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The TREADS Initiative with the support of National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) invites you to the eighth talk in its Water-centric Master Planning in India series on:
Spatial Planning in Transition: Tackling Institutional Fragmentation and Climate Risks in India
Thursday, 19th June 2025, 3:00 PM IST
Speaker:
Ms. Anuradha Parmar, Executive Director, Urban Design Research Institute (UDRI)
This event will be held in a hybrid mode at the CPR Conference Room and online over Zoom. Please register below to attend.
About the talk:
This talk explores the evolving landscape of urban planning in India, where state-level Town Planning Acts intersect with centrally sponsored schemes to shape cities across scales spanning from regional to local. Drawing on two years of research by the Urban Design Research Institute (UDRI), it examines how cities are navigating diverse challenges and pathways in their planning journeys, influenced by a combination of statutory frameworks, national missions, and local contexts. The session introduces the Spatial Planning Index, developed as a benchmarking tool comparing cities against a comprehensive set of indicators that reflect decentralised spatial planning practices. The Index comprises actionable indicators that serve as a practical checklist, helping to recognise essential reforms and the capacity-building requirements necessary for each city to achieve a comprehensive spatial planning process.
Using the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) as a case study, the talk will highlight key challenges in formal planning processes, including coordination failures, institutional fragmentation, and the neglect of ecological and hydrological systems. These issues underscore the urgent need for incorporating multi-scalar, climate-resilient approaches within spatial planning that are grounded in robust data systems, institutional capacity-building, and meaningful citizen engagement.
The talk will conclude with some examples of cities that have begun incorporating hydrological layers into development plans, illustrating a more climate-resilient path forward.
About the speaker:
Anuradha is an urban planner and architect with over two decades of experience working across the US, UK, and India. She is the Executive Director of Urban Design Research Institute (UDRI).
Her expertise lies at the intersection of urban regeneration, conservation, and regional and environmental planning, where she brings a systems-thinking approach to complex urban challenges.
Anuradha has worked at the intersection of policy and practice, engaging deeply with local governments, multilateral institutions, and private sector partners. She was part of the strategic planning and implementation efforts within the London 2012 Olympics Growth Boroughs, aligning regeneration objectives with long-term socio-economic outcomes.
Her work integrates rigorous urban policy research with grounded implementation with a strong emphasis on multi-stakeholder engagement, institutional capacity building, and environmentally resilient planning.
Anuradha holds a Masters in Community and Regional Planning from the University of Texas at Austin and a Bachelor of Architecture from the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi.
