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Sweta Byahut

Sweta Byahut

Associate Professor

Political Science

Sweta Byahut

Contact Me

334-844-8436

sweta.byahut@auburn.edu

8052 Haley Center

Office Hours

By Appointment

In the news

Education

2012, PhD, University of Cincinnati, Ohio

2004, Post Graduate Diploma in Land Management, Erasmus University, The Netherlands

1997, Master in Planning, CEPT University, India

1995, Bachelor in Architecture, MS University, India

About Me

Sweta Byahut’s research interests include urban land management, sustainability, and resiliency planning. She brings a decade of professional planning practice experience, having worked in consultancy and applied research in the areas of planning legislation, development regulation, comprehensive planning, post-earthquake reconstruction, and inner-city revitalization planning in Indian cities. Her research on land utilization is influencing Indian urban policy, being cited in the Reforms in Urban Planning Capacity in India by the National Planning Commission. She is a Senior Research Fellow with the CEPT Urban Planning and Design Foundation (2025-26), where she is researching land development policy. Early in her career she received a Small Projects Facility grant from the European Union, the ProVention Applied Research Grant for Young Professionals, and fellowships from the United Nations Environment Program and the Royal Netherlands Embassy.

Dr. Byahut believes in connecting practice with academia, coordinating a dozen real-life community engaged projects benefiting Alabama communities and enhancing student learning. Her students have worked on projects in Dothan, Phenix City, Prattville, Auburn, Montgomery, Athens, and the Johnny Ray Rails-to-Trails project. She is also a member of the Advisory Council of the Auburn University Office of Public Service. Dr. Byahut was the Director of the Master of Community Planning program from 2020-2023, during which time the program achieved 7-year accreditation with the Planning Accreditation Board (PAB), adopted a new Strategic Plan, and achieved STEM designation. She launched the online MCP Newsletter and created a new website for the Alabama City Year Program. The American Planning Association (Alabama Chapter) honored Dr. Byahut with the 2023 Kenneth J. Groves Jr. Distinguished Leadership Award for a Practicing Planner for her significant and sustained contributions to the planning profession. She has also received the Auburn University 2016 Spirit of Sustainability Faculty Award.

Dr. Byahut currently serves on the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP) Global Planning Education Committee and the ACSP-PAB Joint Task Force on Simplifying the Accreditation Process. She was elected to the Governing Board of the ACSP as its SE Regional Representative (2023-25), and as the Secretary-Treasurer of the ACSP Faculty Women’s Interest Group (2019-2021) and has served on the ACSP Committee for Pursuing STEM Designation.

