Kanai, Juan Miguel, Dr

Dr Juan Miguel Kanai

School of Geography and Planning

Senior Lecturer in Human Geography

miguel.kanai@sheffield.ac.uk
+44 114 222 7940

C5a, Geography and Planning Building

Full contact details

Dr Juan Miguel Kanai
School of Geography and Planning
C5a
Geography and Planning Building
Winter Street
91ֱ��
S3 7ND

Profile

J. Miguel Kanai is an urban geographer. His work engages the urbanisation of the world under contemporary globalised capitalism. He is specifically concerned with the consequences of intensified inter-territorial competition and the various entrepreneurial strategies adopted by cities and regions in the global South as these are pressured to achieve economic upgrading and provide world-class infrastructure amidst unmet social needs and political contentiousness.

His previously published work includes multiple peer-reviewed articles in international geography and interdisciplinary journals taking stock of the consequences and motivations of culture-led regeneration schemes in Buenos Aires, Argentina as well as the rise of eco-entrepreneurialism in the Brazilian state of Amazonas and the urban and regional implications of Manaus’ rise as a city with global aspirations. He has also published collaborative work questioning urban entrepreneurial strategies in the United States and Morocco, and is currently engaged in a bibliometric project taking stock of the cosmopolitan turn in urban globalization research since the turn of the twenty-first century.

Before moving to the University of 91ֱ��, he taught at the University of Miami (2008-2015) and was a research officer at the London School of Economics affiliated with the Urban Age project (2005-2006). His teaching experience also includes short-term appointments in planning departments at the University of California, Irvine and the University of Southern California as well as international experience lecturing at the Federal University of Amazonas (Brazil) and Henan University (People’s Republic of China). He holds a PhD in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of California, Los Angeles (2008).

His paper “Paving (through) Amazonia: neoliberal urbanism and the reperipheralization of Roraima” (Environment and Planning A) co-authored with the late Rafael da Silva Oliveira received an Ashby Prize in 2014.

Research interests

Neoliberal Urbanism
City-regional Politics and Regional Development in the Global South
The Urbanisation of the world
The Cosmopolitan Turn in Urban Globalisation Research

Publications

Books

Marín JJ, López-Lizarazo LM, Ruiz-Galvan A, Bishop ML, Díaz-Arevalo JM, Kanai JM, Lombard M, Rushton S, Shesterinina A, Staples H & Turton HL (2023) Participating in peace: violence, development and dialogue in Colombia. Bristol University Press.

Journal articles

Kumar A, Butcher S, Hammett D, Barragan-Contreras S, Burns V, Chesworth O, Cooper G, Kanai JM, Mottram H, Poveda S & Richardson P (2024) . International Development Planning Review, 46(2), 227-242.
Wild T, Baptista M, Wilker J, Kanai JM, Giusti M, Henderson H, Rotbart D, Amaya Espinel J-D, Hernandez Garcia J, Thomasz O & Kozak D (2023) . Urban Forestry and Urban Greening.
Barrera V, López Cárdenas MB, Staples H & Kanai M (2022) . Political Geography, 98, 102729-102729.
Redondo Bermúdez MDC, Kanai JM, Astbury J, Fabio V & Jorgensen A (2022) . Sustainability, 14(7).
Diaz JM, Staples H, Kanai JM & Lombard M (2021) . Geoforum, 118, 106-116.
Fabio V, Kanai JM & Astbury J (2020) . 4D Journal of Landscape Architecture and Garden Art, 55-56, 54-64.
Schindler S & Kanai JM (2019) . Regional Studies.
Kanai JM & Schindler S (2018) . International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 42(5), 828-844.
Kanai JM & Schindler S (2018) . Environment and Planning A.
Kanai JM, Grant R & Jianu R (2017) . Urban Studies (Sage).
Kanai JM (2016) . Geoforum, 69, 160-170.
Kanai JM & Kenttamaa-Squires K (2015) . Urban Geography, 36(3), 385-402.
Clement D & Kanai M (2015) . American Behavioral Scientist, 59(3), 369-385.
Kanai JM (2015) . Antipode, 47(3), 652-670.
Kanai JM (2014) . Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 32(6), 1071-1087.
Miguel Kanai J (2014) . Geoforum, 56, 1-5.
Kanai M (2014) . Urban Geography, 35(8), 1111-1117.
Kanai JM & da Silva Oliveira R (2014) . Environment and Planning A, 46(1), 62-77.
Kanai JM (2014) . Urban Studies, 51(11), 2387-2405.
Kanai JM & Kutz W (2013) . Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 31(1), 80-98.
Kanai JM, Oliveira RDS & Silva PRDF (2012) . Sociedade & Natureza, 24(1), 67-81.
KANAI M & KUTZ W (2011) . Tijdschrift voor economische en sociale geografie, 102(3), 346-360.
Kanai JM (2011) . Political Geography, 30(4), 225-235.
Kanai JM (2010) . Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 42(8), 1887-1901.
KANAI M & ORTEGA-ALCÁZAR I (2009) . International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 33(2), 483-501.
Kanai JM (2009) . Bulletin of Latin American Research, 28(3), 441-443.
Kanai JM, Fabio V, Mirás M & Gastiarena L () . Sustainability, 16(16), 6981-6981.
Schindler S, Kanai JM & Diaz Bay J () . Urban Studies, 004209802211427-004209802211427.
Kanai JM & Schindler S () . Urban Studies, 004209802110641-004209802110641.
Schindler S, Gillespie T, Banks N, Bayırbağ MK, Burte H, Kanai JM & Sami N () . Area Development and Policy, 1-22.

