Portfolio

Portfolio Revathi Roopini Veriah MCRP, MSPP & B.Arch

revathiroopini@gmail.com I +1 (470) 985 3030

Résumé EXPERTISE Policy Analysis & Evaluation • Knowledge of principles gained through coursework and professional experience: Urban Planning • Experience in social Justice and advocacy, ethnographic research, agricultural food systems, social entrepreneurship and land conservation.

Architecture • Conceptual and detail design of various project typologies.

EDUCATION Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, Unites States Dual Master of Public Policy (Environmental Policy) & Master of City and Regional Planning (Health and Environment concentration) GPA: 3.50/4 Anna University, Chennai, India Bachelor of Architecture GPA: 7.31/10

PROJECTS Research • Classification of Informal Settlements (slums) Based on the Susceptibility to Climate Change in Ahmedabad, India MCRP exit project 2018.

• Tallawah App: Strengthening the Power of Tourism Through Small and Micro Enterprises. The Geneva challenge: Advancing Development Goals International Contest, 2017.

• Tokyo smart city: urban design studio. Academic, 2017.

• Charleston Low-Line greenway: conceptual design proposal.

Academic, 2016.

• Traditional Water Harvesting System: Conflict & Management of Common Property Resources. Academic, 2015.

• Measuring Multidimensional Poverty: A review of the Alkire-Foster method. Academic, 2015.

• An Analysis of Policies to Address Adaptation to Climate Change.

Academic,2015.

SKILLS Proficient in: AutoCad, Google Sketch-Up, archiCAD, V-Ray, Adobe Photoshop, and Hand Rendering, IBM SPSS, Microsoft Access, GIS, Illustrator, and InDesign Strong verbal and written communication skills, independent self-motivated, strong team leader and team player.

EXPERIENCE Enterprise Innovation Institute EI2, Atlanta, U.S.A Summer 2017 I Intern Conducted research on corporate innovation centers located in Tech Square, Georgia tech. Methodologies include literature review, semi structured interviews, GIS mapping and review of news articles indexed in lexus nexus. Presented findings in the form of a presentation and report.

Guangdong Urban Planning & Design, Guangzhou, China Summer 2016 I Intern Assisted in preparing proposals for green infrastructure, building regulation codes for historic area and habitat conservation plan for the city of Jiamen.

Arkitrek Sdn., Sabah, Malaysia Summer 2014 I Intern Participated in a design and build of a community center for a Murut tribal village in the heart of Borneo rainforest.

The project was awarded an honorable mention in the SEED 2015 awards.

Vaastu Shilpa Consultancy, Ahmedabad, India Spring 2013 I Intern Assisted in preparing detail drawings for Smriti Van in Gujarat, a memorial to honor the death of 13,805 victims in an earthquake in 2001.

Prepared presentation drawings for Nalanda University- a competition project.

HCP Design, Planning & Management, Ahmedabad, India Fall 2012 I Intern Assisted in preparing detail drawings for Central Vista, Gandhinagar, an urban plaza in front of the state secretariat building.

Surveyed public lands in the city, for a study funded by the World Bank.

TEACHING EXPERIENCE Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta GA Spring 2018, Fall 2017, Spring 2017 & Fall 2016, Teaching Assistant for the course ‘Science, Technology & Human Values’ Leading and facilitating discussions on course material Grading, assessing assignments and projects that tested students’ knowledge of the course content.

Contents Master Planning Urban Design GIS Work Experience

Urawa Misono – Smart City Urawa Misono is a sub-center of Saitama City, the most populous city in Saitama Prefecture, Japan. While Saitama City boasts a population of 1.26 million, Urawa Misono has remained largely rural. Only 45 minutes from Tokyo by rail, it is the final stop on the Saitama Rapid Railway Line. Every two weeks, thousands of soccer fans swarm the station and walk or drive to the Saitama Stadium. It is an important site for the 2020 Summer Olympic Games.

Performance zoning- in this approach development and land use are controlled by the performance of a structure or development and the ways in which it benefits the urban system and moves the city towards both normative and local goals.

Performance zoning encourages mixed use over single-use spaces and encourages high performance development. The block typologies allow for an additional problem to be addressed.

Tokyo smart city: urban design studio I Academic I 2017

There is a significant trade off effect between various performance elements, such as solar power generation, food production and population density.

As density increases, for example, the amount of land area available for food production and solar power generation decrease. This requires that there be trade offs achieve the overall system criteria of being net zero.

