Urban Development expert, Ramola Naik Singru

“Asian cities have dense urban environments. We must encourage retrofit solutions that are low carbon and cost-effective through technological solutions that include new and traditional coping mechanisms. New technologies can motivate social innovations and greater community participation thus making cities inclusive.” This is what Urban Development expert, Ramola Naik Singru strongly believes.

Sonia Chand Sandhu and Ramola Naik Singru lead the GrEEEn Cities Initiative for Southeast Asia at the ADB HQ.
Sonia Chand Sandhu and Ramola Naik Singru lead the GrEEEn Cities Initiative for Southeast Asia at the ADB HQ.

Ms.Naik Singru has an international multi-disciplinary expertise, with more than 16 years experience, spanning Project Management, Technical Advisory, Research, Knowledge Management and Capacity Building and efficiently managing multi-stakeholder and multi-sector projects with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and other international organizations. Currently in the role of Senior Urban Development Specialist (Consultant), ADB, she holds a Master’s degree in City Design and Social Science from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), UK; and a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture from Sir J.J. College of Architecture, University of Mumbai, India. Ramola jointly leads the ADB’s Green Cities Initiative for improving livability in secondary cities across South East Asia. She led the formulation of National Urban Assessments (NUAs) under ADB’s Urban Operational Plan 2012-2020 and advises on smart, inclusive, and resilient cities. She was awarded the Urban Community of Practice (CoP) Chair Award for Excellent Contribution to Urban CoP activities, the ‘One ADB’ Integrated Initiative in Urban Development Award’ for the GrEEEn Cities Initiative by ADB’s Urban Community of Practice (UCoP) in 2014 and the ADB Vice President Operations 2Knowledge Sharing award in 2015.

Ramola presenting a paper on urban-rural linkages at the International Policy Workshop in Rural–Urban Poverty Linkages, People’s Republic of China.
Ramola presenting a paper on urban-rural linkages at the International Policy Workshop in Rural–Urban Poverty Linkages, People’s Republic of China.

“The GrEEEn Cities Initiative addresses rapid urbanization challenges by bridging the gap between urban planning and environmental management; establishing close coordination among multiple sectors involved in urban planning; linking cities to finance; and securing long-term commitments to achieve a long term vision of a Livable city.” And therefore in Ramola’s opinion  “Strengthening urban planning and environmental management can help cities to move from green growth strategies to grEEEn city realities.” Prior to her current role at ADB Ramola was Adjunct Faculty and Program Director of the Urban Management Program of the Asian Institute of Management, Cities Development Initiative for Asia (CDIA), and UN-HABITAT. Follow her on Twitter: @RamolaNS LinkedIn:ph.linkedin.com/in/RamolaNaikSingru


You can catch some of the work carried out by Ramola Naik Singru on the following links: A multimedia feature on GrEEEn cities https://www.adb.org/green-cities/index.html?ref=themes/urban-development/features The opening presentation by Vice President Stephen Groff of ADB at the first Regional Conference in May 2014 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7_FgDE5Iwg Republic of the Philippines National Urban Assessment https://www.adb.org/publications/republic-philippines-national-urban-assessment

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