Staff profile

Karen Lai is Professor of Economic Geography at Durham University (UK). Her research expertise includes geographies of money and finance, FinTech, financial infrastructure and digital economies, focusing particularly on issues of financialisation, data centres, and financial networks. Karen received her Bachelor and Master degrees in Geography from the National University of Singapore, and PhD in Economic Geography at the University of Nottingham (UK). She was previously based at the National University of Singapore and University of British Columbia (Canada). 

As the Co-Director of Research for the Department of Geography at Durham University, Karen is responsible for research strategy and management. She is a founding member and served in executive committee roles on the Global Network on Financial Geography (FinGeo) for almost a decade. She is a co-founding Editor of Finance and Space journal, Editor of Economic Geography, and former Associate Editor for Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers. She also serves on the journal editorial boards/international advisory boards of various journals inclyding Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, Geoforum, Progress in Economic Geography, and the Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography.

Her current work examines the growth of data centres in the UK, Singapore and Southeast Asia to analyse the differentiated roles of data services, the environmental impacts of data centre growth and associated role of green finance in this sector. Another strand of research examines how FinTech (financial technology) is shaping everyday financial practice, relationships among financial institutions, technology companies and state actors, and implications of fintech and AI growth on the material dimensions of digital infrastructure. A previous project examines the business organisation and networks of investment banks and law firms in Asia and their implications for financial centre development and global/regional financial networks.

Research Groups

• Economy & Culture 
• Urban Worlds

• Money and finance
• Financial centres
• Fintech and digital economies
• Data centres and digital infrastructure
• Political economy and development in Asia

• 2024 - 2025: Visiting Scholar, National Foreign Experts Programme, Beijing Normal University:
• 2022 - 2026: Visiting Faculty, Singapore Management University:

Chapter in book

• FinTech: making finance fun
  
  Lai, K. (2025). FinTech: making finance fun. In Y. Aoyama, D. Haberly, R. Horner, & S. Schindler (Eds.), A Research Agenda for Economic Geography (pp. 175-188). Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781035339921.00019
• Jessie Poon: International Trade and Geographies of Finance
  
  Lai, K. (2024). Jessie Poon: International Trade and Geographies of Finance. In J. Johns & S. Marie Hall (Eds.), Contemporary Economic Geographies: Inspiring, Critical and Plural Perspectives. https://doi.org/10.56687/9781529220599
• Financial Geography
  
  Lai, K. P. (2022). Financial Geography. In D. Richardson, N. Castree, M. Goodchild, A. Kobayashi, W. Liu, & R. Marston (Eds.), International Encyclopedia of Geography: People, the Earth, Environment and Technology. Wiley. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118786352.wbieg0656.pub2
• Impact Investing, Social Enterprise and Global Development
  
  Stolz, D., & Lai, K. P. (2020). Impact Investing, Social Enterprise and Global Development. In P. Mader, D. Mertens, & N. van der Zwan (Eds.), The Routledge international handbook of financialization. (pp. 288-300). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315142876-24
• FinTech: The dis/re-intermediation of finance?
  
  Lai, K. P. (2020). FinTech: The dis/re-intermediation of finance? In J. Knox-Hayes & D. Wójcik (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Financial Geography. (pp. 440-458). Routledge.
• Singapore: Connecting Asian markets with global finance
  
  Lai, K. P. (2018). Singapore: Connecting Asian markets with global finance. In Y. Cassis & D. Wojcik (Eds.), International Financial Centres: After the Global Financial Crisis and Brexit (pp. 154-181). Oxford University Press.
• Financialisation of everyday life
  
  Lai, K. P. (2018). Financialisation of everyday life. In G. L. Clark, M. P. Feldmann, M. Gertler, & D. Wojcik (Eds.), The new Oxford handbook of economic geography. (pp. 611-627). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198755609.013.29
• Financialization of Singaporean banks and the production of variegated financial capitalism
  
  Lai, K. P., & Daniels, J. A. (2017). Financialization of Singaporean banks and the production of variegated financial capitalism. In B. Christophers, A. Leyshon, & G. Mann (Eds.), Money and Finance After the Crisis: Critical Thinking for Uncertain Times (pp. 217-244). Wiley.

