Saswat Bandyopadhyay, Project Director, Centre of Urban Planning and Policy (CUPP), CEPT Research and Development Foundation and is currently Professor at the Faculty of Planning, CEPT University. He has over 25 years of experience in the Urban Development sector in the South Asian region with a focus on Sustainable Urban Development, Climate and Disaster Risk Reduction, Integration of Land use and Infrastructure, Nature-Based Solutions and the management of Historic Cities.

Saswat has spearheaded several Climate and spatial planning related research work such as GIZ supported Sustainable Urban Development and Smart Cities, Government of Gujarat supported Regional Climatic Variability Studies, Risk-Informed Urban development and Building Regulations, Mainstreaming Nature-Based Solutions in Urban areas, among many others.

He has been extensively involved in several pan-Asia pilot initiatives such as Asian Development Bank Green Cities Toolkit in Asia, Cities Development Initiative for Asia (CDIA) Localisation of City Infrastructure Investment Prioritization and Programming (CIIPP) Toolkits in India & Nepal, piloting of World Bank Supported Cultural Heritage and Tourism Assets based City Development strategies and Sustainable Tourism Assessment Toolkit for India.

He has also extensively worked in the field of Urban lakes and water resources management studies in the South Asian context in the field of preparation of environmental management plans and strategies for East Kolkata wetlands, Bhoj wetlands among others. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering and a Master’s in Urban Planning and Infrastructure Management. His PhD focuses on Climate Change and Urban Vulnerability in India.