People > Faculty ProfiLes > Bish Sanyal
- Geographic Areas of Expertise:
India, Bangladesh, South Central Africa, Lebanon, Jordan
- Teaching Focus:
Planning Institutions and Processes in Developing Countries; Role of Non-Governmental Organizations in Poverty Alleviation; Informal Sector and the Household Economy of Urban Poor; Planning Education and Theory.
- Curriculum Vitae (PDF)
- Contact:
sanyal@mit.edu
617.253.3270
Room: 9-435A - Assistant:
Patti Foley
pfoley@MIT.EDU
617.253.5724
Q. Who most influenced your work as a scholar of international development and why?
Sanyal: My strongest influences are Professor John Friedmann and Dr. Albert Hirschman. I worked with John Friedmann on my dissertation, particularly in the areas of social justice, equity and alternative development theory. I read Hirschman's work after finishing my PhD, and was influenced particularly by his ideas on accomplishing institutional goals.
Q. What is your research focus?
Sanyal: Comparative approaches to administrative decentralization (UNDP), formalizing informal land markets (Lincoln Land Institute), politics of organization in the informal economy.
Q. What are some of your most recent public lectures?
Sanyal: "In Search of Solidarity: City Planning Education in an Interconnected World", University of Florence Conference - The City: Ideas, Design, People, Florence, Italy, October 2006
"Return of the Local", Keynote Address, Italian Association of Regional Sciences (AISR) 27th Annual Scientific Conference, Pisa, Italy, October 2006
