I am very happy to note that Sushant University is starting a new School of Planning and Development. This is an important land mark for education and research in planning education in India. I am sure in coming years, under your leadership, the School will emerge as centre of excellence in planning and development education. I wish you and team success.
I am delighted to know that Sushant University, Gurugram is launching Sushant School of Planning and Development. As India moves forward from a low income to a middle-income country, the rate of urbanisation will inevitably increase. Urban living will therefore become a matter of choice for the younger generations. This will imply an increase in the future demand for professional planners with a deeper understanding of Indian societal requirements. This initiative is a timely step. With the new School branching out of Sushant School of Art and Architecture, I am hopeful that this will provide the necessary leadership and direction to others aspiring in the region to emulate. This will in turn enable opportunities for inter-disciplinary academic research and activities which is in deficit in higher education institutions. The proximity of the campus to the Delhi will ensure both the students and faculty members have excellent access to a large pool of distinguished scholars, policy makers, planners and other development professionals. I am very keen to engage with the new School through research and academic partnerships.
I am sure that under the able leadership of Dr. Raj Singh, Vice Chancellor and Prof. Vibhuti Sachdev, Dean the new School will soon grow as an international intellectual destination in the area of urban planning and public policy.
Since cities are going to be the future homes of humanity, it is vital that societies get intellectual guidance from professionals with training in spatial thinking. At a time when Kerala is striving to rebuild its economy and society after the ravaging floods, our collective learning is to prepare the future societies to be socially and ecologically resilient. Urban planning and public policy are essential tools to achieve this. India needs a large number of qualitied urban planners to steer its growth as a globally competitive economy. It is a welcome step from the leaders at the Sushant University, Gurgaon that they have decided to launch the Sushant School of Planning and Development. I am sure this will soon grow as a Centre of learning and scholarship. My best wishes to the University leadership, faculty members and students.
I have known Sushant University since its inception in 2012. It is great to see its growth and in particular, the establishment of a new School dedicated to teach and research urban planning and development. The complex issues of contemporary urban spaces and societies to thrive and be enjoyable, require a strong engagement of creative minds who can work resolutely to generate innovative solutions, in addition to attracting investments and technological developments. The Sushant School of Planning and Development (SSPD) has great potential and opportunity, at this opportune time of rapid urban expansion, to excite young minds and expose them to the best opportunities in the world and nurture a new generation of urban planners and scholars.
The Sushant University deserves fulsome praise for its initiative to launch the Sushant School of Planning and Development at this critical time when the need for rapid urbanization in the country is tempered by genuine concern for comprehensive sustainable development. Smart cities and sustainable human settlements are the need of the hour in India and are also accepted worldwide as an important theme of the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN. It requires a clear understanding of the competing concerns and the technical capability to achieve the right balance by taking a holistic view of the planned urban development. I am confident that the Sushant University has the credentials to groom a new generation of town planners and developers who are endowed with such critical thinking and professional competence. I wish the new School all success in this endeavor and look forward to a long-term engagement with it in future.
I am pleased to learn that the visionary leadership at the Sushant University has decided to launch Sushant School of Planning and Development for educating tomorrow’s planners and policy makers. It is also heartening to note that sustainability issues will be at the core of teaching, research and extension activities at the new School. I am sure this new centre of learning will be a spring board for those seeking knowledge and skills necessary to strengthen the blue-green thinking in policy, practice and academic discourses.
Anticipating the future wave of urbanisation in India, there is a need to produce more urban and regional planners. My years of engagement with education in global and Indian Universities have made me realise that it will require insurmountable levels creative energy to lift our big cities into the constellation of global cities. This cannot be done merely by the public sector institutions whether they are educational or practice based ones. It is very exciting to see that private sector is responding with equal pace to this opportunity. I would like to congratulate the leadership at the Sushant University, Gurugram for leading this by launching Sushant School of Planning and Development. I look forward to opportunities to collaborate with the new School as it charters its own journey.
