Paresh Sharma was the Chief Town Planner of the Town Planning and Valuation Department for almost eight years, in the Urban Development Department of the Government of Gujarat. He recently retired as the Chief Town Planner of the Gujarat Infrastructure Development Board, Department of Industries Government of Gujarat. He has also held the position of Joint Secretary, Urban Development Department, Government of Gujarat for more than seven years.

Mr. Sharma joins the Sustainable Cities & Transport team at WRI as a Senior Fellow. He has over 35 years of experience in framing Urban Policy and Legislation, Urban Governance and Administration, Management of Public Land, formulating Development Plans and Land Pooling Schemes, Urban Finance, appraisal, management and implementation of Projects.

He is a civil engineer from Saurashtra University, with a master’s in city Region Planning from CEPT University and is pursuing a PhD from Gujarat Technical University, Ahmedabad.