I joined the Department in 2017 and teach across Urban, Planning, Environment and Development domains in the department. I am a comparative urbanist interested in Participations, Commons, Vernacular, and Decolonial. I am interested in the geographies of rule beyond ‘ the state’ – in particular, the various vernacular formations of power, consequent practices of rule (democracy or otherwise) and its spatial and social outcomes. Primary field sites of my research interest are India and London. Methodologically I am an ethnographer. I have written about urban commons, geographies of water/urban wetlands and ecological transformations, corruption, violations and illegalities, participation and urban activism. I am currently working on a monograph on Planning Violations in India.
Along with research and teaching, for many years, I worked with local governments in London as a consultant on planning, regeneration and urban design policy shaping projects and contributing to policy documents, which included 'Tall Buildings evidence Framework for London Borough of Lewisham'. Before coming to London, I used to run an urban consulting and advocacy centre in India that I co-founded: among the many projects I developed and implemented include the tenure security component (housing for about 1000 people) of the DfiD funded Cochin Urban Poverty Reduction Project (implemented through community participation) and the Arackal Palace and Environs area conservation program (that won UNESCO award). I have worked on heritage conservation in India (Jaisalmer, Jodhpur and Udaipur in Rajasthan) and also produced morphological studies of about 150 Cities in India (partly published by CEPT, Ahmedabad).
Over the years my research and teaching positions include Co-Director of the at the Indian Institute for Human Settlements, Research Associate and Associate Fellow at the Development Planning Unit (DPU - UCL), Research Associate at ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ Grantham Research Institute (), and ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ Cities ().
Qualifications
PhD. Regional and Urban Planning Studies (ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ Geography)
MSc. City Design and Social Science (ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳-Cities)
M.Arch. Urban Design and Planning (CEPT-Ahmedabad)
B.Arch. Architecture (CET-Kerala University)
Fellow of the Higher Education Academy UK
Courses (taught and/or teaching since 2017)
GY311 Political Economy Urbanisation
GY474 Politics of Environment and Development (with Julia Corwin)
GY100 Introduction to Geography (with colleagues).
Gy202 Introduction to Global Development
GY441 Politics of Housing
GY448 Social and Political aspects of Regional and Urban Planning (with Alan Mace)
GY454 Urban Policy and Planning (with Nancy Holman)
GY350 UG Dissertation
GY499 PG Dissertation
GY500 PhD Seminars (with Austin Zeiderman)
RESEARCH OUTPUTS
JOURNAL ARTICLES
2021. Sundaresan, J., (with Benjamin J)., Emotions, Planning and Coproduction - Distrust Anger and Fear at the participatory boundaries in Bangalore, Urbanisation 5(2), 140- 157
2019a Sundaresan, J.,Decolonial reflections on urban pedagogy in India, Area, doi: 10.1111/AREA.12596
2019b.Sundaresan, J., Urban Planning in Vernacular Governance: Land Use Planning and Violations in Bangalore: (28,000 words), Progress in Planning, Volume 127, January 2019, Pages 1-23 (Online in 2017)
2016a. Revi, A., Satterthwaite,D., Mathur, O., Mehrotra, R., Goswami, A., Bhan, G., Sundaresan, J., Wankhade, K., Sami, N., Shetty, P., Editorial : Introducing Urbanisation, in Urbanisation (2016), 1(1) vii-xiii. Doi: 19.1177/2455747116646638
2015a. Mace, A; Holman, N; Paccoud, A and Sundaresan, J., Coordinating density; working through conviction, suspicion and pragmatism: (25,000 words), Progress in Planning, Volume 101, October, 1-38
2011a.Sundaresan, J., Planning as Commoning: Transformation of a Bangalore Lake. Economic and Political Weekly. December, 46 (50), 71-79
Under Review
Sundaresan, J., Lion in a jungle or Lion in a cage? Yojana beyond Planning and Powerlessness in Bangalore.
BOOKS
2015b. Nachmany,M., Fankhauser,S., Davidová,J., Kingsmill,N., Landesman,T., Roppongi,H., Schleifer,P., Setzer,J., Sharman,A., Singleton,C,S., Sundaresan,J and Townshend,T., The Global Climate Legislation Study: A Review of Climate Change Policy and Legislation in 99 Countries. Fifth Edition (2015), Published by the Grantham Research Institute, London School of Economics and Political Science
PEER REVIEWED BOOK CHAPTERS
2017. Sundaresan, J., Who is Corrupt and where lies corruption? Thinking with the Land use planning violations in Bangalore, in Tim Hall and Francesco Chiodelli (2017), The Illicit in the Governance and Development of Cities and Regions: Corrupt Places, Routledge
2016b. Sundaresan, J., Planners and others; Politics of Land use Planning in Bangalore, in Yasminah Beebeejuan (2016), The Participant City, Jovis.