The Lab

Hines- ULI Competition I 2017

Terminus

Hines- ULI Competition I 2016

Living Bridges Georgia Tech’s Eco-Rain Plaza In 2013, the EPA designated Proctor Creek as a priority location for the Urban Waters Federal Partnership. The campus is located within this watershed. Georgia Tech, like many urban universities is located in the inner city, neighboring lower income minority communities but rarely ever effectively engaging them. With the new commitment to the Westside through the creation of the Westside Community Alliance.

WATERSHED BOUNDARY

Living Bridges beckons user exploration of the space, its movement and its growth. With the bridges as focal points, our design will enable employees and residents to explore the flow, collection and disappearance of water throughout the site and to witness the resulting landscape grow and morph over seasons and time.

SITE LOCATION

EPA Campus Rain Works Challenge I Competition I 2017

PLAN

Charleston Low Country Low LineRail to Trail The Lowcountry Lowline offers a unique opportunity to weave together historic neighborhoods and communities to shape a larger vision embodied and activated by many active corridors. It will improve connectivity between northern and southern Charleston neighborhoods, create recreational and economic opportunities, and improve ecosystem services.

With an emphasis on connectivity, the Lowline trail could connect existing parks, open spaces, and neighborhood amenities such as grocery stores, restaurants, and other commercial and tourist spots. The trail would also become a part of a green network that connects and restores wildlife habitats while also mitigating issues stemming from storm water runoff and saltwater intrusion.

The central stretch is unique in its composition. It faces the challenge of responding to its proximity to the downtown tourism and while also accommodating the residential neighborhoods that immediately surround it.

Land Conservation I Academic Project I 2016

VISUALIZATIONS

Uptown Neighborhood, New Orleans: Resiliency & Adaptation Plan Nicknamed the garden Uptown retains many of the grand homes built in the 1890s along St. Charles Avenue and in exclusive cul-de-sac developments like Rosa Park. On oak-shaded streets intersecting St. Charles Avenue, frame houses with ample galleries are the norm. Closer to the river, more modest shotguns were built to house 19th century workers.

Relative to other parts of the city, Uptown is at a higher elevation (compared to the mean sea level).

The average elevation of the neighborhood is 1 to 2 m above sea level. Hence the neighborhood remained largely unaffected by Hurricane Katrina.

Only a small portion in the North-East part of the neighborhood is at a comparatively low elevation (between 0 to 1m). This area is prone to flooding.

Location & Urban Character

Neighborhood Demographics 60.00%

50.00% 40.00%

30.00% 20.00% 10.00% 0.00% Less than 10 10-17 years old18-49 years old50-64 years old More than 65 years years

Age

In 2016, there were approximately 6546 people in the neighborhood and around 2981 households. rate of population decline was 2.02% between 2000-2016. This is significantly less than the population decline which is 21%. This can be attributed to the neighborhoods resilience and lack of long term damage post hurricane Katrina. In fact, property and rental values continued to increase. The gross per month rent was estimated to be $1,294 compared to $987 in the other parishes.

Racial Diversity

Climate Change & the City I Academic Project I 2018

Uptown

New Orleans

Income

Vulnerability to Heat- Exposure

Susceptibility

Adaptive Capacity

Parcels that are likely to be impacted by heat related incidences.

Climate Change & the City I Academic Project I 2018

Exposure Parcels with comparatively low surface temperature (between 32.21 to 33.87 degree Celsius ) are located along St Charles Avenue. This is largely due to the tree canopy along the right of way. Three clusters of parcels stand out as parcels with comparatively high surface temperature. This is largely due to dense residential construction, parking areas and no pervious surfaces. Most of the parcels are between 33.8735.62 degrees Celsius.

Susceptibility Young children and the elderly are highly susceptible to heat related illnesses, particularly those with preexisting chronic conditions. In 2010, it was estimated that 879 children lived in the neighborhood. Of this, 80 children are below the age of 4.

Approximately 856 elderly people live in the community.

Close to 70% of them live in family households. However, the remaining 30% live alone. This group is even more vulnerable since they lack familial networks.

Adaptive Capacity Several assets across the neighborhood helps increase its adaptive capacity and build resilience.

Within the neighborhood there are 5 parks, 1 urban farm and 2 cemeteries. In case of extreme heat events, open spaces are in general cooler and breezy. They can possibly become spaces for rest and reprieve from the heat. The community has a public library and 4 places of worship.