Journal Article

• Financial geography III – Everyday lives of finance
  
  Lai, K. P. Y. (2026). Financial geography III – Everyday lives of finance. Progress in Human Geography. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/03091325261420187
• FinGeo in transition
  
  Wójcik, D., Bassens, D., Lai, K., Sohns, F., Grandi, S., & Tan, G. (2025). FinGeo in transition. Finance and Space, 2(1), 510-523. https://doi.org/10.1080/2833115x.2025.2589603
• Geographies of Responsibility, Care and Repair in Digital Worlds of AI: Introduction to the Themed Intervention
  
  McLean, J., Reid, L., Lai, K., Roos Breines, M., & Krishnan, S. (2025). Geographies of Responsibility, Care and Repair in Digital Worlds of AI: Introduction to the Themed Intervention. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1111/tran.70045
• Reshaping state-finance-tech nexus through central bank digital currencies: the case of the mBridge project
  
  Chu, J., Fang, C., & Lai, K. P. Y. (2025). Reshaping state-finance-tech nexus through central bank digital currencies: the case of the mBridge project. Finance and Space, 2(1), 281-304. https://doi.org/10.1080/2833115X.2025.2539714
• Decarbonising digital infrastructure and urban sustainability in the case of data centres
  
  Liu, F. H. M., Lai, K. P. Y., Seah, B., & Chow, W. T. L. (2025). Decarbonising digital infrastructure and urban sustainability in the case of data centres. Npj Urban Sustainability, 5(1), Article 15. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42949-025-00203-1
• Financial geography II – green finance and climate transition
  
  Lai, K. P. Y. (2025). Financial geography II – green finance and climate transition. Progress in Human Geography, 49(2), 215-226. https://doi.org/10.1177/03091325251315158
• Finance in the age of geoeconomics: intersections of finance, production, and digital technology
  
  Bassens, D., Knox-Hayes, J., Lai, K., Pan, F., & Wójcik, D. (2024). Finance in the age of geoeconomics: intersections of finance, production, and digital technology. Finance and Space, 1(1), 542-555. https://doi.org/10.1080/2833115x.2024.2433898
• State action and inaction in the shaping of value and wealth entanglements: The role of Singapore in the global ‘gold chain’
  
  Thomsen, L., Lai, K. P., & Ponte, S. (2024). State action and inaction in the shaping of value and wealth entanglements: The role of Singapore in the global ‘gold chain’. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 56(8), 2174-2195. https://doi.org/10.1177/0308518x231181128
• World cities under conditions of digitization and platform capitalism: Updating the advanced producer services complex
  
  Bassens, D., Hendrikse, R., Lai, K. P., & van Meeteren, M. (2024). World cities under conditions of digitization and platform capitalism: Updating the advanced producer services complex. Geoforum, 152, Article 104021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2024.104021
• Playful finance: Gamification and intermediation in FinTech economies
  
  Lai, K. P., & Langley, P. (2024). Playful finance: Gamification and intermediation in FinTech economies. Geoforum, 151, Article 103848. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2023.103848
• Revolution, evolution, progress: Finance & Space manifesto
  
  Wójcik, D., Bassens, D., Knox-Hayes, J., & Lai, K. (2024). Revolution, evolution, progress: Finance & Space manifesto. Finance and Space, 1(1), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1080/2833115x.2023.2275952
• Lost (in) space for dialogue: On the (abandoned) need for working papers in human geography
  
  Dörry, S., Wójcik, D., Lai, K., & Aalbers, M. (2023). Lost (in) space for dialogue: On the (abandoned) need for working papers in human geography. Environment and Planning F, 2(3), 438-456. https://doi.org/10.1177/26349825231164618
• Financial geography I: The state-finance nexus
  
  Lai, K. P. (2023). Financial geography I: The state-finance nexus. Progress in Human Geography, 47(4), 591-603. https://doi.org/10.1177/03091325231170756
• Care for Transactions
  
  Bailey, A. J., Breines, M., Emmerson, P., Esson, J., Halvorsen, S., Hope, J. C., Joronen, M., Koh, S. Y., Krishnan, S., Lai, K., McFarlane, C., McLean, J., Reid, L., & Sparke, M. (2023). Care for Transactions. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 48(1), 2-8. https://doi.org/10.1111/tran.12592
• The brokerage role of Hong Kong in global financial networks: the case of mainland Chinese companies’ US Listings
  
  Fang, C., Pan, F., & Lai, K. P. (2023). The brokerage role of Hong Kong in global financial networks: the case of mainland Chinese companies’ US Listings. Regional Studies, 57(2), 317-329. https://doi.org/10.1080/00343404.2022.2099822
• Ecologies of green finance: Green sukuk and development of green Islamic finance in Malaysia
  
  Liu, F. H., & Lai, K. P. (2021). Ecologies of green finance: Green sukuk and development of green Islamic finance in Malaysia. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 53(8), 1896-1914. https://doi.org/10.1177/0308518x211038349
• Brexit and shifting geographies of financial centres in Asia
  
  Lai, K. P., & Pan, F. (2021). Brexit and shifting geographies of financial centres in Asia. Geoforum, 125, 201-202. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2018.02.004
• Towards an economic geography of FinTech
  
  Lai, K. P., & Samers, M. (2021). Towards an economic geography of FinTech. Progress in Human Geography, 45(4), 720-739. https://doi.org/10.1177/0309132520938461
• Book symposium: Pike et al.’s Financialising City Statecraft and Infrastructure
  
