Assistant Professor Susmita Rishi’s work sits at the intersection of planning, land use, and social justice

Western Washington University published this notice on 2026-10-30. The following highlights are selected excerpts from the full source.

Born and raised in Chandigarh, India — Le Corbusier’s modernist master-planned city — new Assistant Professor of Urban and Environmental Planning and Policy Susmita (Sush) Rishi developed an interest in the difference between formal urban planning and informal settlements like those found in nearby Delhi.

This interest in planned environments led Rishi to study architecture at Panjab University and Pennsylvania State University. Later, she earned a doctorate in interdisciplinary urban design and planning at the University of Washington, where her dissertation examined how value and space are negotiated in Delhi’s informal settlements.