As a cultural urban sociologist my research is interdisciplinary. The key areas of research I cover are urban life and culture with a specific emphasis on the relationship between spatial politics and experiential urbanism.
Books
Degen, M. & Rose, G. (2022)
The New Urban Aesthetic: Experiencing Urban Change Digitally
(Bloomsbury)
Shortlisted for the Jane Jacobs Urban Communication Award 2023.
Degen, M. (2008)
Sensing Cities: Regenerating public life in Barcelona and Manchester
(Routledge)
Degen, M. and Miles, M. eds (2010)
Culture & Agency
(University of Plymouth Press)
Degen M. and Garcia, S. (2008)
The Meta-city: Barcelona – transformation of a metropolis
(Editorial Anthropos, Barcelona)
Academic Articles
Guttierez-Ujaque, D., Degen, M. & Bonastra, Q. (2025) “Using GIFscapes to examine young people’s affective experiences of urban spaces“
Geoforum, Vol. 160, 1-14.
Degen, M. (2024) “The reciprocity of touch”
Allegra Lab: Anthropology for radical optimism, published online.
Degen, M. (2024) “Steps to move and change”
Allegra Lab: Anthropology for radical optimism, published online.
Degen, M. (2024) “Listen to your gut feelings”
Allegra Lab: Anthropology for radical optimism, published online.
Degen, M. & Rose, G. (2024) “Conceptualising aesthetic power in the digitally-mediated city”
Urban Studies, Vol. 61(11) 2176–2192.
Gutierrez, D. & Degen, M. (2023) “Beyond Critical Pedagogy of Place: sensory-embodied learning through the university campus”,
Journal of Geography in Higher Education, published online, 1-20.
Degen, M. & Rose, G. (2023) “Spectacle as the new urban aesthetic”
Mediapolis, Vol 8 (1)
Degen, M. & Lewis, C. (2020) “The changing feel of place: an analysis of temporal atmospheres in Smithfield Market, London”
Cultural Geographies, 27 (4) 509-526
Degen, M. (2018) “Timescapes and Urban Change: the street”
Sociological Review, Vol.66 (5) 1074-1092
Degen, M & Buckingham S. (2017) “Negotiating ‘lived bodies’ in the neo-liberal city: reformulating gendered and sexed identities by women engaged in street sex work”
Gender, Place and Culture, Vol. 25 (3) 334-350
Degen, M. (2017) “Urban Regeneration and Resistance: Foregrounding Time and Experience”
Space and Culture 20 (2) 141-155
Melhuish, C., Degen, M. & Rose G. (2016) “‘The real modernity that is here’: understanding the role of digital visualisations in the production of a new urban imaginary at Msheireb Downtown, Doha”.
City and Society 28(2), 222-245
Awarded Yearly Prize of Best Published Paper by the American Anthropological Association
Degen, M., Melhuish C., Rose, G. (2015) “Producing Place Atmospheres Digitally: Architecture, Digital Visualisation Practices and the Experience Economy.”
Journal of Consumer Culture 17 (1) 3-34
Rose, G., Degen, M. & Melhuish, C. (2014) “Learning from CGI’s” The Architectural Review
Academic Annual
Rose, G., Degen, M. & Melhuish, C. (2014) “Networks, interfaces and computer-generated images: learning from digital visualisations of urban redevelopment projects”
Environment and Planning D: Society and Space 32 (2) 386-403
Melhuish, C., Degen, M. & Rose, G. (2014) “Architectural Atmospheres: affect and agency of mobile digital images in the material transformation of the urban landscape in Doha”, Tasmeem: design.research.connect
Vol 4, 1-14. Most read article in 2016
Degen, M. & Rose, G. (2012) “The Sensory experiencing of Urban Design: The role of walking and Perceptual memory”
Urban Studies 49(15) 3271-3287
Buckingham, S. & Degen, M. (2012) “Sensing our way: using yoga as a research method”
Senses and Society 7(3) 329 -344
Degen, M. & Garcia, S. (2012) “The transformation of the ‘Barcelona model’: an analysis of culture, urban regeneration and governance”
International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 36(5)
Degen, M. & E. Wainwright (2011)“Wallpaper City Guides and gendering the urban aesthetic”
Tourist Studies 10(2) 155-176
Degen, M., Rose, G. & Basdas, B. (2010) “Bodies and everyday practices in designed urban environments”
Science Studies 23(2) 60-76. Invited contribution
Rose, G., Degen, M. & Basdas, B. (2010) “More on ‘big things’: building events and feelings”.
Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 35(1) 334-349
Rose, G., Degen, M. & Basdas, B. (2009) “Using Websites to disseminate research on Urban Spatialities”
Geography Compass Vol.4.
Degen, M., Rose, G. & DeSilvey, C. (2008)”Experiencing visualities in designed urban environments: learning from Milton Keynes”
Environment and Planning A 40(8) 1901-1920
Hinchliffe, S., Whatmore, S., Degen, M. & Kearnes, M. (2007)“Ecologies and economies of action –sustainability, calculations and other things”
Environment and Planning A Vol. 39 260-282
Hinchliffe, S., Whatmore, S., Degen, M. & Kearnes, M. (2005)
“Urban wild things: a cosmopolitical experiment”.
Environment and Planning D: Society and Space
Vol. 23 643-658.
Re-printed in: J. Hillier & P. Healey (eds) (2008) Vol.III: Contemporary Movements in Planning Theory (Ashgate).
Degen, M. (2003)“Fighting for the Global Catwalk: Formalising public life in Castlefield (Manchester) and diluting public life in el Raval (Barcelona)”
International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 27(4) 867-880
Degen, M. (2002) “Redesigning Public Space. A sensory analysis of regenerated public places in el Raval, Barcelona.”
The European Journal of Arts and Education Vol. 14 53-65
Degen, M. (2001) “Sensed Appearances: sensing the performance of place”
Space and Culture Vol.11/12 52-69
Degen, M. & Hetherington, K. (2001) “Hauntings”
Space and Culture Vol.11/12 1-6
Digital Projects
Degen, M. (2016) Timescapes of Urban Change British Academy Mid-Career Fellowship
Available: https://www.sensescitiescultures.com
Degen, M., Barz, M. & Swenson, A. (2017) The Sensory Think-kit.
Available: http://www.sensorythinktank.com
Degen, M., Barz, M., Lewis, C. & Ward, I. & Swenson, A. (2018) Sensory Smithfield Digital Mapping Project.
Available: https://www.sensorysmithfield.com/