Geeta Mehta is an Associate Professor of Architecture and Urban Studies at Temple University, Japan Campus, and a visiting professor at Columbia University in New York and the Delhi School of Planning and Architecture. She is also the founder/chair of Asia Initiatives, and the President of American Institute of Architects Japan Chapter. She received her Ph.D from University of Tokyo. She is a founding partner of URBZ.

Matias Echanove, Geneva, Switzerland

Matias Echanove studied economics & government at the London School of Economics (LSE), urban planning at Columbia University in New York and urban information systems at the Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies, University of Tokyo. He has researched urban culture, participatory politics and information technology in Bogota, New York, Tokyo and Mumbai, and has organized workshops, studios, seminars and conferences in various cities. He is a founding partner of URBZ.
www.urbanology.org

Rahul Srivastava studied Anthropology in Mumbai, Delhi and Cambridge (UK). He taught at Wilson College in Mumbai for seven years and has been invited as a speaker and fellow by many academic institutions around the world including Tata Institute of Social Sciences, New School University, Yale, Columbia, Nara University and the University of Tokyo. He was the first Director of PUKAR in Mumbai. He now works as a journalist and a consultant for architectural firms, government agencies, civic groups, art initiatives and academic centers. He is a founding partner of URBZ.
www.urbanology.org

Nishit Shah, Mumbai, India

Nishit Shah is Mumbai-based computer engineer and RHCE. He has more than three years of work experience as a system administrator. He is passionate about free and open source software. He met the URBZ team in the Urban Typhoon workshop in Koliwada, where he helped to set　up a local wireless server for dharavi.org. He recently joined URBZ as an IT Manager.

Tomo Takeda, Barcelona, Spain

Tomo Takeda received a master’s degree in Architectural Planning from Tokyo Denki University. She then earned another master’s from La Gran Escala at Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya. She has explored many modes of architectural intervention, including interior design, landscape design and Web design. She concentrated not only on design, but also on the management of projects. She is currently running a recording studio, El Tostadero in Barcelona, and working as a Web designer for URBZ.

José Abásolo, Valparaíso, Chile

José Abásolo holds a master's degree in architecture from the Escola Tècnica Superior d'Arquitectura de Barcelona (etsaB-UPC). He practiced in Spain, Chile and Afghanistan and is currently teaching architectural and urban theory at the Universidad de Talca, UDLA and UNIACC. In addition to contributing his graphic design skills, he is also promoting URBZ as a tool for participatory planning across the Andean region.

Marion Penelas, Geneva, Switzerland

Marion Penelas is a PhD candidate and research assistant at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, in the Study Group on the Spatiality of Risks, where she participates in various projects involving GIS for disaster mitigation, a field that she believes could greatly benefit from the URBZ system. Trained as a Geographer, she also studied urban planning and hydraulic engineering -fields that she would like to combine in her PhD thesis. She is a local collaborator and advisor for URBZ.

Sytse de Maat graduated in architecture at Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands. Parallel to his career as a professional architect he works on his fascination for the human habitat. He gave lectures in Amsterdam, Tokyo, and Mumbai. His aim is to open the eyes of students, professionals and his clients for the aliveness of their environment and help them participate in its evolution. Observing and sharing his observations is his most important strategy. Photography, blogging, and lecturing are his tools. Christopher Alexander’s “The Nature of Order” is his current inspiration.

Wahid Seraj studied architecture at The Cooper Union for Advancement of Science and Art, New York. His thesis project investigated alternative development strategies for Koliwada-Dharavi and architectural methodologies to facilitate community participation. He was an architect-consultant for Urban Typhoon Koliwada. He is interested in arts and vernacular crafts, curatorial work, architectural design, multi-disciplinary collaboration and community organization. He is currently a field-operator and architect for URBZ in Mumbai.