2016c.Sundaresan, J., Allen, A., and Johnson, C., Reading urban, past, present and futures through blue infrastructure in India, in Bell, S., Allen, A., Hofmann, P. and Teh, T-H (2016) Urban Water Trajectories, Springer Future City Series.
MOST RECENT CONFERENCE PAPERS
2023, Sundaresan, J.,God in the Machine: Theorising politics of rule with Nagarjuna. At Political Futures, Annual International Conference of Political Studies Association, Liverpool, April 2023 (Forthcoming)
2022,Sundaresan, J and Malini Krishnankutty, M., Decolonising Local Planning: Language, articulation, representation Propositions from Kerala, India, RC21Conference, Athens, August 2022
2022, Sundaresan, J and Ram Bhatt., Bypassing the cloud? JAM, a new architecture of rule in India? RGS- IBG September 2022
ACTION RESEARCH AND ACTION PLANNING REPORTS
2014a.Sundaresan, J. et.al., Future Proofing Indian Cities: Spatial and social analysis for sustainable development of Madurai, 2014, available from
2014b.Sundaresan, J. et.al., A report on the Action Planning Process : Towards a sustainable development of the blue-green infrastructure in Madurai, 2014, available from and
CURATION/EXHIBITION
2023, 2022, 2021., “Yours is not to reason why” – Exhibition of Photographs by Sudeesh Yezhuvath on Auschwitz. Co-curated with Bangalore based Artist Murali Cheeroth, Lalitha Kala Academy Gallery, Kochi, Kerala, (2021); Chitrakala Parishat Bangalore Karnataka (2022), International Film Festival Venue, Ottapalam (2022), CITU National Congress Bangalore. (2023)
2020. “Behind the Tin Sheets” Film Screening and discussion - Director Ekta Mittal in conversation with Prof Sunil Kumar, (ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ Social Policy) and Prof Laura Bear (ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ Anthropology), ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ Festival 2020
WORKING PAPERS
2008. Rode, P; Wagner, J; Chandra, R, Brown, R and Sundaresan, J., Integrated City Making: Governance Planning and transport, Urban-Age working paper series; ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ Cities, 2008
POLICY DOCUMENTS
2013.Sundaresan, J., Evidence based document to support LDF Core Strategy policy on tall buildings in Lewisham, 2013, London Borough of Lewisham,
ONLINE DATASETS
2016 d.Sundaresan, J and Arkali, A., Communities and the making of Urban Commons: Learning from the wetlands activism in Bangalore, in Urban Inclusion, integrated case development archive, published by Indian Institute for Human Settlements, 2016,
2015c. Nachmany, M., Fankhauser,S., Davidová,J., Kingsmill,N., Landesman,T., Roppongi,H., Schleifer,P., Setzer,J., Sharman,A., Singleton,C,S., Sundaresan,J and Townshend,T., The Global Climate Legislation Study: A Review of Climate Change Policy and Legislation in 99 Countries. Grantham Research Institute, London School of Economics and Political Science, 2015,
OTHER ONLINE PUBLICATIONS
2020.Sundaresan,J.To reimagine Trafalgar Square is to redesign the curriculum, ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ Higher Education Blog,
2018a.Sundaresan, J., , ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳, TLC blog 2018.
2018b.Sundaresan, J., Redesigning Trafalgar Square: Reflections on postcoloniality, learner identity and pedagogy, ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ TLC blog, 2018.
2014c. Sundaresan, J., Who plans, who lives? Urban Planning lessons from Bangalore, ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ India Blog, Part 1 and 2, June 2014,
2012. Sundaresan, J., Urban commons and public interest coalitions: learning from the restoration of Bangalore’s lakes, ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ India Blog, 2012,
PUBLIC INTERVIEWS
2015d. On planning, violations and the limits of informality,interviewed by Dr. Tucker Jordan (2015): available from
MAGAZINE ARTICLES
2001.Sundaresan, J., The vanishing Tharavads of Kerala: The Hindu ‘Folio’ on Cities, August 2001
2000.Sundaresan, J., Recognizing Urban Design for better cities: Indian Architect and Builder, Jasubhai Media publications, Mumbai, India, November 2000
POLICY ADVICE
2022-2023 – Advisor on first Participatory Planning Process for Chittur-Thathamangalam Municipality , Kerala, India.
2015- Advisor on Planning Process and Procurement of Master Plan Consultants for Bangalore Development Authority, Bangalore, India.
2003 - Advisor on Public Land Management to Mayor of Kochi, Kerala, India