Associate Professor in Economic and Political Geography (M/GGR-02 - 11/B1) with the Department of Economics, Business, Mathematics and Statistics “Bruno De Finetti” of the University of Trieste since 1 October 2014. Qualified as Full Professor (ASN – Abilitazione Scientifica Nazionale) (M-GGR/02 – 11/B1) since 28 March 2017.
Giuseppe Borruso holds a degree (Bachelor) in Economics from University of Trieste (1998) and an MSc in Geographical Information Science (GISc) from University College London (UCL – University of London, 1999). Since 2002 he is PhD in Geohistory and Geoeconomics of Border Regions (degree from University of Trieste).
Teaching activities
· Past (Faculty of Economics, University of Trieste):
o Cartografia e Sistemi Informativi Geografici (Cartography and GIS, in Italian), from the Academic Year 2002/2003 to 2008/2009,
o Geografia Economica (Economic Geography, in Italian), Faculty of Economics (A.Y. 2005/2006);
· Present (Department of Economics, Business, Mathematics and Statistics, University of Trieste):
o Sistemi Informativi Geografici (Geographical Information Systems, in Italian), from the Academic Year 2015/2016 until present day;
o Economic Geography (in English);
o Geografia delle Reti (Geography of Networks, in Italian).
Research interests
Geography of Networks, Transport Geography
From the early research activities carried out, it is central the study of networks as elements of organization of space. Networks of transport and communication systems are analyzed at different levels in terms of their capacity of organizing space and relations among individuals, particularly privileging the urban scale, where the organization of economic activities is influenced, and influences, the same network structure. In such sense, in research indicators and analytical methods able to consider, in a spatial analytical framework, have been developed.
Transport in general, as a wider topic, has been and is tackled within considering different aspects and points of view. Linking transport and urban studies, the relation among cities and ports is studied, with attention to the port and city of Trieste, as well as in consideration of the network links existing between such areas, the places of origin and destination of flows. At different scales, maritime transport and the configurations drawn are studied, and so with reference to air transport. In particular analysis on the pattern of movements at European level are considered.
Geographical Mobility.
As a tradition of Economic Geographers in the University of Trieste, a research line deals with the geography of population (geographical mobility), realized also within former PRIN projects and Interreg.
Research dealt with foreign immigration in Italy, particularly in the Trieste area and led to individual and in common research and papers, also in international collaborations.
The traditional geographical methods are supported by instruments of geographical analysis, as GIS and spatial analytical techniques and methods, examining the patterns of distribution of foreign immigration in Italy and the relationship with economical activities. Geographical mobility has been studied also with reference to the emigration from the former Venezia Giulia area to Italy after the Second World War, with a particular attention to an attempt to quantify Italian nationals in the “lands of exodus”, occurred in that period of time, and provide adequate mapping realizations.
Urban geography; retail geography
Urban geography represents another of the main topics carried from the beginning of the research activities. The topics tackled deal with the analysis of distribution and concentration of services and retail activities at urban level, particularly in analyzing ‘central’ and ‘polarizing’ places in an urban environmental (CBD – central business district), observing the functional forms of the city, as well as the presence of walkable spaces. These research topics were tackled and applied to the city of Trieste, Gorizia and Nova Gorica and, more recently, on Cagliari, Sassari and Olbia, focusing on the peculiarities of the different urban cases (CBD-City and port relations in the case of Trieste; cross-border urban areas in the case of Gorizia and Nova Gorica; Walkability and urban regeneration in the case of Cagliari; the recreational Business Districts in the cases of Olbia and Sassari).
Retail, with particular reference to wholesale retail and grocery, is another of the topics tackled, also in the light of urban-periurban relations.
Smart Cities
Within urban studies, the attention towards the Smart Cities, adopting a geographical approach of analysis of the phenomenon, in occasion of reflections on the city and its challenges, in light of the new inputs coming from the ICT and bottom up participation processes to urban governance. The research is enriched towards urban sustainability and including the concept of circular economy.
GIS and information society.
GIS and spatial analysis are considered as unavoidable and necessary instrument to support the geographical analysis, in terms of exploiting information from data and representing them by means of maps and other kinds of representations. The topic is also tackled with reference to the use of Geographic Information and Digital Geographical Data, particularly in terms of big data and open data, and their use in understanding users’ characters and behaviour, as well as sources for helping spatial and urban planning.
The research carried on are inserted in journals with wide diffusion in the geographical national and international communities. Main and recent research products have been published, among others, in A-Class journals (for the 11/B1 ‘Geography’ Sector) as the Italian Bollettino dell’Associazione Italiana di Cartografia, Geotema, J-Reading, the volumes published by Patron. Also, they are available from A-Class international journals, as ISPRS – IJGI and Sustainability, among others. Important also the presence in the events and publications of the ASITA conferences (Federazione delle Associazioni Scientifiche per le Informazioni Territoriali e Ambientali).
Research involvement
He is and has been referee for international, peer reviewed and ISI certified journals on cartographic, geographical and GIS topics, in particular (among others):
· MDPI ISPRS - International Journal of Geographic Information;
· Applied Science;
· Sustainability;
· Urban Science;
· Future Internet.
· Cities;
· CEUS – Computer, Environment and Urban Systems;
· Transactions in GIS;
· Professional Geographer;
· Europan Transport – Trasporti Europei;
· Semestrale di Studi e Ricerche di Geografia;
· J-Reading; Bollettino dell’Associazione Italiana di Cartografia;
· Rivista Geografica Italiana; Bollettino della Società Geografica Italiana;
· Geoprogress.
