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Dr. Sneha

Assistant Professor
Department of Architecture, Planning and Design
Phone No(s): +919990832023
Email: sneha.apd@iitbhu.ac.in
Area of Interest: Urban Development, Land Management, Housing and Real Estate, Urban Governance and Financing, Urban Economics
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Dr. Sneha is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Architecture, Planning and Design at IIT (BHU) Varanasi, with expertise in urban land policy, housing, morphology, sustainability, Real Estate and Urban Economics. Her research integrates institutional analysis, geospatial tools, and AI to address metropolitan challenges in India. 

Academic Journey

Sneha earned her PhD from the University of Tokyo's Department of Urban Engineering under the MEXT Scholarship, defending her thesis in 2022 on urban land development models and housing supply in Delhi's NCR. She holds a Master's in Planning (Housing) from SPA New Delhi (GATE Scholar), focusing on Jammu's slums for slum-free city plans, and a B.Arch from MNIT Jaipur. This foundation blends design, policy, and international perspectives.

Research and Publications

Her work spans book chapters on universal design footpaths, Srinagar's urban growth, Himalayan water systems (Kuhls), and public safety in dynamic spaces, published by Springer. Conference presentations include World Bank Land Conference 2024 and CIDUP2023 on Delhi's urbanization metrics. 

Key Projects

As PI, she leads ISRO-funded urban morphology evaluation in Tier-II cities using satellite semantic segregation, IIT(BHU) seed grant on planned vs. organic environments, and AMSB project on eco-friendly tech for the Indian Army. As Co-PI, she contributes to Assi River revival, bicyclist safety, UP heat action plans, and groundwater infrastructure via NIUA. These apply GIS, remote sensing, and resilience strategies.

Leadership

 Administrative roles include Proctorial Board, Limbdi Girls' hostel warden, and Member of the Institute Infrastructure Planning Committee 

 

April ‘17-Feb’20

(Full time)

Japanese Government (MEXT) Scholarship

Thesis successfully defended on 22-07-22

International Development and Regional Planning Unit

Department of Urban Engineering, University of Tokyo, Japan

Ph.D. Candidate,

“Institutional Analysis of distinct Urban Land Development Models and their impact on Formal Housing Supply within a Metropolitan Region, Case Study Delhi Urban Agglomeration in National Capital Region (NCR), India”

Sept.’10- June’12

GATE 2010 Scholarship

School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi, India

Masters in Planning, Department of Housing

“Slums and Squatter Settlements-Jammu” 

The aim of the study was to understand housing in slums and squatter settlements in the City of Jammu and give plans and policy proposals for the preparation of Slum free city plan under Rajiv Aawas Yojna (RAY- JnNURM).
Aug.’05-Aug.’10

Malaviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur, India

Bachelor of Architecture, Department of Architecture

 

 

        Academic

Assistant Professor

(Full time Grade-II)

Jan’ 23

Department of Architecture, Planning and Design, IIT (BHU) Varanasi

Subjects: Housing 4th Yr UG

               Building construction 2nd Yr and 3rd Yr UG

              Cinema and Architecture, 5th Yr UG    

               Vernacular Architecture, Open Elective at Institute Level          

Assistant Professor

(Contract)

Aug.’22 – Jan ‘23

(6 months)

Department of Architecture, SPA New Delhi

Subjects: Project Management 4th Yr, UG,

               Working Drawing 4th Yr, UG,

                Estimation and Costing 3rd Yr, UG,

                Building Construction 3rd Yr, UG,

                 Human Settlement and Vernacular Architecture, 1st Yr, UG

Guiding students for Dissertation Research and Seminar Presentation

Junior Research Fellow

(April’17 – Sept’17)

International Development and Regional Planning lab at the Department of Urban Engineering, School of Graduate Engineers, University of Tokyo Japan.

        Industrial

General Manager

(Part-time)

Sept’20 – July’22

(23 months)

Dhrupad Consultants Private Limited (DCPL), New Delhi

  • Business Development, Tender Biding, Project supervision and overall management throughout project cycle
  • Detailed report writing including site and data analysis for numerous Urban Transportation project feasibility like Corridor Development Plans, Multi Modal Transportation Hubs etc. corporate

Architect – Business Development

Feb.’15 – July’15

(6 months)

Evolve Interiors Turnkey Solutions, Dubai

  • Preparation of BoQ, site reports, tender biding and procurement
  • Working and coordinating with various teams like design, MEP, procurement, documentation and accounts over the entire project cycle from inception till final handover

Manager Research

June’13 – Dec.’14

(19 months)

Informage Realty Pvt. Ltd., Gurugram

  • Managed a market research and analytics team of 7 people, which covered residential, commercial and retail developments across 14 cities in North India.
  • Responsible for preparation of company’s bi-monthly edition on Real estate market research paper “REAL CANVASS” that required data collection, data validation, analysis, report writing, designing and publication.

