

short bio
Suzanne Harris-Brandts is a PhD candidate in Urban Studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Her research looks at post-socialist urban development and its surrounding politics, including relative to national identity, displacement, mega-projects, and environmental resilience. Her dissertation, “Constructing the Capital City: The Politics of Urban Development and Image Making in Eurasia’s Hybrid Regimes” examines state building in the Balkans and South Caucasus, focusing on Skopje, North Macedonia and Tbilisi, Georgia. Suzanne’s work has been published in Central Asian Affairs, Eurasian Geography and Economics,Nationalities Papers, and Caucasus Survey. Prior to commencing her PhD, Suzanne was an Adjunct Professor of Architecture at the University of Waterloo (Canada). Suzanne is also a licensed architect in Canada.

affiliation and current position
PhD Candidate
Department of Urban Studies + Planning
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

keywords
Urbanization, urban development; urban planning; architecture; capital cities

works/publications on Central Asia
Harris-Brandts, S. (2019). Revisiting State Spectacle Through the New Capitals of Asia [Author-Critic Forum for: The Geopolitics of Spectacle: Space, Synecdoche, and the New Capitals of Asia by N. Koch]. Central Asian Affairs. Vol. 6, No. 6.4.
Harris-Brandts, S., & Gogishvili, D. (2018). Architectural rumors: unrealized megaprojects in Baku, Azerbaijan and their politico-economic uses. Eurasian Geography and Economics, 59 (1), Taylor & Francis, 73-97.
Harris-Brandts, S. (2018). The Role of Architecture in the Republic of Georgia’s European Aspirations. Nationalities Papers. 46 (6), Taylor & Francis, 1118-1135.
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