School of Cities India

On February 1, 2023, the University of Toronto partnered with Tata Trusts to launch the University of Toronto Centre in India, with goals to create opportunities for students, faculty and entrepreneurs at U of T and universities across India; generate research on and solutions to urban, rural, environmental and health challenges; and to provide an Indian base for public outreach, alumni engagement and business development.

A key component of U of T’s engagement with research, entrepreneurship and academia in India is School of Cities India — a commitment by SofC to engage with students, faculty, municipalities, urban stakeholders, and policymakers in India on a host of multidisciplinary initiatives relevant to urban studies, urban data & training.

a map of india with school of cities logo

We are folding collaboration with partners in India into many aspects of our work, with an eye to expanding relationships as capacity grows both at the School and amongst our Indian partners. To date, we have:

  • Invited Masters and PhD students at U of T doing India-focused research to apply to our Graduate Fellows program, which supports graduate students working on urban-focused theses or research projects of an applied, translational, or policy-oriented nature
  • Partnered with the Pune Municipal Organization in Pune, Maharashtra to support undergraduate students in Toronto and Pune to collaborate on an international capstone course, as part of our 2023-24 Multidisciplinary Urban Capstone Project
  • Hosted a 3-day workshop on urban mixed methods, which was attended by six PhD candidates and two professors from India, who joined fifteen other international PhD students from across disciplines to explore innovative research methodologies that engage with the theme of urbanism and cities

The Associate Director of the School of Cities India is Mark Fox (Professor, Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering; Distinguished Professor of Urban Systems Engineering; Director, Urban Data Centre).

School of Cities India launch event video