Profile
Bharat Oraon
Urban Planning Researcher · GIS Developer · Civic Technology Fellow
I am a final-year Bachelor of Planning student at the School of Planning and Architecture, Vijayawada, with a focus on urban governance, spatial intelligence, and civic technology for Indian cities.
My work sits at the intersection of urban planning research and geospatial technology — combining GIS analysis, remote sensing, and spatial data infrastructure with policy research on governance reform, mobility systems, and land use planning.
I am interested in how spatial data and civic technology can strengthen planning systems and urban governance in Indian cities — making planning more evidence-based, participatory, and responsive to the needs of all urban residents.
Career
Professional Experience
Build For Bharat Fellowship
Bharat Digital
Working on digital public infrastructure for urban development, building open-source spatial tools for CUMTA - Chennai Unified Metropolitian Transport Authority, and scaling civic tech solutions for Indian cities.
GIS Integration Intern
City Future Lab, IIT Kharagpur
Contributed to MoHUA-sponsored urban mobility platforms (Pubbs WebGIS, Cycle, and Bus). Developed a full-stack spatial data platform with CRUD functionality using PHP, Leaflet, and GeoPandas. Improved mobility analytics by enhancing bike-share rebalancing models (Python, Gurobi) and visualizing bus scheduling scenarios to support data-driven transit planning.
Research Intern
Open City (Oorvani Foundation)
Contributed to urban climate and heat vulnerability analysis, including LST mapping for Mumbai and UHI studies for Bengaluru and Hyderabad. Supported heat resilience research by mapping national Heat Wave Action Plans and developing technical guides for environmental mapping (LST, NDVI, NDBI) using Google Earth Engine (GEE).
Urban Planning Intern
Patna Municipal Corporation
Assisted in municipal redevelopment projects, property record digitization, and public infrastructure planning for Patna's urban expansion.
Academic
Education
Bachelor of Planning
2021 – 2026School of Planning and Architecture, Vijayawada
Major in Urban Planning. Focus areas: GIS & spatial analysis, GeoAI, transport planning, and urban science studio. Specializing in data-driven planning methodologies.
High School
2019 – 2021Gyanasthali High School, Patna
Completed senior secondary education with a rigorous focus on Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics, while maintaining a creative practice in Painting and English literature.
Competencies
Technical Skills
Geospatial & RS
- QGIS, ArcGIS Pro
- Remote sensing (Landsat, Sentinel-2)
- Google Earth Engine
- CARTO
Programming & Data Science
- Python (GeoPandas, Pandas, Scikit-learn)
- TensorFlow
- JavaScript (SvelteKit)
- R (sf, ggplot2)
Web & Visualization
- Mapbox GL JS, MapLibre
- Kepler.gl, Folium
- D3.js
- Data visualization
AI & Automation
- LLM Engineering
- Agentic AI Systems
- Custom AI Agents
Databases
- PostGIS · Spatial SQL
- NoSQL & Vector DBs
Planning Research
- Urban governance & institutional analysis
- Land use planning & zoning
- Transport planning & mobility
- Housing policy
Leadership
Positions of Responsibility
Public Relation Secretary
Student Council, SPA Vijayawada
- Organized National level Sports meet between 3 SPAs (Bhopal, Delhi & Vijayawada)
- Organized 'Inyan 2026' - Annual fest of School of Planning and Architecture
- Handled comprehensive Public Relation responsibilities and stakeholder engagement
Club Coordinator
Club iO - Tech Club, SPA Vijayawada
- Conducted and managed technical activities for 'Inyan 2025'
- Handled Club Finance responsibilities and budget allocation for tech events
Recognition
Achievements & Awards
HPAIR Conference Delegate
Harvard Project for Asian & International Relations
Selected as one of the top 300 global delegates for the HPAIR Conference, engaging in high-level dialogue on urban resilience, international cooperation, and Asian-Pacific development.
Certificate of Distinction: GO4Youth Olympiad
The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI)
Awarded for exceptional performance in the national environmental studies olympiad. Covered critical urban issues including sustainable development, climate warming, and legislative environmental acts.
Indian Olympiad Qualifier in Mathematics (IOQM)
Mathematics Teachers' Association (India)
Ranked among the top 60 students in the North Bihar and Patna region. The IOQM is the initial qualifying tier for India's participation in the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO).
Focus
Research Interests
Urban governance reform and 74th CAA implementation
Spatial data infrastructure for ULBs
Mobility systems and transit-oriented development
Data-driven urban policy and civic technology
Land governance in periurban transit corridors