Publications

Peer Reviewed Journal Articles & Book Chapters

  • Byahut, S., S. Rogers, I. Anjikar, J. Nisbett, and C. LeBleu. (forthcoming in 2026). “Landscape patterns and their effect on stormwater runoff in coastal Alabama and Mississippi regions”. Landscape Journal.
  • Debbage, N., M. Atasoy, C. Mitra, and S. Byahut. (2025). Urban Climate Action Plans in the United States: A Textual Content Analysis and Evaluation. Sustainable Cities and Society. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2024.106095
  • Bansal D, Byahut S, Bansal Y. (2024) “Optimization of Embodied Energy and Construction Cost of Low-Income Housing in Urban India.” Urban Science, 8(3), 146. https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci8030146
  • Mahato, B., Byahut, S., & Mittal, J. (2023). “Alabama City Year Program.” In Routledge Companion to Professional Awareness and Diversity in Planning Education, 257-271. Routledge. http://doi.org/10.4324/9781003254003-26
  • LaFrombois, M., C. LeBleu, S. Byahut, and S. Rogers. (2023). “Planning for Green Infrastructure Along the Gulf Coast: An Evaluation of Comprehensive Plans and Planning Practices in the Mississippi-Alabama Coastal Region”, Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 66(11), 2352-2372. https://doi.org/10.1080/09640568.2022.2074822
  • Ghosh, S. & Byahut, S. (2022). “Comprehensive Planning Comes a Full Circle in Cincinnati, Ohio: Insights from the 2012 Plan Cincinnati.” In Vinod Kumar, T.M. (eds) Smart Master Planning for Cities. Advances in 21st Century Human Settlements. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-2386-9_4
  • Mittal, J., Byahut, S., & Agarwal, S. (2022). “Transit, Incentive Zoning, and Affordable Housing—A Proposal for Land-Based Financing Using Smart ICT Systems.” In Smart Cities and Smart Communities: Empowering Citizens through Intelligent Technologies, 365-393. Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore. http://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-1146-0_16
  • Ghosh, S., Byahut, S., & Masilela, C. (2022). “An overview of climate protection and resiliency planning in the New York megacity region.” In Smart Global Megacities: Collaborative Research: Tokyo, Mumbai, New York, Hong Kong-Shenzhen, Kolkata, 287-313. Springer, Singapore. http://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-2019-5_7
  • Byahut, S., Patel, B., & Mehta, J. (2020). “Emergence of sub-optimal land utilization patterns in Indian cities.” Journal of Urban Design, 25(6), 758-777. https://doi.org/10.1080/13574809.2020.1752646
  • Mittal, J. & Byahut, S. (2020). “Planning initiatives and best practices in Ahmedabad.” In The Routledge Handbook of Planning Megacities in the Global South. 355-366. Routledge. http://doi.org/10.4324/9781003038160-26
  • Byahut, S. (2020) “The unique challenges of planning a New Town: The Gandhinagar experience.” Urban Design International 25, 13–29. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41289-019-00099-1
  • Byahut, S. & Mittal, J. (2020). “Can haphazard growth in urban villages be prevented? Experience from the Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar region.” In Smart Village Technology: Concepts and Developments, 135-156. http://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37794-6_7
  • Byahut, S., Ghosh, S., & Masilela, C. (2020). “Urban Transformation for Sustainable Growth and Smart Living: The Case of the Atlanta Beltline.” In: Vinod Kumar, T. (eds) Smart Living for Smart Cities. Advances in 21st Century Human Settlements. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-4603-7_2
  • Mittal, J., Forson, L., & Byahut, S. (2019). “Creating higher-density property development opportunities in fringe areas of Surat, India: A case study of Surat Outer Ring Road using land readjustment and density bonuses.” In Real Estate in South Asia. 165-190. Routledge, UK. http://doi.org/10.1201/9781351233194-11
  • Mittal, J. & Byahut, S. (2019). “Scenic landscapes, visual accessibility and premium values in a single family housing market: A spatial hedonic approach.” Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science, 46(1), 66-83. https://doi.org/10.1177/2399808317702147
  • Ghosh, S., Byahut, S., & Masilela, C. (2019). “Metropolitan regional scale smart city approaches in a Shrinking City in the American Rust Belt — Case of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.” In Smart Metropolitan Regional Development: Economic and Spatial Design Strategies, 979-1021. http://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-8588-8_17
  • Patel, B., Byahut, S., & Bhatha, B. (2018). “Building regulations are a barrier to affordable housing in Indian cities: the case of Ahmedabad.” Journal of Housing and the Built Environment, 33, 175-195. http://doi.org/10.1007/s10901-017-9552-7
  • Byahut, S., & Mittal, J. (2017). “Using land readjustment in rebuilding the earthquake-damaged city of Bhuj, India.” Journal of Urban Planning and Development, 143(1), 05016012. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)UP.1943-5444.0000354
  • Byahut, S. (2016). “An effective development regulation system for a resilient built environment: A reform project for Delhi, India.” In Planning for Community-based Disaster Resilience Worldwide. 214-227. Routledge. http://doi.org/10.4324/9781315600734-25
  • Mittal, J. & Byahut, S. (2016). “Value capitalization effects of golf courses, waterfronts, parks, open spaces, and green landscapes—A cross-disciplinary review.” Journal of Sustainable Real Estate, 8(1), 62-94. https://doi.org/10.1080/10835547.2016.12091887
  • Byahut, S. (2010). “Climate change and sustainable urban planning strategies for India” in India Infrastructure Report 2010: Infrastructure Development in a Low Carbon Economy, Oxford University Press, New Delhi.

Research Reports

  • Vilches, S. L., Byahut, S., Wylam, B. (2020). “Risk Factors vs. Child Abuse and Neglect Reports: An Unexpected Story from Community Maps”. Phase III Report on Community Assets. Prepared by for the Alabama Department of Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention, Social Indicators for Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention in Alabama Project. Social Indicators Research Lab, Human Development and Family Studies, Auburn University and Alabama Cooperative Extension Services.

