Data Dialogues

How Geospatial AI might change Urban Planning Forever!

17th September 2026

@ 3:30 p.m. 

Session Overview

Planning and implementation of city infrastructure development is a ‘wicked’ problem. Cities change rapidly. A newly opened store suddenly causes massive footfall and changes in travel demand. Rapidly changing climate patterns cause fatal heatstrokes in parts of cities. Massive areas of the country get covered in pollution blankets. 

In this talk, I will share some of my insights into how digital data from satellites, crowdsourced data from phones and vehicles powered with machine learning algorithms is creating the ability to take intelligent decisions at scale. I will talk about CityOS, an AI IDE, our attempt to make scientific decision making available to city planners, consultants and government administrators. I will also discuss innovations in mobility, hydrology, and climate understanding that are making place-agnostic learning and modelling feasible at scale! 

Speaker
Featured Speaker

Anupam Sobti

Assistant Professor • Plaksha University

Anupam Sobti is an Assistant Professor at Plaksha University, leading the Geospatial Computer Vision Group, where he applies satellite imagery and sensor data to agriculture, urban planning, and water security problems. He holds a PhD from IIT Delhi, was earlier a postdoctoral researcher at Microsoft Research India (SCAI group), and co-founded Assistech, an assistive-tech initiative for the visually impaired, during his doctoral years. His research centres on closing information gaps between farmers, financial institutions, and municipal authorities using geospatial AI — work that overlaps closely with CDPG's Agri DPI focus.