  Lai, K. P. Y., & et al. (2020). Book symposium: Pike et al.’s Financialising City Statecraft and Infrastructure. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 52(4), 790-813. https://doi.org/10.1177/0308518x19889058
• New Financial Geographies of Asia
  
  Lai, K. P., Pan, F., Sokol, M., & Wójcik D. (2020). New Financial Geographies of Asia. Regional Studies, 54(2), 143-148. https://doi.org/10.1080/00343404.2019.1689549
• How 'global' are investment banks? An analysis of investment banking networks in Asian equity capital markets
  
  Gemici, K., & Lai, K. P. (2020). How ’global’ are investment banks? An analysis of investment banking networks in Asian equity capital markets. Regional Studies, 54(2), 149-161. https://doi.org/10.1080/00343404.2019.1584393
• Financing the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI): research agendas beyond the “debt-trap” discourse
  
  Lai, K. P., Lin, S., & Sidaway, J. D. (2020). Financing the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI): research agendas beyond the “debt-trap” discourse. Eurasian Geography and Economics, 61(2), 109-124. https://doi.org/10.1080/15387216.2020.1726787
• Agency, power, and state-firm relations in global financial networks
  
  Lai, K. P. (2018). Agency, power, and state-firm relations in global financial networks. Dialogues in Human Geography, 8(3), 285-288. https://doi.org/10.1177/2043820618797463
• Unpacking financial subjectivities: Intimacies, governance and socioeconomic practices in financialisation
  
  Lai, K. P. (2017). Unpacking financial subjectivities: Intimacies, governance and socioeconomic practices in financialisation. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 35(5), 913-932. https://doi.org/10.1177/0263775817696500
• Review of world city network
  
  Lai, K. (2017). Review of world city network. Urban Geography, 38(1), 153-154. https://doi.org/10.1080/02723638.2016.1208434
• Conceptualizing Islamic banking and finance: a comparison of its development and governance in Malaysia and Singapore
  
  Lai, K. P., & Samers, M. (2016). Conceptualizing Islamic banking and finance: a comparison of its development and governance in Malaysia and Singapore. Pacific Review, 30(3), 405-424. https://doi.org/10.1080/09512748.2016.1264455
• Financial advisors, financial ecologies and the variegated financialisation of everyday investors
  
  Lai, K. P. (2016). Financial advisors, financial ecologies and the variegated financialisation of everyday investors. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 41(1), 27-40. https://doi.org/10.1111/tran.12101
• "Neighbours First, Bankers Second" : Mobilising financial citizenship in Singapore
  
  Lai, K. P., & Tan, C. H. (2015). "Neighbours First, Bankers Second" : Mobilising financial citizenship in Singapore. Geoforum, 64, 65-77. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2015.05.023
• Editorial Introduction to the Special Section: Deconstructing Offshore Finance
  
  Clark, G. L., Lai, K. P., & Wójcik, D. (2015). Editorial Introduction to the Special Section: Deconstructing Offshore Finance. Economic Geography, 91(3), 237-249. https://doi.org/10.1111/ecge.12098
• Banking Across Boundaries: Placing Finance in Capitalism by Brett Christophers. Chichester, Wiley-Blackwell, 2013, pp. xi + 290 (ISBN: 978-1-4443-3828-7).
  
  Lai, K. P. (2015). Banking Across Boundaries: Placing Finance in Capitalism by Brett Christophers. Chichester, Wiley-Blackwell, 2013, pp. xi + 290 (ISBN: 978-1-4443-3828-7). Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography, 36(1), 127-128. https://doi.org/10.1111/sjtg.12081
• Integrating Finance into Global Production Networks
  
  Coe, N. M., Lai, K. P., & Wójcik, D. (2014). Integrating Finance into Global Production Networks. Regional Studies, 48(5), 761-777. https://doi.org/10.1080/00343404.2014.886772
• The Lehman Minibonds crisis and financialisation of investor subjects in Singapore
  
  Lai, K. P. (2013). The Lehman Minibonds crisis and financialisation of investor subjects in Singapore. Area, 45(3), 273-282. https://doi.org/10.1111/area.12040

Report

• White Paper: Green FinTech and Data Centres in Singapore
  
  Chow, W., Lai, K., Liu, F., & Seah, B. (2024). White Paper: Green FinTech and Data Centres in Singapore. Singapore Green Finance Centre.
• Interim report: Green fintech and data centres in Singapore
  
  Lai, K., Chow, W., & Liu, F. (2023). Interim report: Green fintech and data centres in Singapore. Singapore Green Finance Centre.

Working Paper

• Finfluencers, Gamification and Youthful Finance
  
  Lai, K. P. Y. (2025). Finfluencers, Gamification and Youthful Finance. FinGeo.