Bio

I am Michiel Stapper, assistant professor at Tilburg Law School. Growing up, I loved drawing maps and collecting atlases. So it seemed right to start studying urban planning. After my BA in urban planning I finished degrees in geography, philosophy and sociology. In 2019, I was visting scholar at NYU's Institute for Public Knowledge. My research interests are mostly directed at questions at the intersection of society, law and cities. How do public-private partnerships influence civic participation? What is the role of participation and deliberation in the energy transition? What are the politics of legal instruments?

Expertise

In my  research  I examine how legal and regulatory frameworks create moral beings and attribute (un)worthiness to citizens. Through my work, I contribute to the fields of participatory governance, urban politics and socio-legal studies. In my research I have used a variety of methods, ranging from observations, interviews, content analysis to the q-method. I have experience with comparative research in Amsterdam, Hamburg and New York. Next, I have published in journals such as Environment and Planning C and Cities.

Currently I am studying the impact of the new Dutch Environment and Planning Act (Omgevingswet) and the European Green Deal on society. I am particulary interested in how these legal and regulatory frameworks affect marginalized people.

Teaching

I teach in the BA program Public Administration and the MA program International Law. I am involved in the courses Public Policy Making, Market, Civil Society and Government, Qualitative Research Methods, International Relations and Thesis Supervision (BA and MA level).

Courses

Recent publications

  1. Exploring the role of intermediaries in the acceleration stage of the…

    Hofman, P., Stapper, M., & Groenleer, M. (2023). Exploring the role of intermediaries in the acceleration stage of the energy transition: A comparative case study of two local energy projects. European Journal of Risk Regulation, 14(3), 549-563.
  2. Contracting with citizens - How residents in Hamburg and New York neg…

    Stapper, E. W. (2021). Contracting with citizens: How residents in Hamburg and New York negotiated development agreements. Land Use Policy, 111(December 2021), 1-10. Article 105743.
  3. Do contracts have politics? - Contracts, planning consultants, and ur…

    Stapper, E. W. (2021). Do contracts have politics? Contracts, planning consultants, and urban development in the age of participation. [Doctoral Thesis, University of Amsterdam].
  4. Hamburg

    Stapper, E. W., Zengerling, C., & Tribble, R. (2021). Hamburg. In M. van der Veen, & J. W. Duyvendak (Eds.), Participate! : Portraits of cities and citizens in action (pp. 104-128). Nai010 Publishers.
  5. Private ordering of public processes - How contracts structure partic…

    Stapper, E. W. (2021). Private ordering of public processes: How contracts structure participatory processes in urban development in Amsterdam and Hamburg. Urban Studies, 1-17. Advance online publication.

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