BIO

Dr. Ashfaque Alam brings more than 15 years of teaching and research experience, alongside more than 12 years in the industry. His expertise spans Urban Planning, Regional Development, Urban Governance, and Small Towns’ Development.

 In the MURP programme and Bachelor of Planning programme, Dr. Alam teaches a range of subjects, including Integrated Studio, Local Area Planning Studio, Regional Planning Studio, Demography, Regional Planning and Analysis, Planning Techniques, Rural Area Planning, etc. These courses aim to equip students with the knowledge and skills to address urban, rural, and regional planning challenges in an evolving world. 

Dr. Alam's research interests focus on addressing critical rural, urban, and regional issues and advancing sustainable planning practices, with an emphasis on utilizing modern tools like GIS to enhance the development process.

Research Interests

• Rural Spatial Planning

•  Regional Spatial and Resource Planning

•  Population dynamics

•  Urban Governance

Publications

Journal Articles

• Alam, Ashfaque and Choudhury, Binayak: Spatio-Functional Determinants of Small Towns – a case study of selected India Small Towns, published in Review of Urban and Regional Development Studies (RURDS) (Scopus)Vol. 28, Issue-2, July, 2016, Wiley Publications ISSN 0917-0553; P – 75-88.

• Binayak Choudhury, Ashfaque Alam, Amit Bansal: Delineating the Growth Boundary of Indian Cities: Projection of the Urban Footprints, Environment and Urbanization ASIA, Volume 15 (2024), ISSN No. 10.1177/09754253241240158, (Scopus) Page 76-91.

• Alam, Ashfaque: Growth of Small Towns in India, published in Spatio-Economic Development Record, New Delhi, Vol. 21, No. 5, September-October, 2014; P – 95-103.

• Mahapatra, Gaurab Das and Alam, Ashfaque: Smartness and Inclusiveness in City Region, published in Journal of Advance Research in Construction and Urban Architecture, Advanced Research Publications, Ghaziabad, Vol. 1 No. 3 & 4 (2016), ISSN: 978-94-90354-47-3.

Book Chapters

• Alam, Ashfaque: ‘Capacity Building for Waste Management – Toolkits for Preparation of Master Plan for Solid Waste Management’ – Chapter 7 of the book Solid Waste Management - An Indian Perspective by M.S. Bhatt and Asheref Illiyan, Synergy Books India, New Delhi, 2012.

Conference Proceedings

• Alam, Ashfaque: Dynamics of Rural Transformation in India – a case of West Bengal, published in the proceedings of 12th World Congress of the RSAI, 2018 in Goa; ISBN 978-989-54216-0-2 P – 1362-1375.

• Choudhury, Binayak and Alam, Ashfaque: The Dynamics of Rurbanisation – A case of Bhopal District, published in the proceedings of 52nd ISOCARP Congress 2016, ISBN No. 978-94-90354; P – 1-12 of Track 4

• Choudhury, Binayak, Alam, Ashfaque and Bansal, Amit Kumar: Delineating the Urban – case for Bhopal City, India, published in the proceedings of 14th International Asian Urbanization Conference “Sustainable Development Goals in Asia”, 2018, Bangkok, Thailand; ISBN:978-616-338-113-2; P 2-30.

Project/Research Grants Details

Project Accomplishments

• 2024 – Preparation of GIS Based Master Plan for Greater Imphal Region – 2043 (Client: Government of Manipur) (Co-P.I.).

• 2024 – Risk Informed Master Plan for Imphal city and Moirang town of Manipur - 2044 (Client: Government of Manipur) (Co-P.I.).

• 2023 – Preparation of Thanjavur Regional Plan -2047 (Client: Government of Tamil Nadu) (Core Team Member) (ongoing project).

• 2023 - Preparation of Coimbatore and The Nilgiris Regional Plan -2047 (Client: Government of Tamil Nadu) (Core Team Member) (ongoing project).

• 2022 – Preparation of GIS based Master Plan for 14 District Headquarters of Manipur - 2043 (Client: Government of Manipur) (Co-P.I.) (ongoing project)

• 2022 – Preparation of GIS based Master Plan for Moreh town of Manipur – 2043 (Client: Government of Manipur) (Co-P.I.) (ongoing project)

• 2020 - A Regional Study for Livelihood Mapping of the Tribes in Tribal dominant States (Client: Ministry of Tribal Affairs) (Core Team Member)

• 2019 - Development Plan of Saugor Cantonment Area (Client: Sagour Cantonment Authority) (Core Team Member)

• 2016 – Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission, ICAP Project (Client: Government of Madhya Pradesh) (Core Team Member).

• 2012 – Master Plan for Samdrup-Jhongkar, Bhutan (Client: Ministry of Works and Human Settlement, Government of Bhutan) (Team Member).

• 2011 - Impact Assessment Study of Project: Water Supply to Gas Affected Areas of Bhopal (Client: Municipal Corporation of Bhopal), JNNURM Project, (Co-PI)

• 2010 - Development Plan and Development Policies of Greater Noida Expansion, (Client: Greater Noida Authority) (Co-PI).

• 2009 - Inclusive Urban Planning – Reservation of Land & FSI for Housing and Amenities to the Urban Poor – Innovative Methods of Providing Land and Housing to the Urban Poor, (Client: Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Government of India) (Co-PI)

• 2009 - Human Settlement Report – 2009, (Client: UN Habitat) (Research associate)

• 2007 - Sustainable Physical Standards for the Planning and Design of Residential Areas (Client: Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India), (Research Associate)

• 2007 - Revised Master Plan for Noida – 2021, (Client: NOIDA Authority) (Project Associate)

• 2007 - Disaster Management Plan of Noida and Greater Noida, (Client, NIDM, Ministry of Home Affairs) (Research Associate)

• 2006 - Role of Hawkers in the Urban Informal Sector and Internalizing Hawking Activities and Space in the City Planning and Development Process (Client: Ministry of Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation, Government of India) (Research Associate)

• 2005 - Vision Statement for Aligarh 2021(Client: Aligarh Dev. Authority) (Research Associate)

• 2005 - Vision Statement for Mathura Vrindavan Area 2021 (Client: Mathura-Vrindavan Dev. Authority) (Research Associate)

• 2003 - Land Policy for Development in the National Capital Territory of Delhi: 2021; considering various alternative Techniques of Access to Land, (Client DDA) (Coordinator)

• 2003 - Vision Statement for Lucknow 2021, (Client: Lucknow Dev. Authority) (Research Associate)

• 2001 - Perspective Plan – 2021, Spatial Development of Aligarh Muslim University Campus (Client: Aligarh Muslim University) (Research Associate)

• 1999 - Chandigarh Inter-State Metropolitan Regional Plan (CISMeR) (Client: Chandigarh UT Administration) (Research Associate)

• 1999 - Manual for Disaster Management, (Client: NCDM, Ministry of Home Affairs) (Research Associate)

• 1998 - Regional Environmental Profile of Eastern U.P (Client: Netherlands Embassy) (Assistant Regional Planner)

Research Accomplishments

• 2004 - States/UTS of India – a Profile (Client: AMDA, New Delhi) (Principal Researcher)

• 2007 - The Metropolitan Agglomerations and the Proposed Grouping of Urban Areas in India (Client: AMDA, New Delhi) (Principal Researcher)

Scholarship and Fellowships

• Queen’s University Fellowship (UK) – Research fellowship at the Queen’s University Belfast, Northern Ireland for PhD coursework exchange programme (2011).