Vulnerability to Flooding- Exposure

Susceptibility & Adaptive Capacity

90% of the neighborhood will experience flooding to some extent in case levee system fails under 2100 tidal conditions. Only one row of blocks along Magazine Street is above 4.3 feet and will not flood. However, not all parcels will be flooded to the same depth. 50% of the parcels will be flooded to a depth of 1ft. If drained appropriately, this will not cause lasting damages to the properties- especially if buildings are elevated above grade level. 40% of the parcels located above St.Charles Avenue are likely to flood to a level of 2.3ft.

Climate Change & the City I Academic Project I 2018

The zoning code mandates a plinth level of at least 3feet above grade level. Hence if parcels are appropriately drained and there is no lasting stagnation, these parcels are not likely to suffer long term damage. 15% of the parcels are vulnerable to 4.3ft of flooding. At this level, water is likely to enter households and cause damage.

Particularly this will render houses to be inhabitable if the houses do not have a second story. One parcel is likely to be flooded by 6.3 feet.

Combined Assessment Having mapped the exposure and susceptibility to flooding and heat waves within the neighborhood, a spatial trend emerges. The most critical area is zone1 and efforts for mitigation must be prioritized within this zone.

Climate Change & the City I Academic Project I 2018

Recommendations

Classification of Informal Settlements Based on their Susceptibility to Climate Change- Case study of Ahmedabad, India Squatter settlement

Relocated slums

Pol

Chawl or Chali

Hazard prone areas

Typology 1- Squatter settlement

Typology 2-Relocated Slums

Typology 3- Chawl or Chali

Typology 4- Pol

Typology 5- Hazard Prone Areas

The aim of this study was to assess susceptibility of slum communities to four key climate stressors 1) heat wave, 2) flooding and inundation, 3) water scarcity and 4) vector borne deceases. The study explored the context of each of these factors through a review of existing literature and assessed risk at the city and community level by measuring the relative vulnerability through a combination of remote sensing and GIS application. Typologies of settlements are identified on aerial imagery through their location and distinct urban footprint.

Slums are classified based on two key criteria that directly impacts susceptibility. These are relative location of the settlement and the quality of built environment. Settlements located on vulnerable sites (such as river fronts) are more likely to be impacted by climate change. On the other hand, quality of built environment in terms of spatial organization and construction material directly impacts coping capacity of communities and reduces susceptibility. In this study, slums are classified into 5 typologies 1) squatter settlements 2) relocated slums 3) chawl 4) pol and 5) slums located on the river front.

Heat Wave

Water Scarcity

Random clustering

Distinct and repetitive geometry

Located in the North-Eastern part of the city

Located in the historic Located on flood core of the city prone areas

The typical characteristics of each Typology

Capstone Paper I 2018

100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

Flooding and Innundation

Vector Borne Deceases

Relative susceptibility of each typology in comparison to one another.

Assessment at the City Level

Cases of malaria and dengue recorded in 2012.

Location of the 16 study areas within the city of Ahmedabad

Capstone Paper I 2018

The map captures the average surface temperature (surface heat emissivity) in different part of the city. The waterbodies have the lowest daytime surface temperature.

The map assesses vulnerability to localized flooding by identifying relative Study areas prone to pluvial flooding elevation of the settlements. By definition slums do not have adequate drainage and storm water infrastructure. Hence settlements situated in low lying areas are more likely to be severely impacted by flooding.

Capstone Paper I 2018

Jiamen Egret Conservation Plan

Internship I Summer 2016

Kaili Historic Preservation and Tourism Promotion

Temple Tank

Incorporating Green Infrastructure into Flood Prone Neighborhood.

Temple

Rain Garden

Green Roof

Stepped Treatment For Sheet Flow Collection Wetland & Primary Treatment

Terraced WetlandSecondary Treatment

Temple

Internship I Summer 2016

Temple Tank

Plaza

Treatment Pond

Walkway

Collection Wetland

Proposed Green Infrastructure

River Front Redevelopment

Internship I Summer 2016

Restore Waterbodies

Rail- to- Trail

Proposed Green Infrastructure

Courtyards

Internship I Summer 2016

River Front

Public Right-of- Way

Internship I Spring 2013

Sun Point

Internship I Spring 2013

Inventory of Public Lands in Ahmedabad

Internship I Fall 2012

Internship I Summer 2014

Introduction

Internship I Summer 2014

Internship I Summer 2014

Design

Internship I Summer 2014

Community Engagement

Internship I Summer 2014