Jochem de Vries is Department Chair (since 2019) of and associate professor of urban and regional planning at the department of Geography, Planning and International Development Studies at the University of Amsterdam. He also acted as the director of the Geography and Planning Bachelors and Masters' programmes within the department (2012-2017)
He graduated in planning from the University of Amsterdam and received his PhD from the same institution. After his graduation and before returing to the UvA, he worked at the Delft University of Technology, University of Groningen and the Netherlands Institute for Spatial Research ( Ruimtelijk Planbureau (RPB)) .
Overarching theme of his research in recent years is how culture and institutions structure urban and regional planning. One of the strands explores relevant conditions in an international perspective, as comes to the forth in work on Chinese urban planning, on planning cultures on the differences in planning in mega-urban regions. Another strand of research is focused on the complicated relationship between European and national environmental legislation on the one hand and local and regional planning projects on the other hand. This has led to work on the contextualisation of laws and planning practice. The third strand of research concerns the shift from 'government to governance' in the management of cultural heritage and landscapes and in urban planning.