EDUCATION
2021 – 2025
Ph.D – The Translocal Individual: Migration, Translocality and Translocal Space from Lusaka, Zambia. Examiners: Prof. Dr. Astrid Ley, Prof. Dr. Peter Herrle. Completed with distinction.
2016 – 2018
M.Sc. in Integrated Urbanism and Sustainable Design – University of Stuttgart. Dissertation Title: Livelihood strategies and appropriation of space by Bangladeshi low-skilled migrants in Oman. Supervisors: Prof. Dr. Astrid Ley, Prof. Dr. Ashiq Ur Rahman. Preis der Freunde der Universität Stuttgart 2018.
2014
BSc. In Urban Planning and Architectural Design (UPAD), German University in Oman (Gutech), Sultanate of Oman. Dissertation Title: Urban Renewal of Heritage spaces in Al-Buraimi (Oman). Advisor: Nikolaus Knebel.
WORK and RESEARCH
2024 – Present
Research Project WISER –Well-being in a Sustainable Economy Revisited. Funded by the EU under the Horizon 2022 framework 2023 – 2026.
2018 – Present
University of Stuttgart Lecturer and Researcher and Academic coordinator M.Sc. IUSD, University of Stuttgart, department of International Urbanism and Design
2017 – 2019
University of Stuttgart Research Assistant – EZBET Project (DAAD funded research project, 2014-2018)
2017 – Present
MCTspaceLab Co-Founder MCTspaceLab, Research coordinator, Facillitation, Community engagement. Notable research: Research within framewrok of GLTN (Global Land Tool Network) Arab Land Initiative, UN-Habitat; Funding by Research Innovation Fund of the Arab Land Initiative).
2021 – 2023
German University of Technology in Oman (GUtech) Part time – Fly in lecturer for Urban Renewal course
2014 – 2016
German University of Technology in Oman (GUtech) Research Assistant: ECO Haus Project Passive house design development, construction and evaluation in Oman. And research and lecture preparations. Teaching Assistant: Seminar and Architecture studios
2012 – 2014 – Shamel Design and Construction – Architecture office (Part time) Muscat, Oman Draftsman, site coordination assistance and material coordination.
CV Summary
Dr. Shaharin Elham Annisa is a senior researcher and lecturer at the Department of International Urbanism at the University of Stuttgart, as well as being the coordinator of the Integrated Urbanism and Sustainable Design (IUSD) master’s program. Born in Bangladesh and raised in Oman, she studied Urban Planning and Architectural Design at GUtech in Oman. She completed her Master’s degree within the IUSD program at the University of Stuttgart in 2018, focusing on the spatial effects of migration and the livelihoods of Bangladeshi low-skilled migrants in Oman. In 2024, she completed her PhD at the University of Stuttgart, researching on translocality, translocal spaces and migration in Sub-Saharan Africa, taking informal settlements in Lusaka, Zambia, as a case study. Dr. Annisa is a co-founder of MCTspaceLab, a platform that enhances public spaces and second chair at EZBET e.V. in Germany. Her research focuses on migration, translocality, participatory planning, and socio-cultural placemaking.
PUBLICATIONS AND EXPERTISE (SELECTION)
Annisa, S., 2025. The translocal individual: migration, translocality and translocal spaces from Lusaka, Zambia. PhD dissertation. University of Stuttgart. Available at: OPUS (University of Stuttgart Library).
Annisa, S. & Keunen, E., 2025. Migration and translocality. In: A. Ley & J. Fokdal, eds. Urban Contact Zones: Reflecting on International Urbanism. Vol. 28. Bielefeld: transcript Verlag, pp. 66-71.
Busch, S. & Annisa, S., 2025. Quality of life and social infrastructure. In: A. Ley & J. Fokdal, eds. Urban Contact Zones: Reflecting on International Urbanism. Vol. 28. Bielefeld: transcript Verlag, pp. 156–161.
Annisa, S. (with S. Busch & J. Fokdal) (2023): ‘Exploring local perspectives on areas in transition, socio-spatial analysis with narrative story maps’.
In: Carlos Gotlieb & ENSAP Bordeaux & ADERA (eds), 15th Conference of the International Forum on Urbanism (IFoU) at the Bordeaux National School of Architecture and Landscape 2022: Internationalizing Education for the Ecological Transition Challenge: New Stakes for Sharing Knowledge and Acting in a Changing World. Conference Proceedings. Topic 1: “New interdisciplinary and intercultural approaches for facing global changes and their local impact”, Section D: “New visions on architecture and the city faced with the challenges of sustainability”, pp. 283–294.
Annisa, S. (with R. Elzain) (2021, Forthcoming): Self-organized communities, urban governance and the city. Lessons learned from Muscat/Oman. Urban Training Institute (UTI), GLTN’s Arab Land Initiative, UN Habitat.
Annisa, S. (2020): ‘Understanding the housing needs of low-skilled Bangladeshi migrants in Oman: Study Cases: A labour camp and a migrant neighbourhood’. In: A. Ley, A. U. Rahman and J. Fokdal (eds), Housing and Human Settlements in a World of Change. Transcript, Bielefeld, Germany, pp. 119-128.
El-Shahat, M. & Annisa, S. (2019): Transdisciplinarity in Participation Under A New Paradigm, Whose knowledge counts? The meaning of co-productive processes for urban development and urban research, Urban Studies (under publication)
Annisa, S. (2019): ‘Adaptive behaviour of Bangladeshi low-skilled immigrants in Muscat’. In: 12th conference of IFOU: Beyond Resilience. Jakarta, Indonesia 24-26 June 2010, Jakarta: IFOU, pp. 592-602.
Annisa, S. (2018): Livelihood strategies of Bangladeshi low-skilled migrants living in Oman and their appropriation of space. Master Thesis, University of Stuttgart, Germany.
Annisa, S. (with M. El-Shahat) (2018): EZBET five years of experience. Stuttgart, University of Stuttgart. ISBN: 9783930548422.
