Chen Gao
Research Associate | Economy and Civil Society
03362 793-245
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Chen Gao joined the IRS in September 2021 as an Early Stage Researcher (ESR) in the EU-funded Marie Sklodowska Curie Innovative Training Network “CORAL”, which explores the role of collaborative workspaces in rural areas. Chen graduated from Delft University of Technology with a Master’s degree in Urbanism in 2021. His experiences range from regional planning to local architecture practice. As a researcher, Chen is interested in the socio-spatial dimensions of planning and critical spatial practices in both Europe and the Global South. Being a key member of a coworking space for one and half years as a student piqued his interest in the roles collaborative workspaces play in their socio-economic environments. Within the CORAL network, Chen pursues a PhD project on collaborative workspaces and their place in local entrepreneurial ecosystems.

Projects

Ongoing Third-party Funded Projects

Third-party funded project 01/2021 - 12/2024
Exploring the Impacts of Collaborative Workspaces in Rural and Peripheral Areas in the EU (CORAL)

CORAL aims to unpack the latent dynamics and impacts of collaborative workspaces (hereafter CWS, such as coworking spaces, fablabs, creative hubs etc.) in rural and peripheral areas and integrate them as development tools in local and regional policies to open up new potentials for socio-economic development. Whereas we have observed the rapid rise of CWS in urban agglomerations in the past 15 years, there is now a gradual rise of CWS in rural and peripheral areas too. The CORAL project offers specialised and tailor-made training to 15 Early Stage Researchers (ESR: PhD candidates), helping them to better understand and support the development processes of CWSin rural and peripheral areas and their wider impacts at the local and regional level as well as at the level of the individual worker and the enterprise. more info

Ongoing Qualification Projects

Qualification project 03/2022 - 12/2024
Collaborative Workspaces with Social Enterprises and their Places in the Local and Trans-Local Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: A Comparison between Germany and Austria

The project investigates collaborative workspaces with social enterprises and their places in the local and trans-local entrepreneurial ecosystems. The study concentrates on the social entrepreneurship that happens in collaborative workspaces and employs the entrepreneurial ecosystem concept to understand the entrepreneurship process. The trans-locality of the entrepreneurial resources is highlighted. more info

Selected Publications by Year

2024
Gao, C., & Psenner, E. (2024). Transforming the Creative and Social Entrepreneurial Ecosystem: The Broker Roles of Rural Collaborative Workspaces. Societies, 14(6), [81]. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc14060081
Zu, X., Gao, C., & Wang, Y. (2024). Interpreting Regional Characteristics of Tibetan-Qiang Houses in Northwestern Sichuan by Deep Learning and Image Landscape. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation, 129, [103865]. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jag.2024.103865
Zu, X., Gao, C., & Wang, Y. (2024). Towards Religious Landscape: Protection of Tibetan Buddhist Heritage in Aba Prefecture. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation, 130, [103885]. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jag.2024.103885
2023
Zu, X., Gao, C., & Wang, Y. (2023). Interpretation of Gender Divergence in Consumption Places Based on Machine Learning and Equilibrium index–A Case Study of the Main Urban Area of Beijing, China. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation, 122(8), [103428]. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jag.2023.103428
Gao, C., Bracken, G., & Herdt, T. (2023). Balancing Water Rights in Metropolitan Water Conservation Areas: The Case of Chengdu, China. Local Environment, 28(10), 1211-1230. https://doi.org/10.1080/13549839.2023.2195621
2022
Zu, X., Li, Z., Gao, C., & Wang, Y. (2022). Interpretation of Spatial-Temporal Patterns of Community Green Spaces Based on Service Efficiency and Distribution Characteristics: A Case Study of the Main Urban Area of Beijing, China. International Journal of Geo-Information, 11(12), [610]. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi11120610

Selected Publications by Type

Journal Article
Gao, C., & Psenner, E. (2024). Transforming the Creative and Social Entrepreneurial Ecosystem: The Broker Roles of Rural Collaborative Workspaces. Societies, 14(6), [81]. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc14060081
Zu, X., Gao, C., & Wang, Y. (2024). Interpreting Regional Characteristics of Tibetan-Qiang Houses in Northwestern Sichuan by Deep Learning and Image Landscape. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation, 129, [103865]. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jag.2024.103865
Zu, X., Gao, C., & Wang, Y. (2024). Towards Religious Landscape: Protection of Tibetan Buddhist Heritage in Aba Prefecture. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation, 130, [103885]. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jag.2024.103885
Zu, X., Gao, C., & Wang, Y. (2023). Interpretation of Gender Divergence in Consumption Places Based on Machine Learning and Equilibrium index–A Case Study of the Main Urban Area of Beijing, China. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation, 122(8), [103428]. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jag.2023.103428
Gao, C., Bracken, G., & Herdt, T. (2023). Balancing Water Rights in Metropolitan Water Conservation Areas: The Case of Chengdu, China. Local Environment, 28(10), 1211-1230. https://doi.org/10.1080/13549839.2023.2195621
Zu, X., Li, Z., Gao, C., & Wang, Y. (2022). Interpretation of Spatial-Temporal Patterns of Community Green Spaces Based on Service Efficiency and Distribution Characteristics: A Case Study of the Main Urban Area of Beijing, China. International Journal of Geo-Information, 11(12), [610]. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi11120610

Talks

2023
Brokering in Rural Entrepreneurial Ecosystems - Collaborative Workspaces in Socially-Oriented Creative Ecosystems in Rural Regions

Deutscher Kongress für Geographie 2023

September/21/2023
Goethe-Universität , Frankfurt am Main, Germany