Dr Ashima Sood

Associate Professor
Co-Director, Centre for Urbanism and Cultural Economics,
Ph.D. in Economics, Cornell University
  • Ph.D., Cornell University Department of Economics

  • Masters in English (Creative Writing), University of California-Davis

  • MA Economics, Delhi School of Economics

  • BA (Hons) Economics, University of Delhi

Urban governance, regional development, economic development, institutions, organisational design, urban research methods, gender, public space and collective action.

  • Kennedy, L., Sood, A., Chakraborty, D. and Chitta, R.M. (2020) ‘Interrogating data justice on Hyderabad’s urban frontier: information politics and the internal differentiation of vulnerable communities’, Information, Communication & Society, pp.1-20.
  • Sood, A. and Kennedy, L. (2020) ‘Neoliberal exception to liberal democracy? Entrepreneurial territorial governance in India’. Territory, Politics, Governance8(1), pp.23-42.
  • Kennedy, L. and Sood, A. (2019) ‘Outsourced urban governance as a state rescaling strategy in Hyderabad, India’, Cities85, pp.130-139.
  • Sood, A. (2016). “Speculative urbanism”, Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Urban and Regional Studies. 2019.
  • Jain, T. and Sood, A. (2017) ‘How does relationship-based governance accommodate new entrants? Evidence from the cycle-rickshaw rental market’, Journal of Institutional Economics13(3), pp.673-697.
  • Kennedy, L. and Sood, A. (2016). ‘Greenfield Development as Tabula Rasa. Rescaling, Speculation and Governance on India’s Urban Frontier’, Economic and *Political Weekly Review of Urban Affairs Special Issue on Greenfield Urban Development. 51(17), 2016.
  • Sood, A. (2015) ‘Industrial townships and the policy facilitation of corporate urbanisation in India’, Urban Studies52(8), pp.1359-1378.
  • Sood, A. (2014) ‘Making the Connection Between Informal Self-Employment and Temporary Migration: Lessons from the Cycle Rickshaw Sector’, In Urbanization in Asia (pp. 41-57). Springer, New Delhi.
  • Sood, A. (2013) ‘Urban multiplicities: Governing India’s megacities’, Economic and Political Weekly, pp.95-101.
  • Sood, A. (2013) ‘Green informal services in India? Rickshaws, rag picking and street vending’.
  • Sood, A. (2012) ‘A future for informal services? The cycle rickshaw sector as case study’, Economic and Political Weekly, pp.95-102.

Research Grants

  • University of Manchester Sustainable Consumption Institute. “Data justice through the prism of occupation rights on the urban fringe: a case study in Hyderabad, India,” 2019. Principal Investigator, with Loraine Kennedy.
  • Azim Premji Foundation. Research Grant 2016; 2018-19. “City as infrastructure? Private and greenfield urban development in India.” Principal Investigator, with Tarun Jain.
  • India Foundation for the Arts. Arts Research and Documentation Programme Grant 2012. “Together, We Clap: Community as Aesthetic in the Kirtan Mandali.” March 2013- November 2014. Principal Investigator.
  • ActionAid India. Grant for investigating the cycle-rickshaw sector in Bilaspur. 2003 – 2004.
  • Mario Einaudi Centre for International Studies and the South Asia Programme, Cornell University. International Research Travel Grant. 2003 – 2004. Principal Investigator.

Referee Service

Environment and Urbanization ASIA; Urban Geography; Global Development Network Outstanding Research in Development Awards; Housing Policy Debate; Urbanisation; Development Policy Review; Journal of Asian and African Studies; Journal of Urban Affair; Journal of Institutional Economics; Economic and Political Weekly; SAMAJ; Springer Science+Business Media; Maharaja Sayajirao University Press; Hyderabad Urban Lab; Azim Premji University Research Grants; NALSAR University of Law.

Scholarly Service

  • Writing Urban India Network. Founding Group Member, June 2020 -.
  • University of Hyderabad. External Examiner, Ph.D. Thesis, February 2019.
  • CEPT University, External Examiner, Ph.D. Minor Dissertation. June 2016.

Scholarly Associations

  • International Sociological Association. Member, February 2019-.
  • Association of American Geographers. Member, October 2017-.
  • Regional Studies Association. Fellow. Member, December 2015-.

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