Shirley Ballaney is an architect and urban planner with professional experience in urban planning, legislation, and development practice across Indian cities. Her work spans statutory planning, town planning schemes, and area-level interventions, with a focus on improving planning systems and enhancing the quality of urban life.

She works independently with organizations such as the World Bank, ADB, DFID, NIUA, and firms including KPMG, Deloitte, and PwC. Her recent engagements include preparing planning schemes for Varanasi, drafting planning legislation for Tamil Nadu, and designing the urban curriculum for IAS officer training at LBSNAA, Mussoorie.

Shirley’s past work includes the Bhuj post-earthquake development plan, heritage and environmental mapping in Mumbai, land inventory in Ahmedabad, and regional planning along the Samruddhi Corridor. She is also active in teaching, mentoring, and conducting capacity-building sessions across institutions.

She was awarded the Hubert Humphrey Fellowship for urban studies at MIT and has received fellowships from agencies in the Netherlands, Sweden, and Japan.