About us
About Us
The National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA)has been committed to reviving and improving the urban fabric of the country and has also accomplished creating a robust battery of youth to support cities. Reciprocating this fact NIUA has created a dedicated entity “The Urban Youth Unit” (uYu) for creating a youth-centric and youth-sensitive ecosystem in the country. This will nurture the development of youth and encourage their participation in the processes of policy formulation, decision making, and eventually becoming the change maker of the future. The Urban Youth Unit aims to empower youth through research, advocacy, capacity building, innovations, and partnerships as its foundational pillars.
Our Strategy
Identify the specific challenges and requircments of youth in Urban Areas.
Envisaging the solutionsResearch Sid design a range of holistic programs and services that cater to the diverse needs and interests of urban youth.
Strengthening through Capacity BuildingFocus for empowering young people by providing them with the skills and resources they inced to succced.
Promoting Knowledge ExchangeEnsure efficient generation and exchange of information and ideas.
Fostering the NetworksCollaborate the efforts to a more holistic approach to youth development and provide a comprehensive range of sorvices.
Our Pillar
Research
Capacity Building
Knowledge sharing
Networking
Nation Building
Technology
Our Team
Director (Additional Charge)
Dr. Debolina Kundu is a Professor at the National Institute of Urban Affairs, India and has over 20 years of professional experience in the field of development studies. She is a doctoral fellow with the ICSSR and has a Ph.D from Jawaharlal Nehru University on urban governance. She has worked as consultant with, ADB, LSE, IIDS, UNDP, UNFPA, UNESCAP, KfW, GIZ, Urban Institute, Washington, East-West Centre, Honolulu etc., on issues of urbanization, migration, urban development policies, municipal finance, governance and exclusion. She is currently Professor and Editor of journals Environment and Urbanisation, Asia (SAGE) and Urban India (NIUA). She is the Country Investigator – India, for the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) Centre for Sustainable Healthy and Learning Cities and Neighbourhoods (SHLC), which is supported by UK Research and Innovation. SHLC is an international, interdisciplinary and collaborative project, which aims to strengthen capacity in order to increase understanding of sustainable neighbourhoods and address urban, health and education challenges in fast growing cities across Africa and Asia. A member of the Fifth Delhi Finance Commission, she has several articles published in books and journals.
Lovlesh is the Lead for Urban Youth unit (uYu) & a specialised Urban Water and Infrastructure expert at, NIUA
Lovlesh is Danida Fellow and hold an international certification degree in Local Environmental Economics from University of Aarhus, Denmark. He is also a trained Architect & Urban Infrastructure planner fromt CEPT University Ahmedabad and has water management fellowship certification from IIM-Bangalore. He also holds the prestigious certificate diploma in Big data analytics in Urban Management form IIT Roorkee, India.
Lovlesh has 14+ years of experience as a development expert & Urban Infrastructure Planner, Architect and Academician in India and UAE. His areas of expertise includes City master planning, infrastructure services including urban & waste management, Blue green Infrastructure and Urban Youth Development programs.
Lovlesh is also a writer at heart, his poetry compilation "Lamakaan" was launched and published in 2019, while his next Novel is in print.
Chidambari coordinates the Urban Youth unit (uYu) at NIUA. She focuses on programme management, event organisation, and strategy development for the Urban Youth Unit (uYu). She collaborates with youth-led organisations and activists, empowering young voices to shape inclusive and forward-thinking urban areas.
Chidambari has a background in Urban Planning from the College of Engineering, Pune (COEP). She was the President of the Organisation of Students of Planning (NOSPlan), which is India’s largest body for planning students.
Additionally, Chidambari is passionate about travelling. She has a keen interest in the arts and has performed in street plays and theatres for social causes.