Research Analyst

June’12 – May’13

(12 months)

Liases Foras, Real-estate Research and Rating Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai

  • Lead the Commercial real estate database team for NCR and MMR for three quarters.
  • Data Analysis and quarterly report publication for Housing Finance institutions like Axis Bank, HDFC Bank

  • Book Chapters
    • Sneha, Rajpoot, A.S. (2024). Implementing Access-Controlled Footpaths in Urban Roads with Consideration for Universal Design Principals. In: Manoj, M., Roy, D. (eds) Urban Mobility Research in India. UMI2023 2023. Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering, vol 551. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-8116-4_12
    • Sneha, Chettry, V., Yadav, A. (2025). Assessment of Urban Growth Dynamics in Srinagar (J&K), India. In: Chettry, V., Kaur, H., Praharaj, S., Dahiya, B. (eds) Geoinformatics for Hilly Regions. Advances in 21st Century Human Settlements. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-95-0156-4_7

    Under Review

    • Goswami, G., Sneha, Sharma, L., (2025). Analysing the current situation of Kuhls and Augmenting its Integration with Built Environment: The Case of Lower Himalayas. Urban India Vol. 45 (1 Sup.) January- June 2025 Page 17 - 35
    • Tiwari, A., Sneha, (2025), Exploring Public Safety in Mobility-Oriented Dynamic Urban Spaces. In: Manoj, M., Roy, D. (eds) Urban Mobility Research in India. UMI2025 2025. Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering,

    Conference Proceedings

    • Sneha, Institutional analysis of Urban Land and Housing Policy shift in a metropolitan region, Case National Capital Region, Delhi, India. World bank land conference 2024, Washington DC, USA 13th-17th May 2024
    • Sneha, The two-pronged problem with the assessment of urbanization in India: Case study - Delhi Urban Agglomeration, 19th Conference of International Development and Urban Planning (CIDUP2023) Proceedings, The Asian and African City Planning Group, Toyohashi University of Technology, Japan. Pg. 109

  1. Title: "From Bricks to Bytes: Architectural Strategies for Digital-Ready Buildings" at Half-day workshop on “Telecom Requirement & Standardizing for In-Building Digital Infrastructure” on 15 January 2026 at IIIT-Delhi, in collaboration with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)
  2. Title:  Green Buildings and Sustainable Construction Practices, A Workshop on Steel and Construction Practices, sponsored by TATA Steel on 03rd and 04th September 2025, at Department of Civil Engineering IIT (BHU) Varanasi.
  3. Title: “Learning, Labour and Ethics in the Age of AI”, in a 05 Day FDP on Intelligent Tools, Intuitive Designers: AI’s role in architectural Education, organized by Council of Architecture Training and Research centre Pune and BMS School of Architecture, design and Planning, Bangaluru from 18th Aug – 22nd Aug 2025
  4. Title: Advanced canopy of Lorry 5/7.5 Tons , one day Surya Supply and Transport symposium on 18th Aug 25 at Headquarters Central Command, Lucknow
  5. Title: “Understanding the Panchamrit Action Plan and its Relevance to Armed Forces in India”, 8th Feb. 2025, at CME Pune
  6. Title: “Resilient Cities: Integrating Disaster Preparedness into Urban Planning” 24th March 2025, on Architectural Education for Disaster Resilience: Integrating SDG 11 into Sustainable Urban Development" organized by Council of Architecture Training and Research centre Pune and at Crist University, Bangaluru.
  7. Title: “Green Building Construction” Constructive Insights: A Workshop on Steel and Construction Practices, sponsored by TATA Steel on 03rd and 04th December 2024, at Department of Civil Engineering IIT (BHU) Varanasi.
  8. Title: Transforming Urban Planning through Artificial Intelligence, Innovation and its application in Architecture and Design organized by Council of Architecture Training and Research centre Pune and BMS School of Architecture, Yelahanka Bengaluru from 29th Jan – 02 Feb. 2024
  9. Title: Urban Governance and Institutional Analysis, Navigating Challenges and Building Sustainable Cities Organized by Department of Architecture, Planning and Design, IIT(BHU) Varanasi and Manipal School of Architecture and Planning MAHE Manipal on 24th Nov. 2023
  10. Title: Institutional landscaping and campus planning, Training program for Department engineers and Officials of Tribal Affairs Department Bhopal under CM Rise Yojana on 16-05-2023, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT BHU,

