Biography
Ph.D. Urban Planning and Policy, 2010 College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs, University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) Dissertation topic: “ Examining Gray Areas of Urban Development: the Role of Formal- Informal Nexus in peri-urban development of Kolkata, India ” Masters in Urban Planning , 2003,School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi, India Masters Topic: “ A Social Impact Assessment of the Resettlement of Canal-bank Squatter Settlements in Kolkata, India” M.A. in Sociology , 2001, Delhi School of Economics, Delhi University, India B.A. in Sociology , 1999, Presidency College, Calcutta University, India Ratoola Kundu is trained as urban planner with a background in sociology. She teaches at the Centre for Urban Policy and Governance, School of Habitat Studies TISS. She has a deep interest in studying marginalized and vulnerable social groups in our cities, they ways which they are excluded in the top-down urban planning processes and how they stake their claims to urban space in the face of rapid and neoliberal urban transformations. Her research, advocacy and writing is informed by her continued engagement with grassroots groups and collectives such as the National Hawkers Federation and Homeless Collective. Ratoola Kundu is currently serving on the editorial board for the Review of Urban Affairs, Economic and Political Weekly.