Niki Xenia Alygizou

Matriculated Jan 2023

Research Interests

East Mediterranean, coastal communities, Aegean islands, urban development, urban planning, environmental change, sea-level rise, human resiliency, coastal culture

About

Niki Xenia is a graduate student in the MAPA program, focusing her research on the effects of urban development on coastal communities in the East Mediterranean, with a focus on Cyprus. Xenia’s goal is to understand how planning practices impact culture and transform ways of life, especially when compounded by environmental changes. By examining the role of politics, planning, and language in shaping residents’ experiences with coastal development, Xenia hopes to gain insights into how planning practices have affected coastal development and communities’ ability to navigate challenges such as economic and touristic growth, rising water levels, and shifting cultural values.

Xenia brings six years of professional experience in urban planning from California, where she worked closely with communities to promote equitable housing and economic development. She earned her undergraduate degree in architecture (M.Arch, NTUA, Athens, 2015) and a postgraduate degree in urban design (MUD, UC Berkeley, 2017) in 2017 before joining the Department of Anthropology in January 2023 as a graduate student in the sociocultural track.

Professional & Social Media Websites

Personal Website: https://nikixeniaalygizou.com/NikiXeniaAlygizou/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/xenia-alygizou-771a98a3/

Awards & Grants

• Leventis Foundation Scholarship, 2023
• Sylvia Ioannou Foundation Scholarship, 2023
• Foundation for Education and European Culture, 2023
• Sylvia Ioannou Foundation Scholarship, 2022
• Professional Degree Supplemental Tuition Departmental Award, University of California at UC Berkeley, College of Environmental Design, 2016-2017,
• MUD Fellowship, University of California at UC Berkeley, College of Environmental Design, 2016-2017
• MUD Thesis Research Grant, University of California at UC Berkeley, College of Environmental Design, 2016-2017
• Summer Fee Fellowship, University of California at UC Berkeley, College of Environmental Design, 2016-2017
• Circus Student Winner, University of California at UC Berkeley, College of Environmental Design, 2016-2017
• Gerondelis Foundation Grant, 2017
• Erasmus Scholarship, 2014

Publications

1. The auto-poesies of urban emergence | Published in International Journal of Urban Form DOI 10.36158/97888929535671. Conference proceedings, International Seminar on Urban Form (ISUF), Nicosia, Cyprus.
2. Sea-level rise mitigation strategies for the cities of Alviso and Martinez under the Resilient-by-Design Bay Area Challenge | Book contribution in Adaptations of the Metropolitan Landscape in Delta Regions, Taylor & Francis, 2018
3. Sea-level rise research on twenty cities around the Bay Area for the Resilient-by-Design Bay Area Challenge | Book contribution in Adaptations of the Metropolitan Landscape in Delta Regions, Taylor & Francis, 2018