Jaya Dhindaw

Program Director - Integrated Urban Development, Planning and Resilience

Bio

Jaya Dhindaw is the Program Director - Integrated Urban Development, Planning and Resilience at WRI India. She is based in Bangalore and provides strategic leadership to all Urban Planning initiatives across WRI India, managing relationship with key partners, stakeholders and the global WRI network. Jaya leads the practice’s work on advancing goals for sustainable development in Indian cities to enable and influence knowledge building and on-ground impactful interventions through instruments such as Transit Oriented Development and Structural Reforms.

Jaya has over 16 years of global experience in a diverse set of roles within the domain of Sustainable Urban Planning. Prior to joining WRI India, Jaya was Lead Urban Planner with the Center for Infrastructure, Sustainable Transportation and Urban Planning (CiSTUP) at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, where she engaged with government stakeholders to look at innovative strategies for growth and development in cities by way of ordinance restructuring along with policy and implementation tools. Here, Jaya was also involved with the Goethe Institute’s Youth Program on Sustainable Development as an invited expert, which was awarded project of the UNESCO world decade on Education for Sustainable Development.

Jaya worked for 8 years with the City of Charlotte, North Carolina, first in the Transit Department as part of the team that put in place the 9.6 mile maiden light rail line in the city and then with the Planning Department as Planning Coordinator for the Urban Design section, where she led several mission critical strategic planning and economic development initiatives for neighborhoods and mentored the execution of many high-profile proposals to help further the city’s economic and urban development goals. Jaya also worked with Neighborhood Concepts, a planning & design consulting firm in Charlotte and with the Metropolitan Growth Alliance, a non-profit in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Jaya earned her undergraduate degree in Architecture from the University of Pune and a Master’s degree in City Planning, from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur. She also studied Community Planning with a focus on Environmental Planning from the University of Cincinnati. Jaya serves as Managing Associate Editor for the Journal of Sustainable Urbanization, Planning and Progress by Whioce Publishing, Singapore.

Blogs

5 Ways India Can Use Innovation to Meet Its Urbanization Challenge
by Madhav Pai and Jaya Dhindaw - January 27, 2023
Shaping efficient and equitable urban service delivery for sustainable growth

India is projected to overtake China as the most populous country in the world this year. The shifting demographics are bound to see heightened demand for education, healthcare, jobs, and civic amenities, putting existing systems under stress. Current urban services delivery models,
Resurrecting Public Spaces in a post-Covid India
by Himanshi Kapoor, Prerna Vijaykumar Mehta and Jaya Dhindaw - October 26, 2021
This blog was first published on NIUA.org on October 21, 2021.

The COVID-19 lockdown, imposed around the world, has triggered unprecedented changes in the
Operationalising Nature-based Solutions: innovative approaches to financing ecosystem restoration
by Priya Narayanan and Jaya Dhindaw - June 04, 2021
Climate related disasters and inequities may push more than 100 million people in developing countries below the poverty line by 2030. This makes mainstreaming climate change mitigation and adaptation an absolute imperative for protecting ecological, social, and economic systems. Cities
Urban Greening for Cooling Cities
by Priya Narayanan and Jaya Dhindaw - March 19, 2021
Over the past two decades, extreme temperature events have increased in frequency and severity around the world. The number of people exposed to heat waves has increased by approximately 125 million across the globe. It is estimated that 39% of the global work hours lost due to acute heat were in India alone
A nature-based solution for healthy, resilient cities
by Jaya Dhindaw and Priya Narayanan - January 08, 2021
This blog originally appeared on Business India.

Till early March, most global reports indicated that
India Must Plan New Strategy for Cities to Reap Full Benefits of ‘Self-Reliance’ Initiative
by Pavan Ankonapalli and Jaya Dhindaw - August 17, 2020
This article was originally published on News18 on 28 July.

While announcing a stimulus package of INR 20 lakh crore ($260 billion) in his address to the nation on May 12, India’s Prime Minister
Reconfiguring public spaces within the new normal
by Prerna Vijaykumar Mehta and Jaya Dhindaw - May 19, 2020
A slightly modified version of this piece appeared on Times blog on May 11.

Social distancing, isolation and locking down of cities and oneself is the norm in times of the COVID-19 pandemic. With this, inequality in cities has been laid bare,
Building Back Better: A time to Introspect on Innovation in Public Service Delivery
by Jaya Dhindaw and Aarathi Kumar - May 18, 2020
The COVID-19 health crisis and associated lockdown has thrown into plain view the fragility of existing systems, from healthcare and governance, to the gig economy and global markets. With people confined to their homes and restricted mobility, cities are working to not only manage and contain the spread of the disease but also ensure a consistent, efficient and reliable supply of basic
Paving the way for Swachh Bharat 2.0
by Jaya Dhindaw and Aarathi Kumar - June 06, 2019
At the current rate of urbanisation and industrial growth in the country, India will need a 32 feet high landfill site equivalent to the size of Bengaluru to manage its waste. According to the World Bank, in 2010, India was generating approximately 1.1 lakh tonnes of waste every day,
Planning for People: Agenda 2022 for an Inclusive and Sustainable Bengaluru
by Jaya Dhindaw and Madhav Pai - July 20, 2018
Recognised as a city offering an abundance of opportunity in India, Bengaluru has witnessed significant increases in business investments and urban migration over the last few decades. Today, it is home to over 10.45 million people, contributes nearly

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Jaya Dhindaw

5 Ways India Can Use Innovation to Meet Its Urbanization Challenge

Resurrecting Public Spaces in a post-Covid India

Operationalising Nature-based Solutions: innovative approaches to financing ecosystem restoration

Urban Greening for Cooling Cities

A nature-based solution for healthy, resilient cities

India Must Plan New Strategy for Cities to Reap Full Benefits of ‘Self-Reliance’ Initiative

Reconfiguring public spaces within the new normal

Building Back Better: A time to Introspect on Innovation in Public Service Delivery

Paving the way for Swachh Bharat 2.0

Planning for People: Agenda 2022 for an Inclusive and Sustainable Bengaluru

Accelerating Innovation in Urban Service Delivery in Indian Cities: Lessons from TheCityFix labs India

Synergizing Land Value Capture and Transit-Oriented Development: A Study of Bengaluru Metro

Encouraging Design Practices for Sustainable Mobility in India: A Guidebook

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