Tune in to our very first ISOCARP Spotlight episode in which we discussed smart cities, the multi-dimensionality of sustainability (environmental, social and economic), the post-pandemic SDGs and much more, with our guests Tathagata Chatterji (Professor of Urban Management and Governance, Xavier University Bhubaneswar) and Rajendra Kumar (Director of the School of Architecture, Noida International University).

Tathagata Chatterji is a Professor of Urban Management and Governance at Xavier University Bhubaneswar, India, where he currently focuses on issues of urban policy and governance theory. He has a PhD in Urban Planning and Governance, from the University of Queensland Australia and his research interests are urban economic development and political economy of urbanisation. He had published two books – ‘Local Mediation of Global Forces in Transformation of the Urban Fringe’ and ‘Citadels of Glass – India’s New Suburban Landscape’. Prior to his involvement in academia, Professor Chatterji worked as a practitioner for over 20 years. In 2016 he received the ISOCARP Gerd Albers Award, for his research on comparative modes of urban governance. Tathagata has been an ISOCARP member since 2012 and was also a key member of our World Planning Congress Team in Jakarta in 2019 and as a co-rapporteur in Durban in 2016.

Rajendra Kumar is the Director of the School of Architecture, Noida International University, Greater Noida. He was trained at Chandigarh College of Architecture, India and Politecnico Di Milano, Italy and has worked as an urban practitioner in Europe, the Middle East, China and India for over 2 decades. In 2009 he was awarded the “Indian Young Achievers Award” and more recently, in 2020, he was identified as a “Global Educational Influencer” by “The Knowledge Review” magazine. His interests and expertise evolve around environmentally sensitive architecture and ecological projects. Rajendra has been an ISOCARP member since 2017 and will be on the World Planning Congress Team for the second time in a row in Doha, Qatar this year.