Kimberly Noronha

Kimberly Noronha is an urban researcher interested in the lived experience of informality in the global south, particularly Ghana and India. Through innovative research methods, she focuses on the production and use of space to create and perpetuate the intersectional urban identities and inequalities of informality, poverty, and gender. Her work spans the disciplines of urban planning, geography, sociology, and political economy.

Kimberly has worked extensively in India on various urban issues, including urbanisation policy, poverty, livelihoods, education, and water and sanitation. In more than 15 years in the development sector, she has worked with governments, NGOs, implementing agencies and research institutes to formulate policy, coordinate programs, and conduct research. Kimberly has an MPhil in African Studies from the University of Delhi, an MSc in Development Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, and a BA in Anthropology and Sociology from St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai. She is a doctoral candidate in the City and Regional Planning Department at the Weitzman School of Design, University of Pennsylvania.

She is a member of the steering committee on the Penn IUR Forum on Informality.

Selected publications

Noronha, Kimberly. 2019. “Shatkin: Cities for profit: The Real Estate Turn in Asia’s Urban Politics”. Journal of the American Planning Association. pp. 175-176. DOI: 10.1080/01944363.2018.1560830. 

Noronha, Kimberly, Tripti Singh, and Mahima Malik. 2018. Manual Scavenging in India: A Literature Review and Annotated Bibliography. CPR Research Report. [Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/324007988_Manual_Scavenging_in…]

Noronha, Kimberly and Shubhagato Dasgupta. 2016. Monitoring Open Discharge-Free India: A Comprehensive Sanitation Matrix. CPR Research Report. New Delhi: Centre for Policy Research. Available from: http://cprindia.org/research/reports/monitoring-open-discharge-free-ind…. [DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.33228.41607]

Naik, Mukta and Kimberly M. Noronha. 2016. “Leveraging National Schemes to Support a Heritage Agenda in India”. Context: Special Issue on Asia and Urban Heritage XII:79-81

Shubhagato Dasgupta, DTV Raghu Ramaswamy, Kimberly Noronha, Smitha Rao, Seetharaman R., Nikhil George, Amandeep Singh, Tripti Singh, Swati Dhiman, Aditya Bhol. 2015. Swachh Bharat: Industry Engagement – Scope & Examples. SCI-FI: Sanitation Initiative, Research Report. New Delhi: Centre for Policy Research [DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.1.4724.3287]