Vadodara 1st July 2026: Navrachana University is a multi-disciplinary institution based in Vadodara with strong expertise in Architecture, Urban Design, Urban Planning and Landscape Design. For the past many years Navrachana University has been actively engaging with various urban government bodies, especially with Vadodara Municipal Corporation on matters of heritage management, ecological planning and urban planning. To further strengthen this cooperation and formalize the collaboration a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Navrachana University Vadodara and Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) in the esteemed presence of Honourable Union Minister – Shri Manohar Lal Khattar during the Vibrant Gujarat Regional Conference (Central Gujarat) at Vadodara on 29th June 2026.
The MoU was signed by Smt. Tejal Amin, Chairperson, Navrachana Education Society (NES), Navrachana University and Shri Arun Mahesh Babu M.S., IAS, Municipal Commissioner, representing VMC. This MoU marked a significant milestone in establishing long term collaboration between Academia and Governance.
This MoU will lead to providing expert guidance, imparting training, documentation, research and capacity building to enhance informed decision-making capacity of the technical staff of VMC involved in urban and infrastructure related projects such as open space design, road design, heritage management, area development planning and landscape design. The School of Environmental Design and Architecture (SEDA) under the leadership of the Provost Prof. Pratyush Shankar along with his colleagues from the field of Urban Planning and Design will be leading this collaboration from the university.
This collaboration reflects a shared vision of fostering innovation, research, sustainable urban development, and creating meaningful opportunities for students, communities and collaborative work towards the city building process.
On the sidelines of the MoU signing, a panel discussion, moderated by Prof. Pratyush Shankar, Provost, Navrachana University Vadodara (NUV), examined the urban development perspective on the High Speed Rail Corridor as a Catalyst for Economic Growth and Regional Development, bringing together eminent government officials, leading industrialists, renowned lawyers and academicians. Panellists described the project as a once-in-a-lifetime transformation, bringing massive new infrastructure to the heart of the city and driving large-scale urban renewal.
The discussion covered the execution roadmap for the corridor, including the role of brownfield redevelopment in the planning process, and drew on case studies of successful high-speed rail projects from around the world, outlining the economic transformation such corridors have delivered for entire cities and regions rather than for adjacent pockets alone. Expectations of real estate developers around the project were also discussed.
The discussion’s central theme was the integration of industry with the corridor’s development, alongside its implications for the city’s heritage. Panellists examined the project from the perspective of every stakeholder group involved — industry, government, academia, heritage conservation, and sustainable development professionals — underscoring the importance of a coordinated, multi-stakeholder approach to the corridor’s success.
Link – https://nuv.ac.in/
