Dr. Dinesh Mehta

Dinesh Mehta is a Professor Emeritus at CEPT University, Ahmedabad. He is also Executive Director of Center for Water and Sanitation (CWAS) at CEPT University (see www.cwas.org.in).

Dr. Mehta has worked on urban policy, urban planning and management for over 40 years in Asia and Africa. He has been associated with CEPT since 1977, when he began his academic career as Assistant Professor at School of Planning, CEPT in 1977 and was the Director of the School of Planning during 1986-1992. During 1992-97 Prof. Mehta was director of the National Institute of Urban Affairs, New Delhi, which is an autonomous undertaking of the Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India. At NIUA he initiated many activities related to Urban Basic Services for the Poor (UBSP), the Indo-USAID Project (FIRE-D), and projects on environmental planning and urban governance. In 1997, Dr Mehta joined UN-HABITAT as the regional advisor for the Urban Management Programme and developed programme activities in South and East Asia. In 2000, Dr. Mehta moved to UN-HABITAT Nairobi, as the chief coordinator of the global Urban Management Programme which worked in over 50 countries in 150 cities in Asia, Africa, Arab states and Latin America. In 2007, Dr Mehta returned back to CEPT to pursue research and teaching activities.

Dr. Mehta has a Ph.D. from University of Pennsylvania, a Master’s degree in City and Regional Planning from Harvard University, and a Bachelor of Technology in Civil Engineering, from IIT, Madras.