India’s 1st varsity on urban affairs taking shape in Bangalore

The Indian Institute of Human Settlements (IIHS),the country's first university exclusively focused on urban affairs,would build its mother campus here at a cost of up to Rs 250 crore.

The Indian Institute of Human Settlements (IIHS),the country’s first university exclusively focused on urban affairs,would build its mother campus here at a cost of up to Rs 250 crore.

It would come up on 58 acres at Kengeri on the city outskirts with a built-up area of about five lakh square feet,at a cost of Rs 225 crore to Rs 250 crore,the first executive head of the new private university,Aromar Revi,said.

People behind the project said work on planning had started for the first phase of the campus,which is expected to set global standards for efficient,economic and sustainable design,operations and maintenance.

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IIHS is the creation of a group of leading entrepreneurs,intellectuals and professionals including Nandan Nilekani,Shirish Patel,Rakesh Mohan,Deepak Parekh,Vijay Kelkar,Jamshyd Godrej,Deepak Satwalekar,Xerxes Desai,Nasser Munjee,Renana Jhabvala,Kishore Mariwala,Rahul Mehrotra,Pradeep Saxena and Revi.

A programme,designed primarily for working professionals,would begin here tomorrow.

“IIHS has initiated a process of faculty mobilisation for its Masters in Urban Practice (MUP) programme which is slated to commence in Bangalore in July 2012,following anticipated regulatory clearances from the Ministry of Human Resource Development”,Revi said.

“The 100-member faculty of international renowned professionals will be domestically and interntionally recruited over the next few years”,Revi told reporters.

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On funding for the University,he said the group had put in funds,while the Union government,professionals and corporates would also be approached for resources. IIHS would remain independent,he stressed.

Shirish Patel said there aren’t enough professionals in the country with expertise in terms of implementation,execution,maintenance and governance of urban projects. IIHS would produce professionals who can manage wide-range of activities in the urban landscape.

Rakesh Mohan said urbanisation was happening at a rapid pace,which would need a large number of professionals managing processes,settlements,tackling problems and address issues of urban transporation.

IIHS would produce professionals with enough flexibility over a period of time,he added.

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IIHS said it expects to satisfy the country’s growing needs for managing urbanisation not only through its interdisciplinary four-year Bachelors in Urban Practice degree,a two-year Masters in Urban Practice degree and its doctoral and applied research programmes,but also through its multi-locational management and technical training for working professionals,advisory services and in time multilingual distance and e-learning programmes.