This panel explores the evolving role of urban commons in India, examining how industrialisation, urban growth, digital infrastructure, biodiversity, finance and corporate engagement intersect to shape the ways commons are used, preserved and valued. By situating urban commons within both material and socio-ecological transformations, the panel highlights the pressures and opportunities that cities face. It brings together perspectives on financing, including development finance institutions, CSR, and philanthropic support, as well as the challenges of sustaining commons amidst demographic, climatic and infrastructural transitions. The discussion emphasises not only the policy and investment dimensions but also the social and ecological imperatives of urban commons. Importantly, the panel encourages reflection on where training and capacity building are required to address these questions effectively, and how such capacity -- through communities, municipal agencies, professionals, and cross-sectoral partnerships -- can be cultivated to ensure urban commons remain resilient, inclusive, and ecologically sustainable.
About the session speakers
Ms Sandhya Naidu Janardhan
Managing Director and Founder, Community Design Agency
Panelist
Sandhya Naidu Janardhan is the Founder and Managing Director of Community Design Agency in Mumbai. With nearly two decades of experience working on social impact projects worldwide, including in Singapore and Haiti, her focus is on creating safe and healthy spaces that support climate resilience, gender, economic and social inclusion, health, and overall well-being. Through her leadership, Community Design Agency has created positive changes within communities across four Indian cities. Sandhya believes in addressing systemic issues such as gender and social inequities through art, architecture, and design, advocating for participatory processes that empower community voices. A registered architect in India and a graduate of Columbia University, she is a recipient of the 2024-25 Berkeley Rupp Prize, the 2024 Obel Teaching Fellowship Award, and is a TED India Fellow.
Mr Rohan Sheth
Head, Colocation & Data Center Services, Yotta Data Services
Panelist
With over 17 years of experience, Rohan has been instrumental in driving key projects including large colocation facilities. He possesses expertise in construction, commercial real estate, among other areas. Rohan spearheads the data center build and colocation services with a focus on expanding Yotta’s pan-India footprint.
Ms Ashwini Deshpande
Associate Director, NAGAR
Panelist
Ashwini Deshpande is an architect and urban researcher based in Mumbai, India. With a specialisation in Architectural History and Theory, her research bridges contemporary urban issues with historical inquiry. Her earlier experience includes working with the CEPT Archives and contributing to teaching programmes at CEPT University.
Currently, as Associate Director at NAGAR, Mumbai, Ashwini’s work engages with environmental and social questions surrounding public open spaces, heritage, land reclamation, slum rehabilitation, and street vending. She is also part of the global cohort of Preserving Legacies, an initiative by the National Geographic Society, Heritage Adapts, and ICOMOS, where she is studying the cultural and natural heritage spaces through the lens of planning policies and climate change.
Her research critically examines the environmental injustices and social inequalities that arise from fragmented regulatory systems and planning frameworks. Through on-ground investigations at NAGAR, she seeks to integrate historical and contemporary perspectives to understand how civic participation and land policies continue to shape Mumbai's evolving urban fabric.
Dr Malini Krishnankutty
Adjunct Associate Professor, IIT Bombay
Discussant
An experienced urban planner, Dr. Malini Krishnankutty, has over the last two and half decades worked on several spatial planning projects, including Regional Plans, development plans, and sectoral projects in India. Currently she is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the Ashank Desai Centre for Policy Studies, IIT Bombay. She has a PhD in Habitat Studies from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai and graduate degrees (M. Arch & M. City Planning) from the University of California, Berkeley, USA.
Recently, as part of a two-member Expert Master Plan Committee, she helped a small municipality in Kerala prepare its own master plan through a very innovative bottom-up, truly participatory process. Her research interests include sustainable urban planning in the global South, participatory planning, peri-urban development and tracing the historical underpinnings of modern urban planning practice in India.