Ongoing 2019-2026

The Future Ground: Urban Planning Under Climate Uncertainty
PhD Research at TU Delft Resilience Lab | Advisors: Prof. Tina Comes & Dr. Nazli Yonca Aydin

Traditional urban planning is often hamstrung by its own rigidity. Master plans and zoning laws are designed for fixed structures, yet we live in an era of volatile climate disruptions and rapid urban growth. My research addresses this friction, moving beyond static land-use models toward adaptive, systems-based planning.

While data-driven tools like Planning Support Systems (PSS) offer immense potential, they often fail to integrate into long-term strategy due to high resource demands and narrow focus. My work bridges this gap by reconciling immediate urban needs—such as infrastructure and energy—with long-term resilience.

By investigating the evolution of planning theory and the temporal dynamics of infrastructure lifecycles, I’ve developed a new framework for Resilient Urban Planning. This approach doesn’t just plan for a single future; it utilizes a hybrid scenario-building method that blends computational modeling with narrative foresight and localized practitioner insights. Grounded in empirical research across India and the Netherlands, my work ensures that urban resilience is not just a technical goal, but an equitable, context-specific reality for cities at every stage of development.

My research addresses the challenge of planning for volatile futures through three core contributions:

Frameworks for Resilient Dynamics: Theoretical and conceptual models for embedding resilience within the spatio-temporal shifts of modern cities.
Hybrid Scenario-Building: A blended methodology utilizing computational models, narrative scenarios, and localized datasets to inform policy.
Interdisciplinary Methodology: An empirical approach—tested in India and the Netherlands—combining spatial modeling and text mining with qualitative interviews and design-led workshops.

Featured

Stories of Science by TU Delft (Click here ︎)
Allianz Climate Risk Award 2024 (Click here ︎)

Publications

Krishnan, S., Aydin, N.Y. and Comes, T., 2021. Planning support systems for long-term climate resilience: a critical review. Urban Informatics and Future Cities, pp.465-498.

Krishnan, S., Aydin, N.Y. and Comes, T., 2023. RISE-UP: Resilience in urban planning for climate uncertainty-empirical insights and theoretical reflections from case studies in Amsterdam and Mumbai

Aydin, N.Y., Krishnan, S., Yu, H. and Comes, M., 2022. An integrated framework for incorporating climate risk into urban land-use change modeling. In Proceedings of the 32ND EUROPEAN SAFETY AND RELIABILITY CONFERENCE (ESREL 2022)

Krishnan, S., Aydin, N.Y. and Comes, T., 2023. TIMEWISE: Temporal Dynamics for Urban Resilience-Theoretical insights and empirical reflections from Amsterdam and Mumbai. NPJ Urban Sustainability

UNDER REVIEW. Krishnan, S., van Delden, H., Aydin, N.Y. and Comes, T., 2024. FutureScapes: Blending Computational Models and Scenario Narratives to Design Urban Futures

Talks

Riding Out the Storm. Allianz Climate Risk Award, 2024.
Data-rich vs. Data-poor? Developing Regional Land-Use Models for Urban Resilience: Insights from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. International Workshop on Climate-Resilient Development in Southeast Asia, Harvard University, 2024.
Who Plans? Knowledge Paradigms in Urban Planning and Policy Processes. 5th India Public Policy Network Conference, IIT Bombay, 2024.
RISE-UP: Resilience in urban planning for climate uncertainty-empirical insights and theoretical reflections from case studies in Amsterdam and Mumbai . Reinventing the City , Amsterdam, 2024.
Risk to Resilience: Dealing with Uncertainty in Urban Planning. Global Coastal Cities Summit, Mumbai, India, 2023 (Speaker & Session Moderator).
Predicting Land-use for Urban Resilience: The knowledge divide between the Global North and Global South. International Conference on Resilient Systems, Mexico, 2023. Slides here︎.
WHEN TO PLAN? Understanding temporality for urban planning for an uncertain future. Society for Decision Making under Deep Uncertainty, Mexico, 2022
Exploring Resilient and Equitable Urban Scenarios. TU Delft Summer School on Planning and Designing the Just City, Netherlands, 2022.
Geospatial Tools for Urban Resilience. Geospatial World Forum, Netherlands, 2022.
Planning for a Resilient Mumbai. Dutch Answers to Flood Management & Land Subsidence, Netherlands Consulate Mumbai & Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai, 2021.
Planning Support Systems for Long-Term Climate Resilience. International Conference on Computational Urban Planning and Urban Management, Finland, 2021
Towards a framework for long-term climate resilience in complex urban environments. Joint Resilience Engineering Conference, Delft, 2020.
The uncertainty space in urban planning. Society for Decision Making Under Deep Uncertainty, Delft, 2019.

Experts Consultation

RE-GROUND: Exploring resilient future land-use scenarios for the Metropolitan Region of Amsterdam, Consultation with experts from the Metropolitan Region of Amsterdam, 2021.