The Department of Spatial Economics is engaged in economic problems in which space plays a prominent role, and offers insights and applications from a multi-disciplinary perspective.
The 60 staff members are involved in both fundamental research as well as in national and international commissioned research. With this research, the department has gained national and international recognition, as shown by the large number of international publications and awards, the appearance of different staff members as experts in the media and the presence of various section members on the typically Dutch phenomenon of ‘Economists Parade’.
The Department of Spatial Economics at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam is a world player in the domains regional and urban, transport, and environmental economics. RePEc ranks the department in the top 5% or even higher of the world in the following domains: Transport Economics, Tourism Economics, Economic Geography, Environmental Economics, Energy Economics, and Urban and Real Estate economics.
According to RePEc (accessed in November 2025), the School ranks in the top 5% of institutions worldwide in the fields of Transport Economics, Urban and Real Estate Economics, Economic Geography, Environmental Economics and Energy Economics. Moreover, various current staff members make it to the top 5% in RePEc's general ranking of economists, or in the economists' rankings in the fields just mentioned, such as Erik Verhoef, Jos van Ommeren, Henri de Groot, Jan Rouwendal, and Richard Tol.
Have a look at our publications:
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Or check out the media attention given to our research.