Other Publications

 

Book Reviews

  • Byahut, S. (2022). Review: Outcaste Bombay: City making and the politics of the poor, by Juned Shaikh: Seattle, University of Washington Press, 2021. Journal of Urban Affairs, 44(6). https://doi.org/10.1080/07352166.2021.1981732
  • Byahut, S. (2014). Review: Rethinking a Lot: The Design and Culture of Parking. Journal of Planning Education and Research, 34(4). https://doi.org/10.1177/0739456X14550265
  • Byahut, S. (2011). Cities and Suburbs: New Metropolitan Realities in the US by Bernadette Hanlon, John R. Short, and Thomas J. Vicino & Once the American Dream: Inner Ring Suburbs of the Metropolitan United States by Bernadette Hanlon. Journal of Urban Affairs, 33(2). https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9906.2011.00561.x

Professional Publications

  • Byahut, S. (2007). “Integrating disaster mitigation in urban planning practices in India”, in Innovative initiatives in disaster risk reduction, ProVention Consortium (The World Bank and Asian Disaster Preparedness Center, Bangkok)
  • Byahut, S. (2006) “A greater role for professionals in the development regulation system.” Gujarat Institute for Civil Engineers and Architects (GICEA) Magazine, August 2006.
  • (2006). “Legal and Administrative Framework for Development Regulation in Gujarat” (funded by the European Union - India SPF Grant # 96-425 and Government of Gujarat). Reports prepared by the Environmental Planning Collaborative (EPC): (1) Policy agenda and legislative intentions, (2) Proposed amendments to GTP&UD Act, 1976 and Model Protocols, (3) Gujarat PASPRA Business Plan, (4) Proceedings of consultative “Workshop on administrative protocols for regulating development in urban areas of Gujarat” at Vadodara (5) Proceedings of seminar “Professional self-certification in development regulation” at Rajkot, (6) Resource handbook for training program on “Urban Planning and Management” at Ahmedabad, (7) Town Planning Scheme Manual, (8) Model Town Planning Scheme for Adalaj, (9) Report on UK-India knowledge transfer tour to England and Scotland, (10) Analytical framework for urban land management.
  • (2005). “Enabling area specific building byelaws and local area planning in Delhi” (USAID FIRE-D Project). Reports prepared by EPC: (1) Policy agenda & legislative intentions paper, (2) Proposed new building byelaws for Delhi, (3) Proposed legislative amendments to Delhi Municipal Corporation Act of 1956, (4) Model Local Area Planning.
  • (2004). “Rationalizing development control regulations for Ahmedabad City”, funded by the Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority and the Asian Development Bank. Report prepared by EPC.
  • (2003). “City Development Strategy for Ahmedabad”, for the World Bank, prepared by EPC.
  • (2002). “Development Plan for Bhuj Area Development Authority”, funded by Gujarat Urban Development Company and Asian Development Bank. Reports prepared by EPC: (I) Existing situation, surveys, studies, analysis, policies, proposals, and programmes, (II) General development control regulations, (III) Supporting documents.
  • (2002). “Sub-regional development plan for Vagra-Dahej, Gujarat – Comprehensive regional development strategies and plan for a coastal region”, for UD&UH dept., GoG. Reports prepared by the School of Planning, CEPT University.
  • (2001). “Gandhinagar Urban Development Plan and Implementation Strategy”. Reports prepared by EPC: (I) Existing situation analysis, (II) Plan proposals and policies, (III) General development control regulations, (IV) Comprehensive Development Strategy, (V) Implementation & Financial Strategy.
  • (2000). “Reformulation of Development Plan for Fringe Area of Ahmedabad for 2011”. Reports prepared by EPC: (I) Existing situation analysis, (II) Plan proposals and policies, (III) General development control regulations, for Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority.
  • (1998). “Surat Inner City Revitalization Plan”, funded by USAID. Report prepared by EPC for the USAID and SMC (project received the UNCHS 100 Global Best Practices Award).
  • (1997). “Ahmedabad Walled City Revitalization Plan”, funded by USAID.  Report prepared by EPC for the USAID and AMC (project received the UNCHS 100 Global Best Practices Award). 

Courses Taught

  • CPLN 7240: Quantitative Methods for Planning
  • CPLN 7600/7610: Synthesis Studio I/II
  • POLI 7000: Research Methods
  • CPLN 5/6010: Introduction to Planning
  • CPLN 5/6000: History and Theory of Urban Form
  • CPLN 5/6060: Sustainable Transportation Planning
  • CPLN 5/6020: Cities, Planning and Climate Change
  • CPLN 5/6970: Global Cities (Special Topics)
  • SUST 2000: Introduction to Sustainability
  • POLI 2120: Cities and Urbanization