Dr. Vandana Vasudevan is an urban development scholar, author, and columnist whose work spans the intersections of mobility, gender, transport, technology, and society. She holds a Ph.D. in Urban Studies from Université Grenoble Alpes,
She is currently a Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP) and has contributed as consultant and researcher to global institutions including the Asian Development Bank (G20 Track), Microsoft Research, the World Bank, World Resources Institute India, and IFC.
Before transitioning to academia and policy, Vandana built a strong foundation in the corporate sector, serving in leadership roles at HT Media, ICICI Bank, and Standard Chartered Bank, following her PGDM from IIM Ahmedabad.
As an accomplished author and widely read columnist, she has published three non-fiction books — Urban Villager: Life in an Indian Satellite Town, OTP Please, and Tough Customer — and written extensively for all leading Indian dailies and was a long time columnist for Mint and DNA. A sought-after speaker, including at TEDx, Dr Vandana brings her cross-sector expertise and storytelling skills to highlight the lived realities of contemporary urban life in India and shape thought leadership on building inclusive, resilient, and human-centric urban futures.
Despite these serious pursuits, Dr Vandana, who lives in Hyderabad, is also known for her lively and engaging personality. As she likes to say, she is “paranoid of being boring,” and always strives to be interesting and entertaining — a quality that makes her scholarship, writing, and speaking both insightful and highly relatable.