Sustainable Urban Futures – March 2012

Dr. Jyoti Hosagrahar is a professor at Columbia University, New York and Director of Sustainable Urbanism International at Columbia University, and Bangalore, India. Architect, planner, and historian, she is engaged with planning, design, and policies on urban development, urban conservation, and sustainability issues. Her research interests include urban heritage, cultural and environmental sustainability of cities focusing on the intersections of nature, culture, and the built environment. She serves as an expert for UNESCO on historic cities and urban sustainability. She has been on the working group for the UNESCO Recommendation on Historic Urban Landscaps and also with the UNESCO Expert Group for Urban Futures. Hosagrahar is the author of Indigenous Modernities: Negotiating Architecture and Urbanism (Architext Series, Routledge, 2005) awarded a 2006 book prize by the International Planning History Society. In partnership with The Energy Resource Institute, India, Hosagrahar developed a framework for moving towards urban sustainability, “An Exploration of Sustainability in the Provision of Basic Urban Services in Indian Cities” (TERI, 2009). She led SUI in the preparation of an integrated site management plan for the conservation and sustainable development of the heritage of the Hoysala towns in Karnataka that includes a 5-volume report. She has been the recipient of grants from the Graham Foundation, National Endowment for the Humanities, and the American Institute of Indian Studies. She serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Cultural Heritage Management and Sustainable Development, Journal of Planning History and Buildings and Landscapes as well as on the board for the Society for American City and Regional Planning History. For more information, please see, www.sustainurban.org.

Sathya studied architecture at Bangalore, urban design at Delhi and heritage conservation at England. Accordingly, buildings, cities and history continue to be his main areas of activities. A former Head of Dept. of Architecture, he is involved in academics, outreach activities, freelance writing, professional associations and NGO initiatives. Right from early on, he was attracted to design ideas rooted in cost, culture, climate and creativity, thanks to the influence of architects like Lauri Baker, Shankar Kanade, Jaisim, A.G.K. Menon & K.T. Ravindran. As such, his own consultancy firm, Sathya Consultants located at Bangalore, has been professing and practicing eco-friendly cost effective architecture for the last 15 years. He is the present convener of INTACH, Bangalore chapter.