Member Profiles

Dr. Maria Jesus Alfaro-Simmonds is an architect and urban social researcher. Her interests lay at the interplay between wellbeing, everyday urban experiences, urban childhoods and socio-cultural inequalities. She holds a master’s degree in construction and real estate management and was awarded the PhD in Human Geography by the University of Birmingham.
Her research explores young people’s and families’ everyday experiences, needs and use of urban spaces, including issues around sociability, accessibility, belonging, safety and quality of the built environment through the lens of happiness and wellbeing. Her background encompasses over 10 years of professional practice within the architecture and building industry in Peru and over 5 years of practical and market research in both Latin America and the UK working with young people and families in urban contexts. More recently she has co-edited “A modern guide to wellbeing research” released by Edward Elgar publishers.