
Dr Johan Andersson
Reader in Urban Cultural Geography
Research interests
- Geography
Biography
Dr Johan Andersson has an interdisciplinary background in the humanities and social sciences, with a BA in Comparative Literature and Art History from Stockholm University (2000) and a PhD in Urban Studies from University College London (2008).
After completing his PhD, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Leeds and Visiting Scholar at the Graduate Center, City University New York. In 2013, he joined the Department of Geography at King’s.
Research
- Queer nightlife
- Cinema and the city
Johan's research interests span urban and cultural geography and currently focus on two main topics: 1) queer nightlife from the 1970s to the present; and 2) cinema and the city with a specific focus on Hollywood cinema in the postindustrial period
Teaching
Undergraduate
- 5SSG2056 Urban and Cultural Geography: Society, Space and Culture
- 5SSG2047 Field Research in Human & Development Geography – field trip to San Francisco
- 6SSG3074 Hollywood and the Postindustrial City
PhD supervision
Johan welcomes PhD applications on topics spanning across urban, cultural and social geography.
Further details
Research

Urban Futures research group
Examining urban futures through a conceptual, analytical and methodological lens that questions what cities are and how they work.

Queer@King's
Centre for research and teaching in gender and sexuality studies and a hub for collaborative work with queer activists, artists, and communities.

LGBTQ+ policymaking in the UK
Establishing an interdisciplinary network of academic, policymaking, and civil society stakeholders to address the policy needs of the UK’s LGBTQ+ population.
Project status: Ongoing
Events

