Avtar Bhalla has joined as a Program Associate - Transport with the Sustainable Cities and Transport program at WRI India. He works on the Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety work in Delhi and other cities.

Prior to joining WRI, Avtar worked with AECOM India. He worked as GIS lead and Urban Designer-II in various master planning projects. During his tenure in the organization (AECOM), he was involved in projects such as master planning of New Adjoining city Gurugram [500 sq.km.], Smart City projects Panaji and various competition entries for Redevelopment of Srirama Chandra Bhanja Medical College and Hospital, Cuttack, and University of Mumbai, Kalina campus. Avtar’s key interests are research and implementation of equitable and effective urban design solutions using varied analytical tools to curb urban issues and bring about positive and human centric transformation.

Avtar holds a master’s in Urban Design from Sushant School of Art and Architecture, Gurugram and was conferred with a Gold Medal for his academic excellence there. His master’s thesis was on Re-Thinking Urban Design Guidelines in Chandigarh. He holds a bachelor’s in Architecture from Punjab Technical University.

In his free time, Avtar likes to sketch and travel.