Dr Alexandra Gomes

Alexandra Gomes is a Research Fellow at LSE Cities, where she leads spatial analysis across a wide range of projects, applying both technical and critical approaches to understanding urban complexity. Alexandra is an urban researcher and socio-spatial data analyst whose interdisciplinary training in engineering, sociology, and planning informs her approach to studying cities at different scales.

Her work bridges research, policy, and practice, combining comparative urban analysis with a focus on socio-spatial inequalities. She is currently engaged with the City Government Innovation Observatory, part of the LSE Bloomberg European City Leadership Initiative. Alexandra’s research spans urban health, sustainable development, urban mobility, and public space, and she has led or contributed to international projects across Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Gulf. Her expertise in Gulf urbanism is reflected in long-term research in Kuwait, Abu Dhabi, and Oman. She also designs and delivers lectures and workshops in the UK and internationally, drawing on both her research and advisory experience.

Alexandra’s research is shared through diverse formats—from academic publications, policy reports, and blogs to comparative mapping, art-in-policy exhibitions, serious games, and digital outputs. Significant examples include the Urban Age newspapers data sections, the Abu Dhabi (dis)Connected  exhibitions, and the card game Kuwaitscapes, reflecting her commitment human-centred, accessible, and visually engaging research that promotes knowledge exchange and real-world impact.

Her PhD at the Bartlett School of Planning developed a multi-sensory framework for analysing public space, contributing to emerging conversations in sensory and emotional urbanism and advancing methods for understanding how touch, sound, and smell shape urban experience.

She is an Associate of the LSE Middle East Centre, an Affiliate of the LSE Data Science Institute (DSI), and a visiting lecturer at LSE and the Bartlett School of Planning, where she was recognised in 2021 with the UCL Provost Education Award for her contributions to teaching.

Prior to joining LSE Cities, Alexandra held research roles at UCL’s Bartlett School of Planning and Geography and contributed to research and consultancy projects at Instituto Superior Técnico in Portugal.

Expertise

Cities, Urban Planning, Urban Inequality, Urbanisation, Spatial Inequality, Spatial Analysis, Health Inequality, Sustainable Development, Transport, Public Space, Policy Design and Evaluation, Environmental Policy, UK, Europe, Kuwait, Urban Policy, Urban Health, Sustainable Mobility, Sensory Urbanism, Gulf Urbanism