Urban planning is the planning of cities and city regions. And Smita Singh, an urban planner in the city, determines how to make the best use of available space and resources. The lady who has her head on her shoulders, brought home laurels after acing an international ideas competition organised by Urban Design Research Institute in Mumbai. This award seeked and acclaimed the brightest young urban planners involved in the profession. We find out what gives her the kicks in her professional as well as personal life.
After graduation in Urban Planning and masters in Urban Design from School of Planning and Architecture in New Delhi, Smita moved to Bengaluru and worked in the real estate industry. She soon found her calling and quit the real estate industry as an urban planner for Atto Atelier. “As an urban planner, my focus is on advocating sustainable use of our fast depleting resources. This is the central aspect of all concept plans and master plans that I work on. I am currently working on a web-based platform that would allow people to share resources. The sharing economy has arrived and the future will be about sharing and not owning,” says Smita of what her work in the city entails.
Excited about winning the competition where 44 teams participated from across the country, Smita says, “Reinventing Dharavi was an international ideas competition organised by Urban Design Research Institute, Mumbai. The focus was to come up with an alternative strategy for slum improvement. Today no one can ignore the importance of a strong community both in the real and virtual world. Slums are very strong communities and the economic output generated by such communities which are usually starved of all resources is a testimony to Indian entrepreneurship. Our team acknowledged the spirit of Dharavi and that’s why we won the competition. Our idea was to incorporate a local area based Trust (Dharavi Improvement Trust) constituted from the residents and business owners of Dharavi. This Trust could raise its own capital for its own improvements.”
She confesses on working on very big urban planning projects in the city and at a national level, and admits, “Since these projects have confidentiality clause, most of them cannot be put across in a public forum. But what I can share is that I’ve been a consultant for the Delhi Airport’s land side development and worked on the master plan for a new city in Kerala. The scale of these projects was very exciting. Most of the projects that I’ve been part of are what keeps me motivated.” And how does she keep her calm, serene and balanced outlook with a hectic lifestyle, we wonder and she states, “My passion is yoga and I aspire to be a yogi in everything I do. I’ve also undergone an intensive yoga training certification and would like to spread the message of yoga and love for a balanced lifestyle.”
