Sina HARDAKER

Dr. Sina HARDAKER is an academic researcher and educator specializing in Economic Geography at the Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg. She currently serves as a Habilitandin at the Chair of Economic Geography and previously held the position of Akademische Rätin auf Zeit. Starting in September 2025, she will assume a Professorship in Anthropogeography at Hochschule München. Her institutional affiliations include editorial roles with Standort - Zeitschrift für Angewandte Geographie and the Electronic Journal of Business and Management, as well as membership in the Fachbeirat Standort.

Dr. HARDAKER's research focuses on the intersection of digital platforms, retail geography, and spatial development. Her primary research interests encompass platform economy, retail digitalization, E-commerce, global value chains, special economic zones, and regional development with particular emphasis on China, Malaysia, Germany, UK, and Myanmar. Her work critically examines how digital platforms are transforming retail landscapes, reshaping urban spaces, and influencing regional economic development through processes of platformization and infrastructuralization.

The analysis of her recent publications reveals a consistent trajectory exploring the spatial implications of digital platforms in retail contexts. Her work spans theoretical contributions to platform economy in economic geography, empirical studies on digital free trade zones in Malaysia, and critical examinations of how municipal partnerships legitimize retail platforms. A recurring theme across her publications is the tension between digital disruption and spatial embeddedness in urban retail environments.

• Member of Editorial Board: Standort - Zeitschrift für Angewandte Geographie
• Member of Editorial Board: Electronic Journal of Business and Management (EJBM)
• Co-Speaker: VGDH-AK Geographische Handelsforschung
• Mentor: Mentoring-Programm der Alumni Uni Würzburg

Dr. HARDAKER has actively supervised numerous Master's, Bachelor's, and Zulassungsarbeiten students, with thesis topics spanning retail digitalization, urban development, cross-border E-commerce, and sustainable retail practices. Her research projects include DFG-funded work on digital platforms in retail configuration, university-technology company collaborations for E-commerce skills development, and habilitation research on 'Interplaces and Intermediaries.' She has directed student projects on topics including eBay's local marketplace initiatives, pandemic impacts on retail, and urban logistics solutions.

Her laboratory and team work primarily involves collaboration with the Chair of Economic Geography at Würzburg University, partnerships with Malaysian institutions through the Alibaba Global Digital Talent program, and engagement with the academic working group on Geographische Handelsforschung. Current research directions focus on digital trade zones, platform-led infrastructuralization, and the spatial implications of retail digitalization in both Global North and South contexts.