Chapters

Kanai JM & Schindler S (2023) , The Routledge Handbook of Comparative Global Urban Studies (pp. 452-463). Routledge
(2023) , Participating in Peace (pp. 57-82). Bristol University Press
(2023) , Participating in Peace (pp. vii-viii). Bristol University Press
Jaramillo-Marín J, López-Lizarazo LM, Ruiz-Galvan A, Bishop ML, Díaz-Arévalo JM, Kanai JM, Lombard M, Rushton S, Shesterinina A, Shesterinina A & Turton HL (2023) , Participating in Peace (pp. 1-10). Policy Press
(2023) , Participating in Peace (pp. 1-10). Bristol University Press
Jaramillo-Marín J, López-Lizarazo LM, Ruiz-Galvan A, Bishop ML, Díaz-Arévalo JM, Kanai JM, Lombard M, Rushton S, Shesterinina A, Shesterinina A & Turton HL (2023) , Participating in Peace (pp. 83-116). Policy Press
(2023) , Participating in Peace (pp. 11-35). Bristol University Press
Jaramillo-Marín J, López-Lizarazo LM, Ruiz-Galvan A, Bishop ML, Díaz-Arévalo JM, Kanai JM, Lombard M, Rushton S, Shesterinina A, Shesterinina A & Turton HL (2023) , Participating in Peace (pp. 57-82). Policy Press
Jaramillo-Marín J, López-Lizarazo LM, Ruiz-Galvan A, Bishop ML, Díaz-Arévalo JM, Kanai JM, Lombard M, Rushton S, Shesterinina A, Shesterinina A & Turton HL (2023) , Participating in Peace (pp. 11-35). Policy Press
Jaramillo-Marin J, Mery Lopez-Lizarazo L, Ruiz-Galvan A, Bishop ML, Diaz-Arevalo JM, Kanai JM, Lombard M, Rushton S, Shesterinina A, Staples H & Turton HL (2023) PARTICIPATING IN PEACE Violence, Development and Dialogue in Colombia Introduction, PARTICIPATING IN PEACE (pp. 1-+).
Kanai JM (2020) , International Encyclopedia of Human Geography (pp. 159-162). Elsevier
Kanai JM & Schindler S (2018) Regional urbanization: Emerging approaches and debates, Handbook on the Geographies of Regions and Territories (pp. 322-331).
Schindler S, Kanai JM & Rwehumbiza D (2018) The twenty-first century rediscovery of regional planning in the global south, Handbook on the Geographies of Regions and Territories (pp. 346-357).

Dictionary/encyclopaedia entries

Kanai JM (2025) . In Latin American Geographies Routledge.
Kanai JM (2015) . In International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences Elsevier.

Datasets

Gorrell G, Maynard D, Bakir M, Kanai J, Temple L, Harrison J & Bontcheva K .

Preprints

Gorrell G, Bakir ME, Temple L, Maynard D, Cifariello P, Harrison J, Kanai JM & Bontcheva K (2019) Local Media and Geo-situated Responses to Brexit: A Quantitative Analysis of Twitter, News and Survey Data, arXiv.

Teaching interests

J. Miguel Kanai teaches concentrates within the International Development cluster and his teaching interests include the following:

Urbanisation, Development and the Environment
Research Methods
International Field Courses
Development in Practice