Summary

Dr. Irfan Ahmad Rana is the current Head of the Department and Assistant Professor in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning. He is a professional urban planner with over 13 years of experience. He has a Ph.D. in Regional and Rural Development Planning from the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT, Thailand). He is a registered member of the Pakistan Council of Architects and Town Planners (PCATP) and the Institute of Planners, Pakistan (IPP). He is also affiliated as a Young Scientist with Integrated Research on Disaster Risk (IRDR), United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR). His research experience spans the fields of disaster and climate change resilience, and I have worked in diverse and multicultural international settings. My research aims to understand climate risks and vulnerabilities in urban and rural areas, focusing on themes such as urban resilience, climate change adaptation, disaster risk reduction, climate justice, and heat/flood risk management. Specifically, I have conducted research on the multifaceted nature of climate risks, vulnerabilities, and resilience; the role of climate risk perceptions in preparedness and adaptation planning; and the use of quantitative and artificial intelligence methods to assess exposure, capacities, and inequalities for enhanced adaptation planning and urban resilience. His future research interests include the following: i) disaster and climate change resilience, ii) adaptation planning, and iii) data-driven urban and environmental management. These themes encompass but are not limited to, topics such as risk, vulnerability and resilience, climate action, local climate zones, environmental and climate justice, nature-based solutions, urban growth modeling and spatiotemporal analyses, human-environment interactions, artificial intelligence, and statistical-based methods for urban planning and environmental management.

Academic Background

Honours and Awards