Research Projects

Where Urbanism Meets Ecology, Heritage & Justice

Vinayak Bharne’s academic research explores the intersections of ecology, climate change, and urbanism — with a particular focus on communities and environments that are most vulnerable to rapid urbanization and environmental degradation. His research is field-based, cross-disciplinary, and globally situated.

India is home to more widows than any other country in the world. This research proposes a strategy to enhance the lives of this marginalized community in Varanasi….

Yazd, Iran, is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world — sustained for millennia by an extraordinary underground water system called the Qanat……

The Guna people of the San Blas Archipelago in the Caribbean Sea have built their lives on tiny coral islands for centuries…..

A detailed documentation of the morphology and formal elements of one of the largest engineered landscapes on the planet…

A documentation of the evolution and morphology of one of the world’s most unique subterranean habitats….

A comparative study of city form as evolutionary patterns and typological variation — examining how cities from Venice….

A documentation of the multifarious urban manifestations of Hindu sacredness — from wayside shrines and temple ghats to full temple towns…..

Urban Designer & City Planner
Los Angeles, USA

Vinayak Bharne, AICP, is an urban designer and city planner whose 25-year career spans practice, research, education and advocacy. His work includes projects across the United States, Canada, India, Australia, China, the United Arab Emirates, Panama, Kenya and Mauritius.