Nian Paul

Nian Paul is a Visiting Research Fellow at University College London's Institute of Advanced Studies through the Urban Studies Foundation International Fellowship (March-December 2025) and a postdoctoral researcher at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras' Department of Humanities and Social Sciences. She works under the mentorship of Dr. Lakshmi Priya Rajendran (Associate Professor, The Bartlett School of Architecture) on comparative urban studies research.

Dr. Paul completed her PhD at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, focusing on urban materialities and representational dynamics of public art practices in Delhi. Her educational background established her specialization in urban feminist geography with particular attention to Global South urban contexts.

Nian Paul's research centers on the intersection of urban space, gender, and artistic interventions. As an urban feminist geographer, she investigates how public art generates new urban experiences through everyday spatial practices, representations, and contestations in cities of the Global South. Her work critically examines the exclusionary publics created through institutionalized public art practices and explores socio-spatial justice implications of creativity-led urban transformations. She employs qualitative methodologies to analyze gendered geographies of work and leisure within urban environments, with particular attention to visual culture and spatial representation.

Her limited publication record reflects early-career research focused on urban transformation processes in Middle Eastern contexts, with her 2018 co-authored work examining Dubai's evolution from desert landscape to tourist destination. This research demonstrates her interest in how cities overcome geographical constraints through architectural innovation and urban reconfiguration.

• Urban Studies Foundation International Fellow (2025)

Dr. Paul currently participates in the British Academy-funded project "Transgressing Good Cities: Decolonising City Narratives for Just Urban Futures," a collaborative effort involving University College London, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, and Radboud University. This research initiative represents her commitment to developing decolonial approaches to urban studies that prioritize justice-oriented urban futures. Her fellowship activities include research dissemination through seminars such as 'Public Art for Whom?: Art and its Exclusionary Publics.'

As part of her Urban Studies Foundation fellowship, Dr. Paul is developing a comparative framework examining creativity-led urban transformation across Global South cities, with particular attention to how public art interventions reshape urban experiences and spatial dynamics.