Editorial board member:
· MDPI ISPRS – International Journal of Geographic Information (*)
· Trasporti Europei – European Transport.
Executive Committee Member
· Italian Association of Cartography (2014 – 2017; 2018 – 2021).
Scientific Committee member:
· Bullettin of the Italian Association of Cartography (*). President of the Scientific Committee (in the years 2010 – 2013; 2014 – 2017)
· Editorial Series “Route Edizioni TAB”, dedicated to Transport Geography
Guest Editor of special issues (MDPI):
· ISPRS – International Journal of Geographic Information (*):
o Geo-Information Science in Planning and Development of Smart Cities;
o Geographical Analysis, Urban Modelling, Spatial Statistics, Econometric and Multidimensional Evaluation in Urban Environment.
· Sustainability (*):
o Smart Cities, City Dashboards, Planning and Evaluation of Urban Performances.
· Urban Science:
o Technologies and Humanities for Smart Cities;
o Mega Events and Urban Memory.
· Future Internet:
o Neo-Geography and WikiPlanning: New Challenges and Novel Approaches.
* = A class for the Scientific Sector 11/B1 – Geography
Since year 2004 is ongoing the cooperation with the International Conference on Computer Science and its Applications (ICCSA), which proceedings are published in Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS - Springer-Verlag), as referee for topics on geographical, GIS and geostatistics, Transport, Urban geography and planning. Within ICCSA, it is relevant the local organization of the 2017 edition, as well as the co-organization, through the years and until the present year, of the following workshops: Geographical Analysis, Urban Modeling, Spatial Statistics (Geog-An-Mod); Cities, Technologies and Planning (CTP); Smart Ports; Smart Tourism.
Sabbatical
In the year 2019 (18 February – 17 August) a sabbatical term was allowed and spent in particular at the University of Cagliari, strengthening the connection with the colleagues of the University of Cagliari, particularly with the Department
of Civil Engineering and Architecture (DICAAR). The topics tackled dealt particularly with urban areas (urban geography, with particular reference to Smart Cities) and transport (with particular reference to ports and short/long networks, and with reference to the port-city relations). These topics, already ongoing in the previous research were flanked by new reflections on circular economy, industrial symbiosis and industrial location.
Research groups and responsibilities
Associate:
· AGEI – Association of Italian Geographers
· Italian Association of Cartography
Coordinator:
· GEP Lab – Laboratory of Economic and Political Geography, activated within the DEAMS – Department of Economics, Business, Mathematics and Statistics. The laboratory is hosting the interdisciplinary and inter-university research groups on the geography of Covid-19 and that on Transport Geography;
· AGEI (Association of Italian Geographers) Group on ‘Geography of Transport and Logistics’.
International projects:
· In charge as Project Partner 2 (University of Trieste) of the Italy-Slovenia Project SECNET: Cross-border institutional cooperation for the improvement of port security https://www.ita-slo.eu/en/secnet (2017 – 2019);
· In the research unit of the Lead Partner (University of Trieste) of the Italy-Croatia Project METRO: Maritime Environment-friendly TRanspOrt systems https://www.italy-croatia.eu/web/metro (2019 - 2021).
Public Engagement
· Delegate for the Public Engagement of the Department of Economics, Business, Mathematics and Statistics “Bruno De Finetti” of the University of Trieste;
· Dissemination activities in primary and secondary schools (academic years 2019/2020; 2020/2021) in cooperation with IS – Immaginario Scientifico (Trieste) “Mappe dal Mondo” – “Maps of the World”;
· TriesteNext 2021 (Trieste, September 2021): Organization of the event “DA SMART CITY A HEALTHY CITY. CITTÀ E CITTADINI DOPO LA PANDEMIA” https://www.triestenext.it/tc-events/da-smart-city-a-healthy-city-citta-e-cittadini-dopo-la-pandemia;
· Dissemination of the research “Why Italy First?” (Murgante, B.; Borruso, G.; Balletto, G.; Castiglia, P.; Dettori, M. Why Italy First? Health, Geographical and Planning Aspects of the COVID-19 Outbreak. Sustainability 2020, 12, 5064. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12125064): o University of Trieste - Clip- YouTube Channel http://bit.ly/Covid_Youtube;
o TriesteNext 2020 (Trieste, September 2020): Organization of the event “WHY ITALY FIRST? CAUSE ED EFFETTI TERRITORIALI DEL COVID-19 IN ITALIA” (WHY ITALY FIRST? CAUSES and GEOGRAPHICAL EFFECTS OF COVID-19 IN ITALY); http://bit.ly/TriesteNext_WhyItaly;
o Elevante talks (on line seminar): “La geografia del virus” Invited speaker (April 2020) http://bit.ly/Elevante_Virus;
o Tryeste (on line seminar) “Covid-19: perché in Nord Italia?” Invited (May 2020) Tryeste http://bit.ly/Tryeste_Virus;
· TriesteNext 2017 (Trieste, September 2017): Organization of the event “Sea and The City. le sfide per la smart city di oggi” http://bit.ly/Sea_City;
· TriesteNext 2015 (Trieste, September 2015): Organization of the activities “Geografi per un giorno” (One-day Geographers) and “MAPPAmi” (Map-me);
· TriesteNext 2013 and NEAR – European Night of Researchers (September 2013): Organization of the activities: “Caccia al tesoro. Geocaching, mappe & geografia sul tuo smartphone”.