Urban Planning has seen immense demand and growth in the past decade in India. It is one of the most sought-after professions due to the power it holds to simply change the quality of life of people through very thoughtful interventions. Several new planning strategies such as TOD, Smart City Development, Green cities have been introduced to our cities recently, hence creating a need for planners with a holistic and globalized approach, in order to create solutions to our problems through planning solutions at an internationally standardized level. As of today, India only has around 6,000 Urban Planners due to the field still being very niche, especially in smaller cities.
Listed below are 8 India Urban Planners who are working around the world:
1. Rahul Mehrotra | Urban Planners
Rahul Mehrotra holds practices both in Mumbai and Boston. He is a Harvard graduate and works extensively on recycling Urban land and other planning projects. His planning borrows from his understanding of Urbanism and its development in various parts of the world. He has given lectures on Kinetic Cities and Landscapes of Democracy.
2. Jasbir Sawhney
Jasbir Sawhney has been practicing since 1964 and has trained in both India and the USA. His firm is involved in Urban Design, Planning, and Architecture. He has projects such as pan India and also in Maldives, UAE, and Russia. He specializes in developing transport-related solutions in form of multimodal hubs.
3. Manit and Sonali Rastogi
These urban planners are the minds behind Morphogenesis, planning, and design firm that has master planning projects in countries like Dubai. The firm explores Landscape Urbanism and tries to find effective new-age solutions to various contextual problems that differ from site to site. They have written papers on Sustainable smart cities and contextual planning. The Desert Habitat, Dubai is one of their top master planning projects.
4. Dikshu C. Kukreja
Dikshu C. Kukreja is a Harvard graduate who has worked in India, France, and the USA. The firm he leads manages master planning projects and other projects that are spread throughout the globe. He believes in integrating various simple planning strategies to find solutions to complex planning problems.
5. Bimal Patel
Bimal Patel believes in crossing regional boundaries so as to develop holistic planning strategies. He is a graduate in planning from Berkley. He is also passionate about implementing sustainable solutions for his planning. His work has been recognized internationally along with his extensive research on Urban fabric.
6. Dr. NB Johri | Urban Planners
Dr.NB Johri is a senior Urban and Regional Planner who has a doctorate in Geographical planning. The firm led by him has successfully completed planning projects in India and other countries. One of his most recent international works is the master plan for Dubai Outlet City. He is also a senior consultant for city development, transport planning, and infrastructure planning projects.
7. Arunjot Singh Bhalla
Arunjot Singh Bhalla has more than 26 years of experience in design and planning and is an MIT graduate with a focus on Urbanism. His firm has several projects pan India and his work is spread over the globe as well and is now a global planning and design consultancy with 12 offices in Asia.
8. Mathews George | Urban Planners
Mathews George is the founder of Arkind Solutions, a firm that works across the globe and has expertise in planning and infrastructure development. Ain Al Fayda Master Plans are one of their recent works and his work continues to expand in the Middle East. Several projects dealing with complex Urban fabric in Dubai, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi fall under their portfolio.
