Research
Welcome. I am a Lecturer in Social and Geographic Data Science at the Department of Geography, University College London.
I am mainly interested in urban analytics, geo-demographics, urban transport, spatial inequalities and spatial justice, and big data applications in scarce data environments. I have extensive experience in the domain of Geographic Information Systems, urban studies, and transport research. I also possess a wide skill set in the field of advanced spatial analysis, including experience with Python programming, R scripting, PostgreSQL with PostGIS, and webmapping through Leaflet.js.
Research Interests
Big Data applications in scarce data environments
Geo-demographics and Urban Analytics
Spatial inequalities in urban environments
Urban transport, spatial justice, and human mobility
Core skills
| Topic | Programme / Language / Library |
|---|---|
| Geographic Information Systems | R, Python, QGIS, ArcGIS |
| Data processing | R, Python, UNIX shell, GNU Parallel |
| Data analysis | R, Python |
| Data visualisation | ggplot2 |
| Project management | Git, GitHub |
| Web mapping | Leaflet.js |
| Web development | HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Django |
| Database management | PostgreSQL, PostGIS |
| Typesetting | LaTeX, markdown, rmarkdown, bookdown, quarto |
Resume
You can download my full Curriculum Vitea as a PDF.
Professional Experience
Lecturer
2021 - Present
University College London, United Kingdom
Department of Geography. Lecturer in Social and Geographic Data Science. Contributing to the M.Sc. modules Principles of Spatial Analysis and Data, Politics and Society as well as the undergraduate module Geocomputation.
Associate Lecturer
2020 - 2021
University College London, United Kingdom
Department of Geography. Associate Lecturer in Quantitative Social Science. Contributing to the M.Sc. courses Principles of Spatial Analysis and Advanced Topics in Social and Geographic Data Science as well as the undergraduate course Introduction to Quantitative Research Methods.
Postdoctoral Research Associate
2018 - 2021
University College London, United Kingdom
Department of Geography. Research Associate in the Geospatial Analytics and Computing Research Group. Analysis and visualisation of big spatial population data sets with a strong focus on geo-demographics, internal migration, and inter-generational social mobility.
Education
Doctor of Philosophy
2014 - 2017
Stellenbosch University, South Africa
Transport Economics. Thesis: Designing Travel Behaviour Change interventions: A spatiotemporal perspective.
Master of Science [Cum Laude]
2011 - 2013
Utrecht University, the Netherlands
Human Geography and Planning. Thesis: Towards spatial justice: The spatial equity effects of a toll road in Cape Town, South Africa.
Bachelor of Science
2007 - 2011
Utrecht University, the Netherlands
Human Geography and Planning. Thesis: Contemporary Orientalism? Representations of Islam and Muslims in the Dutch Press: a content analysis of ‘De Volkskrant’ and ‘De Telegraaf’, 2001-2010.
Visiting Appointments
Non-Residential Senior Research Fellow
2024 - Present
United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER)
Academic lead for the SA-TIED data workstream.
Research Fellow
2022 - Present
Stellenbosch University, South Africa
School for Data Science and Computational Thinking.
Selected Publications
For a full list of my publications, please see my profile on ResearchGate.
Kandt, J., Van Dijk, J. T., and Todd, J. 2025. How do major public transport investments induce gentrification? Evidence from consumer data. Transportation Research Part D. 142: 104684. doi: 10.1016/j.trd.2025.104684
Longley, P. A., Lan, T., and Van Dijk, J. T. 2023. Geography, ethnicity, genealogy and inter-generational social inequality in Great Britain. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers. 49(1): e12622. doi: 10.1111/tran.12622
Longley, P. A., Van Dijk, J. T., and Lan, T. 2021. The geography of intergenerational social mobility in Britain. Nature Communications 12: 6050. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-26185-z
Van Dijk, J. T., Lansley, G., and Longley, P. A. 2021. Using linked consumer registers to estimate internal migration in the United Kingdom. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society: Series A (Statistics in Society). 184(4): 1452-1474. doi: 10.1111/rssa.12713
Lan, T., Van Dijk, J. T., and Longley, P. A. 2021. Family names, city size distributions and residential differentiation in Great Britain, 1881-1901. Urban Studies. Advance Online Publication. doi: 10.1177/00420980211025721
Van Dijk, J. T. and Longley, P. A. 2020, Interactive display of surname distributions in historic and contemporary Great Britain. Journal of Maps. 16(1): 68-76. doi: 10.1080/17445647.2020.1746418
Kandt, J., Van Dijk, J. T., and Longley, P. A. 2020. Family name origins and inter-generational demographic change in Great Britain. Annals of the American Association of Geographers. 110(6): 1726-1742. doi: 10.1080/24694452.2020.1717328
Engin, Z., Van Dijk, J. T., Lan, T., Longley, P. A., Treleaven, P., Batty, M., and Penn, A., 2020. Data-driven urban management: Mapping the landscape. Journal of Urban Management. 9(2): 140-150. doi: 10.1016/j.jum.2019.12.001
Van Dijk, J. T. 2018. Identifying activity-travel points from GPS-data with multiple moving windows. Computers, Environment and Urban System 70: 84-101. doi: 10.1016/j.compenvurbsys.2018.02.004
Projects
Academic lead for the SA-TIED data workstream. Southern Africa – Towards Inclusive Economic Development (SA-TIED) is a programme intended to support policymaking in the Southern Africa region by working closely with researchers to close knowledge gaps crucial to the achievement of inclusive growth and economic transformation.
Accessibility analysis. Generation of travel time indicators and market access indicators for small administrative units in Ethiopia. This project is part of a wider study conducted by the World Bank that aims to identify and tackle deeply rooted binding constraints that could hamper the gains of economic growth being spread evenly across regions and between rural and urban areas.
Webmapping. Data analysis and visualisations on the geographical distribution of supply and demand for treatment and support for problematic gamblers. The produced maps are available through: www.begambleaware.org/gambleaware-gb-maps.
Website development. GBNames explores the spread of family names across Great Britain, using historic censuses and recent consumer registers, and links surnames to consumer data statistics. The latest version of the website is accessible through: apps.cdrc.ac.uk/gbnames.
Scoping study for the UCL, Bloomsbury and East London Doctoral Training Partnership (UBEL DTP). This scoping report reviews the proposals of the 28 co-funded and collaborative studentships that have been taken on by UBEL DTP between 2018 and 2020 in order to better understand potential factors and themes that underpin successful partnerships and collaborations.
Preparation of selected data products on ethnicity, population churn, migration, and social mobility for the Greater London Authority.
Data analysis using well-known statistical techniques as well as more advanced machine learning classifiers for Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator to better understand, and possibly predict, successful job placements.
Contact
Location:
Department of Geography, North-West Wing, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT
Email:
j.t.vandijk [at] ucl.ac.uk