Ashok Das

San Francisco State University

Title/Position:

Assistant Professor

Bio/Research Summary:

Trained as an urban planner and architect, Ashok Das is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning (DUSP) at the San Francisco State University. Prof. Das is a native of India and holds a B.Arch from the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi, India. He also has M.Arch and MA (Environmental Planning & Management) degrees from Kansas State University. His research explores innovations in and challenges to ameliorating urban poverty in developing countries. Community participation and empowerment, slum upgrading, decentralization and local governance, and the role of civil society in development are his key interests. His doctoral work in Urban Planning at UCLA explored the nature of empowerment arising from participation in slum upgrading programs in post-decentralization India and Indonesia. He is particularly intrigued by how different factors inhibit or contribute to empowerment in different contexts, and how those can be explained empirically. His new research seeks to explore the impacts of natural disasters on cities and local government responses in terms of disaster preparedness and management , and the impacts of integrated microfinance on urban poverty alleviation and empowerment.  How globalization is affecting urban form in emerging economies, and historic preservation are some other areas he hopes to research in the near future.