Attended

  1. Presented at the Shallow Aquifer Management 2.0, research project write-shop, on 25th and 26th Nov. 2025 organised by NIUA at New Delhi
  2. Panel discussion on “Planning and Development of Small Towns in
    Uttar Pradesh: Challenges and Possibilities    ”, scheduled for 17th October 2025 at the Swati Conference Hall, Ground Floor, Directorate of Urban Local Bodies, Lucknow
  3. Presented research paper at the Land and Poverty Conference 2019: Catalysing Innovation held at The World bank, Washington DC, March 2019
  4. Presented conference paper at the Indian Scientists Association Japan, ISAJ 2018, at Tsukuba, Japan to be held on 7th Dec. 2018
  5. Presented research paper at the 14th Conference of International Development and Urban Planning (CIDUP)-2018, Toyo University, Tokyo, Japan
  6. Represented Department of Urban engineering, University of Tokyo at Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Development in Asia: Governance and Societies Confronted with Environmental Challenges Sustain Asia kick-off workshop, CNRS-INSHS organised at the French Institute of Pondicherry, India, Oct, 2018.
  7. Participated in the 12-day field exercise course from Department of Urban Engineering, Graduate Program in Sustainability Science Global Leadership Initiative (GPSS-GLI) of the University of Tokyo, Japan and the Department of Environmental Engineering of Chulalongkorn University, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi, and Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand, about the “Public awareness and participation in environmental decision-making toward sustainable urban development in developing countries: Air pollution in Bangkok” in July-Aug 2018.
  8. Attended the 13th conference of Asian and African city planning, at Meisei University, Tokyo, Japan on 23rd Dec.2017
  9. Attended the World Urban Forum, (WUF-9), UN-HABITAT, held in Kuala-Lumpur, Malaysia, in 7th -13th, Feb.2018
  10. Attended the Indian scientist’s association Japan, ISAJ 2017, at University of Tokyo, Japan held on 7th Dec.2017.

Organized

  1. One day workshop on Revival of River Assi- Roles of Ponds and Wetlands organised on 18th Oct 2024 at the department of Civil engineering, IIT(BHU), Varanasi in collaboration with Varanasi Development Authority (VDA)
  2. One day knowledge transfer session on Tackling Climate Change Through Urban Planning with Smart Sensing: A Case Study of Japanese, at the Department of Architecture, Planning and Design, IIT(BHU), Varanasi on 4th Jan 2023
  3. A joint interactive session and expert lectures on Importance of Housing Policy and Real estate for young Architects by Prof. PSN Rao, and Sacred Landscape Geometry in North India: Visioning the IKS by Prof. PB Rana Singh on 29th January 2024
  4. 5 days’ workshop on Indian Art and Architecture, organized by Department of Architecture, Planning and Design, IIT(BHU), Varanasi from 4th Nov. 2023 – 8th Nov. 2023
  5. Convened the Indian Scientists Association Japan, ISAJ 2017, at University of Tokyo, Japan held on 7th Dec. 2017
  6. Guest Lecture by Ar. Sulekha Nayak, Founder Prakriti Design Studio, New Delhi on the topic “Street Landscape Design and Implementation”, on 11-04-23 at the Department of Architecture, Planning and Design, IIT (BHU) Varanasi.
  • Proctorial Board Member
  • Warden Girls Hostel
  • Institute Infrastructure Planning Committee (IIPC) executive membe
  • Convener Department Undergraduate committee (DUGC)
  • Felicitation at the Springer Nature in India’s Her Research, Our Future campaign, in collaboration with the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), during the India Research Tour 2025 by the Ministry of Education, Government of India
  • Felicitation at the Construction Excellence Awards’2024-25, Indian Concrete Institute, Varanasi Centre
  • Japanese Government, Ministry of Education Culture, Sports, Science and Technology: MEXT Scholarship 2017
  • GATE scholarship by AICTE, 2010-2012