ABOUT

I am an urbanist, researcher, educator and experimental photographer based in the UK, currently lecturing in Architecture in the Leeds School of Arts at Leeds Beckett University. I am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a member of the Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain. I've studied architecture, planning and design in Iran and the UK (BA in Architecture, MA in Spatial Planning and Urban Design, and PhD in Built Environment) and have previously worked in architecture and design practices in the Middle East.

Prior to joining the Leeds School of Arts in December 2023, I taught at Coventry University, University of West London, and briefly at University of Westminster. I am a member of ArtSpaceCity Research Group in the Centre for Postdigital Cultures at Coventry University, and a member of the jury at Tamayouz Excellence Award - an international award for architecture. I also act as peer reviewer for the Journal of Planning Education and Research (Sage); the Journal of Architectural Education (Taylor & Francis); and Review of Regional Research (Springer).

My research interests revolve around critical urban studies, sociopolitics of placemaking, architecture and cities, architectural history and theory, and urban sociology. Through my investigations, I seek to understand the intricate relationships between social, cultural, political, and economic forces that shape contemporary cities, particularly in the Global South. By employing critical frameworks, I tend to explore how these forces interact with and influence urban development, governance, and the lived experiences of individuals and communities within urban environments. I am particularly interested in critically examining cities governed by the ideological and authoritarian powers from a socio-political and historical perspective.

I have contributed to the British, Iranian and American journals, papers and magazines as writer, editor, expert commentator, translator and photographer. I have written essays and articles and presented research internationally in conferences and seminars in Iran, across Europe and the United States. My expert opinions have been featured in the international papers and magazines including The Guardian and The Architectural Review. I am currently co-editing a book for Routledge, entitled City, Public Space and Body: The Embodied Experience of Urban Life.

Email: ahmadreza.hakimi@gmail.com