Richa Mahtta

I study how urban areas grow, transform, and decline, and the implications of these dynamics in a rapidly changing world. My doctoral research focuses on deurbanization as a process and phenomenon, uncovering how local-to-distal processes shape urban trajectories. My work integrates large-scale spatial analysis and modeling with methods from remote sensing, GIS, machine learning, and network science to analyze patterns of urban change across scales, with a focus on linkages between urbanization, economic development, and environmental sustainability.

I bring over a decade of research experience across academic and global policy organizations, where I have led high-impact collaborative research projects on urban growth and environmental sustainability, supported by diverse sponsors including NASA, World Bank, AFD, WRI, and Toyota Motors. My research has generated novel datasets and insights into the two- and three-dimensional trajectories of urban physical growth and has been published in high-impact journals, including Nature Cities, Environmental Research Letters, and Remote Sensing of Environment. It has also been featured in educational materials for children.

Prior to coming to Yale and the US, I held research positions in India, where I led and supported studies on renewable energy, air quality, and regional-to-global environmental change. Across all my work, I aim to bridge data-driven science with real-world applications, translating complex systems into insights that inform urban policy and planning at multiple scales.