New Leverhulme Centre for Research on Slavery in War

I am incredibly excited to be part of this groundbreaking initiative to tackle one of the most enduring and troubling issues in global affairs: slavery. As the lead of the Cultural Geo-Analytics Lab, Iโ€™m proud to contribute to work that not only deepens our understanding of slavery but also supports the development of tools to … Continue reading New Leverhulme Centre for Research on Slavery in War

Charting cultural events on Eventbrite

Here's a new paper led by our PhD student Yue Wang, to be presented at GISRUK 2025 in Bristol! ๐ŸŒŽ ๐ŸŽน๐ŸŽญ Abstract: This study explores the spatial and temporal heterogeneity of cultural life by investigating the dynamics of cultural events in Greater London. We leverage over 50,000 data points retrieved from Eventbrite to analyse the … Continue reading Charting cultural events on Eventbrite

Panel discussion on Digital Placemaking and Soft City Sensing

I'm excited to announce that I'll be participating in the upcoming panel discussion titled "Digital Placemaking and Soft City Sensing", scheduled for 20 May 2025, hosted by the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at Aalborg University in Copenhagen. ๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ฐ ๐ŸŽ“ ๐Ÿ”— ๐Ÿ‘‰ event page Panel focus: "This panel brings together four researchers to explore … Continue reading Panel discussion on Digital Placemaking and Soft City Sensing

Place ratings: platforms, effects, discontents โญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ

Everywhere we go, weโ€™re asked to rate our experienceโ€”5 stars for a coffee, a thumbs-up for a park, or maybe just a smiley face at the toilet. Place ratings have become a routine part of digital life, quietly shaping how we navigate cities, choose destinations, and perhaps even how we evaluate the world around us. … Continue reading Place ratings: platforms, effects, discontents โญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ

SMAU London 2024: AI, geographic data, and the future of innovation

Today, I had the privilege of speaking at SMAU | Italy RestartsUp in London, an event dedicated to the Italian startup scene ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿš€ โ€” the panel I contributed to focused on the impact of digitalisation and new technologies. It was a real pleasure to see companies operating in areas close to my academic heart, at … Continue reading SMAU London 2024: AI, geographic data, and the future of innovation

Mapping Museums data used by Office for National Statistics

(AI image source: Dall E) Exciting news! The Mapping Museums Lab data has been incorporated into the latest ONS dataset on UK museumsโ€”and Iโ€™m proud to have contributed to this effort over the years with Fiona Candlin et al. This project has reinforced my appreciation for open data and collaborative research, showing how spatial data … Continue reading Mapping Museums data used by Office for National Statistics

New visiting PhD student at the lab: Laura Dunn ๐Ÿ“Š๐ŸšŒ

We are delighted to welcome visiting PhD student Laura Dunne (University College Dublin, Ireland) to the Cultural Geo-Analytics Lab at Kingโ€™s College London for a research visit from February to May 2025. Under the supervision of Andrea Ballatore, Laura will be advancing her PhD research on optimizing bus networks using machine learning, with a focus … Continue reading New visiting PhD student at the lab: Laura Dunn ๐Ÿ“Š๐ŸšŒ

How the pandemic changed what we eat and drink: A look at food purchases in England

New journal article out in Public Health Nutrition led by Alexandra Kalbus, from her PhD co-supervised at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. [open access article] ๐Ÿ“„๐Ÿ“Š๐Ÿ”๐Ÿ˜ท Reference: Kalbus A, Cornelsen L, Ballatore A, Cummins S. (2024) Changes in food and drink purchasing behaviour in England during the first three months of the … Continue reading How the pandemic changed what we eat and drink: A look at food purchases in England

Eating during the English lockdown

New journal article out in Plos ONE led by Alexandra Kalbus, from her PhD co-supervised at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. [open access article] ๐Ÿ“„๐Ÿ“Š๐Ÿ”๐Ÿ˜ท Reference: Kalbus AI, Cornelsen L, Ballatore A, Cummins S (2024) Associations between the neighbourhood food environment and food and drink purchasing in England during lockdown: A repeated … Continue reading Eating during the English lockdown

An attempt at exhausting a place in Barcelona

My abstract for the AMPS Cultural Pasts conference (July 2024, Barcelona) ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ An attempt at exhausting a place in Barcelona: Digital augmentations as intangible heritage? Andrea Ballatore (King's College London) Sitting in a cafรฉ in Paris in 1974, French writer George Perec started to record the seemingly mundane minutiae of what could be observed in … Continue reading An attempt at exhausting a place in Barcelona