Curriculum Vitae

1936 in Copenhagen.

Married, three grown-up children.

Danish.

Danish (native)
English (fluent)
French and German (excellent reading and speaking knowledge, good writing knowledge)
Dutch (good reading knowledge)

M.Sc. in geography, University of Copenhagen 1962 (including studies of geology, botany, and economics).
Dr.Sc. in geography, University of Copenhagen 1988.

Ordinary member of the Urban Geography Commission of the International Geographical Union 1984-2000.
Vice Chairman of the European service research network RESER (Réseau Services et Espace) 1994-2001.
Member of the editorial board of The Service Industries Journal, 1994-2010.
Member of the selection committee for the Prix Vautrin Lud, 2002-2007.

Geography and economics of service activities.
Regional economic and demographic development in Western and Eastern Europe, regional policy.
Physical planning and urban geography.
Location of manufacturing industries, clusters.
History of physical planning and geography in Denmark.

1962-79 at the Secretariat of the Danish National Planning Committee, from 1975 part of the Ministry of the Environment.
Main responsibilities:

• Analyses of regional development in Denmark.
• Preparation of the 1970 local government reform.
• Analyses of the location of service activities.
• Preparation of the first national planning report.
• Preparation of guidelines for the planning of the urban system.

1979-89 director of research at the Local Governments' Research Institute, Copenhagen.
Main responsibilities:

• Studies on local economic development policies.
• Studies on local labour markets.
• Analysis of the regional effects of the fixed link across the Great Belt.

1984-86 seconded to the Commission of the EC, Directorate General of Science and Technology, heading the FAST sub-programme on the impact of technology on the regional development of service activities.

1989-2004 professor of geography at Roskilde University, 2004- professor emeritus.
Main research projects:

• Empirical and theoretical analyses of the location of service activities.
• Analyses of regional economic and demographic development in Western and Eastern Europe.
• History of scientific geography in Denmark.
• Development of the industrial textile district of Herning in Western Jutland.
• The intra-urban development of population in the Copenhagen region.

Editor of professional journals and books, i.a. 1967-1983 of the Danish planning journal Byplan.

Member of several selection committees and evaluation committees of doctoral theses at European universities, referee of papers at professional journals.

Expert adviser to consulting firms, e.g. to:

• Rambĝll, on the planning of a local enterprise agency in Hungary, as part of the EC PHARE programme (Directorate General I), 1991.
• PLS-Consult, on an analysis of service activities as resources, 1993.

Chairman/member of several national and international committees, i.a. :

• Chairman of the working group on village shops of the Danish Commission on Villages.
• Chairman of the Committee on industrial location in sparsely populated areas, of the Nordic Institute of Regional Policy Research.
• Chairman of the Committee on regional policy in a network economy, of the Nordic Institute of Regional Policy Research.
• Member of the European Commission´s expert panel for project selection under the ECOS-Ouverture, Recite, and PACTE programmes.
• Member of the European Commission´s Monitoring and Evaluation Committee for the ECOS-Ouverture and PACTE programmes.
• Member of the working group on producer services of the Danish Ministry of Economic Activities.
• Member of the European Commission's working group on statistics and knowledge on business related services.
• Member of the Committee on the History of Planning of the Danish Town Planning Institute.