S. (Soran) Mansournia, MSc
Research Fellow at Spatial Sciences & Human Geography
Telephone:
E-mail:
s.mansournia rug.nl
Field/Discipline
Expertise
I am an Urban Researcher & Human Rights advocate whose work connects spatial research with field-based activism. I focus on digitizing citizens’ experiences and narratives on maps, integrating expert spatial analysis with digital tools. I design geospatial platforms and participatory methods to co-produce spatial knowledge with communities. My master’s thesis Child in the City (Art University of Tehran, 2016), which mapped children’s urban experiences, received the Best Dissertation of the Year award. During my cotutelle PhD at the
University of Groningen & Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka (University of Otago), I led 85 digital-mapping workshops with more than 3,000 children across New Zealand, Kurdistan, Poland, & the Netherlands—work that earned the 2025 Promising Geographer Award of New Zealand.
My core research areas include Public Spaces, Advanced Spatial Analysis , Public Participation GIS (PPGIS), Participatory Design, Urban Digitalisation, Political Geography, Informal/Spontaneous Settlements, & Spatial Politics.
My core research areas include Public Spaces, Advanced Spatial Analysis , Public Participation GIS (PPGIS), Participatory Design, Urban Digitalisation, Political Geography, Informal/Spontaneous Settlements, & Spatial Politics.
Other positions
PhD candidate of Urban planning at the Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka (University of Otago) - New Zealand
Last modified:06 November 2025 07.45 a.m.