Sharifa Alshalfan was Visiting Fellow at the ½ûÂþÌìÌà Middle East Centre. She is an architect and a researcher. She holds a Bachelor's of Architecture from the University of Southern California and an MSc in City Design and Social Science from ½ûÂþÌìÌÃ. Her research interests include land use policies and urban governance, with a focus on housing in the GCC states, mainly Kuwait. She has worked as an architect at Zaha Hadid Architects in London and at AGi Architects in Kuwait. She also consults with AGi Architects on urban issues and has taught at the School of Architecture in Kuwait University.