitative meta-analysis. We conclude that informality serves as a paradox, both hindering and facilitating collaborative planning. We identify three barr…
Cultural and institutional determinants in city-branding practices
Place-branding strategies are increasingly used in cities and territories to improve reputation, attract investors, realise urban transformation and reach economic development goals. Most scholars advocate for a participatory approach, with the national government playing a limited role. However, multi-level governance models are used in culturally and administratively centralised countries like Saudi Arabia, where the central government also sig…
Political science (9 works) · Business (8 works) · Economics (8 works) · Sociology (8 works) · Urban and Rural Development Challenges (6 works) · Computer Science (5 works) · Economic geography (5 works) · Economic growth (5 works) · Innovation and Socioeconomic Development (5 works) · Geography (4 works)