Berghain: landscape, affect, and sexual disorientation
Join Johan Andersson for this discussion on Berghain and its impact on sexual orientations and identity.
Please note: this event has passed.
Berlin's queer archipelago: Landscape, sexuality, and nightlife
Andersson, J., 12 Oct 2022, In: Transactions of the institute of british geographers.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Berghain: Space, affect, and sexual disorientation
Andersson, J., Jun 2022, In: Environment and Planning D: Society and Space. 40, 3, p. 451-468 18 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Gentrification by genre: Desperately Seeking Susan and the 1980s screwball
Andersson, J. C. A., 27 Jun 2019, The City in American Cinema: Film and Postindustrial Culture. London: Bloomsbury Academic, p. 329-49 20 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
American cinema and urban change: industry, genre, and politics from Nixon to Trump
Andersson, J. C. A. & Webb, L. M., 27 Jun 2019, The City in American Cinema : Film and Postindustrial Culture. London: Bloomsbury Academic, p. 1-39 39 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
The City in American Cinema: Film and Postindustrial Culture
Andersson, J. C. A. & Webb, L. M., 27 Jun 2019, London: Bloomsbury Academic. 383 p.Research output: Book/Report › Book › peer-review
Homonormative aesthetics: AIDS and ‘de-generational unremembering’ in 1990s London
Andersson, J. C. A., 14 Sept 2018, (Accepted/In press) In: URBAN STUDIES.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Landscape and Gentrification: The Picturesque and Pastoral in 1980s New York Cinema
Andersson, J., Jun 2017, In: Antipode: a radical journal of geography. 49, 3, p. 539–556Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Decentring the cinematic city: film and media in the digital age
Andersson, J. C. A. & Webb, L. M., Sept 2016, Global Cinematic Cities: New Landscapes of Film and Media. Andersson, J. & Webb, L. (eds.). New York: Columbia University Press, p. 1 16 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
Global Cinematic Cities: New Landscapes of Film and Media
Andersson, J. (Editor) & Webb, L. (Editor), Sept 2016, New York: Columbia University Press. 224 p.Research output: Book/Report › Book › peer-review
In the contact zone: Engineering meaningful encounters across difference through an interfaith project
Mayblin, L., Valentine, G. & Andersson, J., Jun 2016, In: GEOGRAPHICAL JOURNAL. 182, 2, p. 213-222 10 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
The transnational debate over homosexuality in the anglican communion
Vanderbeck, R. M., Sadgrove, J., Valentine, G., Andersson, J. & Ward, K., 1 Jan 2015, The Changing World Religion Map: Sacred Places, Identities, Practices and Politics. Springer Netherlands, p. 3283-3301 19 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
'Wilding' in the West Village: Queer Space, Racism and Jane Jacobs Hagiography
Andersson, J., Apr 2015, In: International Journal of Urban and Regional Research. 39, 2, p. 265-283Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
England’s urban fringes: multi-functionality and planning
Gallent, N., Shoard, M., Andersson, J., Oades, R. & Tudor, C., Jun 2004, In: Local Environment. 9, 3, p. 217-233 17 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Planning on the edge: England’s rural-urban fringe and the spatial planning agenda
Gallent, N., Bianconi, M. & Andersson, J., 2006, In: ENVIRONMENT AND PLANNING B-PLANNING AND DESIGN. 33, 3, p. 457-476 20 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
”White tiles. Trickling water. A man!”: literary representations of cottaging in London
Andersson, J. & Campkin, B., 2009, Ladies and Gents: Public Toilets and Gender. Temple University Press, Philadelphia, p. 208-217 10 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
Hygiene aesthetics on London’s gay scene: the stigma of AIDS
Andersson, J., 2007, Dirt: New Geographies of Cleanliness and Contamination. London: IB Tauris, London/New York, p. 103-112 10 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
Queer nostalgia
Andersson, J., 2011, Urban Constellations. Berlin: Jovis, p. 123-126 4 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
Picturing the poor: fundraising and the depoliticisation of homelessness
Andersson, J. & Valentine, G., 2 Jan 2015, In: Social & Cultural Geography. 16, 1, p. 58-74 17 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Representing England's rural-urban fringe
Gallent, N. & Andersson, J., Feb 2007, In: Landscape research. 32, 1, p. 1-21 21 p., N/A.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
East End Localism and Urban Decay: Shoreditch's Re-Emerging Gay Scene
Andersson, J., Mar 2009, In: London Journal. 34, 1, p. 55-71 17 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
The Meanings of Communion: Anglican Identities, the Sexuality Debates, and Christian Relationality
Vanderbeck, R. M., Valentine, G., Ward, K., Sadgrove, J. & Andersson, J., 20 May 2010, In: Sociological Research Online. 15, 2, p. N/A 19 p., 3.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Constructing the boundaries of Anglican orthodoxy: An analysis of the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON)
Sadgrove, J., Vanderbeck, R. M., Ward, K., Valentine, G. & Andersson, J., Jul 2010, In: RELIGION. 40, 3, p. 193-206 14 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Emplacements: The Event as a Prism for Exploring Intersectionality; a Case Study of the Lambeth Conference
Valentine, G., Vanderbeck, R. M., Andersson, J., Sadgrove, J. & Ward, K., Oct 2010, In: Sociology. 44, 5, p. 925-943 19 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Consuming campus: geographies of encounter at a British university
Andersson, J., Sadgrove, J. & Valentine, G., 2012, In: Social & Cultural Geography. 13, 5, p. 501-515 15 p., N/A.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
The Spiv and the Architect: Unruly Life in Postwar London by Richard Hornsey
Andersson, J., Mar 2012, In: Home cultures. 9, 1, p. 113-114 2 p., N/A.Research output: Contribution to journal › Book/Film/Article review › peer-review
Morality plays and money matters: towards a situated understanding of the politics of homosexuality in Uganda
Sadgrove, J., Vanderbeck, R. M., Andersson, J., Valentine, G. & Ward, K., Mar 2012, In: JOURNAL OF MODERN AFRICAN STUDIES. 50, 1, p. 103-129 27 p., N/A.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Producing moral geographies: the dynamics of homophobia within a transnational religious network
Valentine, G., Vanderbeck, R., Sadgrove, J. & Andersson, J., Jun 2013, In: GEOGRAPHICAL JOURNAL. 179, 2, p. 165-176 12 p., N/A.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Same sex marriage, civil rights rhetoric, and the ambivalent politics of Christian evangelicalism in New York City
Andersson, J., Vanderbeck, R. M., Sadgrove, J., Valentine, G. & Ward, K., Jun 2013, In: SEXUALITIES. 16, 3-4, p. 245-260 16 p., N/A.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Variations of an archetypal scene: the Paris Métro confrontation in Michael Haneke’s Code Unknown
Andersson, J., 2013, In: ENVIRONMENT AND PLANNING D. 31, 4, p. 693-707 15 p., N/A.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Vauxhall's Post-industrial Pleasure Gardens: 'Death Wish' and Hedonism in 21st-century London
Andersson, J., Jan 2011, In: URBAN STUDIES. 48, 1, p. 85-100 16 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
New York encounters: religion, sexuality, and the city
Andersson, J., Vanderbeck, R. M., Valentine, G., Ward, K. & Sadgrove, J., Mar 2011, In: Environment and Planning A. 43, 3, p. 618-633 16 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Sexuality, Activism, and Witness in the Anglican Communion: The 2008 Lambeth Conference of Anglican Bishops
Vanderbeck, R. M., Andersson, J., Valentine, G., Sadgrove, J. & Ward, K., 2011, In: Annals of the Association of American Geographers. 101, 3, p. 670-689 20 p., N/A.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Transnational religious networks: sexuality and the changing power geometries of the Anglican Communion
Valentine, G., Vanderbeck, R. M., Sadgrove, J., Andersson, J. & Ward, K., Jan 2013, In: Institute of British Geographers. Transactions. 38, 1, p. 50-64 15 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Heritage Discourse and the Desexualisation of Public Space: The "Historical Restorations" of Bloomsbury's Squares
Andersson, J., Sept 2012, In: Antipode: a radical journal of geography. 44, 4, p. 1081-1098 18 p., N/A.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Research

Urban Futures research group
Examining urban futures through a conceptual, analytical and methodological lens that questions what cities are and how they work.

Queer@King's
Centre for research and teaching in gender and sexuality studies and a hub for collaborative work with queer activists, artists, and communities.

LGBTQ+ policymaking in the UK
Establishing an interdisciplinary network of academic, policymaking, and civil society stakeholders to address the policy needs of the UK’s LGBTQ+ population.
Project status: Ongoing
Events

Berghain: landscape, affect, and sexual disorientation
Join Johan Andersson for this discussion on Berghain and its impact on sexual orientations and identity.
Please note: this event has passed.