Carnegie Mellon University

Reader in Human Geography, School of Environment and Development, University of Manchester

Bio

Maria Kaika holds a D.Phil. in Geography from the University of Oxford, and an MA in Archi­tecture from the National Technical University of Athens as well as professional qualifications as an architect. Prior to arriving at the University of Manchester, she held several posts at Oxford, including Oxford University Lecturer, School of Geography and Fellow, St. Edmund Hall; Director of Studies in Human Geography at St. Hugh’s College.

Dr. Kaika has led international collaborative research projects funded by the European Commis­sion, the ESRC-NERC, and the British Academy, and was invited to be Professor at EUREX, the European Seminars on Urban Transformation, Poverty, Spatial Segregation and Social Exclusion. She has advised the British Educational Excellence Board and, in 2006, was appointed Trustee of the Foundation for Urban and Regional Studies. Between 2003 and 2006, she acted as elected Treasurer of the Urban Geography Research Group of the Royal Geographical Society (Institute of British Geographers), as well as advisor to the European Environmental Bureau and Thames Water.

In addition to delivering public lectures, plenaries and keynotes for national and international audiences, Dr. Kaika sits on the editorial and advisory boards of several planning journals. Her current research project is “Iconic Building: Re-imagi(ni)ng London and re-branding ‘The City’”, which aims to document empirically and articulate theoretically the role of transnational elites as patrons of iconic architecture.