Geoinformatics for Hilly Regions Sustainable Human Settlements

Dr. Vishal Chettry is currently working as Assistant Professor in the Department of Architecture, Planning and Design, IIT (BHU) Varanasi. He served as Assistant Professor at Manipal School of Architecture & Planning, MAHE Manipal, from July 2021 to March 2023. He also worked at Poornima University, Jaipur, from July 2016 to May 2017. His research interests include urban sprawl, urban sustainability, urban heat island, and the application of RS and GIS in the urban and regional planning domain.

Dr. Harsimran Kaur is Certified Indian Green Building Council Accredited Professional (IGBC-AP) and Assistant Professor at the Department of Architecture, Planning, and Design at IIT (BHU) in Varanasi, India. She engages in research in the areas of urban sustainability, hillside planning and development, heritage conservation, applications of AR and VR in architecture and planning, spatial analytics, and data visualization.

Dr. Sarbeswar Praharaj is Assistant Professor at the University of Miami, USA. He works as Bridge between UM’s Department of Geography and Sustainable Development and the School of Architecture. He plays a critical role within the University of Miami’s flagship Climate Resilience Academy at the forefront of advancing sustainability and resilience to climate change. He was previously appointed as Associate Director and Assistant Research Professor at the Knowledge Exchange for Resilience at Arizona State University. His research and teaching interests combine critical applications of geospatial data science and smart cities’ foundations for shaping more inclusive, sustainable, and resilient communities. He holds a Ph.D. in urban planning and was also a postdoctoral researcher and manager of the City Analytics Lab within the City Futures Research Center at UNSW Sydney.

Dr. Bharat Dahiya is Director of Research Center for Sustainable Development and Innovation at the School of Global Studies, Thammasat University, Thailand. He is Extraordinary Professor at the School of Public Leadership, Stellenbosch University, Western Cape, South Africa, and Adjunct Faculty at the Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand. An award-winning urbanist, Bharat combines cutting-edge research, policy analysis, and development practice aimed at examining and tackling socio-economic, environmental, and governance issues in the global urban context of sustainable development. Since the early-1990s, his research and professional work has focused on sustainable cities and urbanization, strategic urban planning and development, urban infrastructure, urban environment, climate change and urban resilience, post-disaster recovery and reconstruction, and cultural heritage and landscapes.