Dr. Khaled Alawadi is trained as an architect and urban designer. He obtained his Master’s in Urban Design and Doctorate in Community and Regional Planning at the University of Texas at Austin. Prior to joining Khalifa University, Dr. Alawadi worked as an architect in Dubai Municipality and as an assistant professor in the UAE University. His work focuses on rethinking the city through sustainability paradigm.
Dr. Alawadi's research and teaching are focused on the role of urban design and planning in promoting sustainable development and the big question is: “Which urban forms, technological solutions, and policy initiatives will effectively deliver greater environmental, social, and economic coherence in our regions, cities, and neighborhoods?”
Dr. Alawadi is currently coordinating a program proposal for a Master of Science in Sustainable Critical Infrastructure Planning. This new program aims at responding to the rapid growth and consolidation of megascale urbanism which have necessitated the presence of new paradigms in urban design, planning, and transportation systems.
Dr. Alawadi served as Visiting Assistant Professor at MIT’s Center for Advanced Urbanism in 2016, and previously worked as an Assistant Professor at UAE University. He has curated the National Pavilion UAE which presented Lifescapes Beyond Bigness, an exhibition exploring human-scale architectural landscapes, at the 2018 La Biennale di Venezia, or Venice Biennale. He is also one of the principle founding members of the Emirates Urban Planning Association (EPA), which was found in 2020.
