urbanist : advisor : writer

I am an urbanist and consultant working and living between Germany and India [Chennai], with more than two decades of experience in urban resilience, sustainable infrastructures, design & water.

My portfolio includes planning, design, analytic and educative duties for research organizations, academic institutions, and design/engineering consortia across Asia and Europe. Underlying it is a passion for fast-changing urban landscapes and the human capital and ingenuity that underpin their transformation.

After ten years in urban research, I’ve spent the last year as a consultant in urban development. I was a key participant in the Dutch Government’s Water as Leverage for Resilient Cities: Asia program, and a central author in the program’s designs for a more future-proof, climate-resilient Chennai.

I’ve assembled a diverse portfolio combining urban/landscape design, trans-disciplinary research, and ethnographic field methods, which allows me to leverage different strategies, and forms of interactions (presented here under the UNTLD moniker).

Today I focus on applying this knowledge to urban transformations and climate change adaptations. I write on design, data activism, farming, and ‘back-to-the-land’ futures in urban India.

© karl beelen 2020