Kaija-Luisa Kurik is an urbanist, project manager, and researcher. She is currently a Guest Lecturer in the Urban Studies programme, where she contributes to teaching across urban studies and planning. Additionally, she is a tutor in the Architecture and Urbanism programme at the Manchester School of Architecture where she supports urban and architecture theory modules. Alongside her academic roles, she has worked on several heritage and regeneration projects, with a particular focus on the revitalisation of town centres.
Her research focuses on post-socialist and post-industrial landscapes, heritage-led regeneration, and urban temporalities. She completed her PhD at the Manchester School of Architecture in 2022 under the supervision of Eamonn Canniffe and Dr Richard Brook. Her doctoral dissertation, The Value of Uncertainty: Temporality, Indeterminacy, and the Post-Socialist Condition in Tallinn, Estonia, examined the impacts of the transition from a socialist to a market economy through the long-term mapping of key coastal sites in Tallinn.