Aleksandra Krstikj is an Associate Research Professor at Tecnológico de Monterrey’s School of Architecture, Art, and Design, where she leads the national research group Sustainable Territorial Development. Her research examines how structural conditions shape socio-environmental inequalities and urban health challenges in cities of the Global South, with a particular focus on accessibility to services and active mobility for women and children. She employs mixed methods, integrating policy analysis, qualitative research, GIS-based spatial analysis, and transdisciplinary modeling to investigate how physical environments and social inequalities intersect across urban neighborhoods.
She is the recipient of the 2026 Regional Studies Association (RSA) Start-Up Grant for the project “A Policy Scan for Child-Friendly Cities: Legislative Frameworks Supporting Active Travel in Children (Mexico Pilot).” The project systematically examines policy and legislative frameworks affecting walking among children aged 12 and younger at the national, state (Mexico City), and municipal levels in Mexico. Building on her previous empirical research, it shifts the focus from understanding what children do to investigating how policy environments support or constrain their active travel. By establishing a baseline of the legislative landscape, the project will inform the development of robust indicators for evaluating policy effectiveness and contribute to the work of the Global Observatory of Healthy and Sustainable Cities.