Geeta Mehta

Geeta Mehta

Geeta Mehta is an Indian-American social entrepreneur, urban designer, and architect. She is the co-founder of Asia Initiatives^[1] and URBZ,^[2] and an adjunct professor^[3] of architecture and urban design at the Graduate School of Architecture Planning and Preservation at Columbia University in New York. She is also a partner in the design firm of Braden and Mehta.^[4]

Geeta earned her bachelor's degree in Architecture from the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi, a master' s degree in Architecture and Urban Design from Columbia University, and a doctorate in Urban Engineering from the University of Tokyo.

Geeta has delivered keynote speeches on social capital, sustainable and equitable urbanism, and community-based change at international forums in Australia, Austria, Brazil, India, Japan and the USA.

Asia Initiatives

Asia Initiatives: Empowering Women by Social Capital

Inspired by Professor M.S. Swaminathan, a noted scientist and humanist, Geeta and Krishen Mehta co-founded Asia Initiatives^[5] (AI) in 1999 in Tokyo. Since 2010 it has been registered as a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization in New York. AI has funded microcredit banks and sent computers to Village Information Center projects in South India with MS Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF). Asia Initiatives has also supported projects in education and healthcare in underserved areas with non-profit organizations like Ashta No Kai^[6] in Pune, Arpana Trust^[7] in Delhi, Women Lead^[8] in Nepal, Saving Mothers in Bangladesh, and Philippine Christian Foundation^[9] in Manila.

SoCCs (Social Capital Credits)

Learning from projects supported by Asia Initiatives,^[10] Geeta Mehta developed the concept of Social Capital Credits (SoCCs), a community currency for social good. AI establishes systems for communities and individuals to earn SoCCs when they accomplish actions for the common good. These SoCCs are then redeemable for services or items such as healthcare, education, and skill empowerment, that are needed to help communities climb out of poverty.

The SoCCs team at Asia Initiatives works with communities extensively to customize SoCCs menus to their specific needs and capabilities. SoCCs Earning Menus include items such as getting children vaccinated, sending children (especially daughters) to high school, waste management, providing childcare or senior care, planting trees, and paving streets. iSoCCs Redemption Menus include items such as school fees, skill training classes, home repairs and telephone talk time. CommSoCCs can then be used for common projects such as a micro-sewage system, improvements to streets or public spaces, or child-care centers. A local SoCC Manager is trained to work with the community. Asia Initiatives also has an online platform, www.SoCCmarket.org,^[11] for trading SoCCs and capturing necessary data. SoCCs are currently being used in pilot sites in Costa Rica, Ghana, Kenya, India, and United States. with local partners that range from corporations to municipal governments. Geeta Mehta has been featured in articles in Forbes^[12] and Huffington Post^[13] which describe the creation and use of SoCCs in greater detail.

URBZ

With urban planner Matias Echanove and urban anthropologist Rahul Srivastava, Geeta is the co-founding partner of URBZ: User Generated Cities, a think/action tank that focuses on participatory urban planning and design systems. It has conducted research and held workshops for urban-visioning for communities in India, Japan, Turkey and Brazil. The work of URBZ was included in the exhibition “Uneven Growth” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City from November 2014~May 2015. URBZ was also named one of the 100 most influential names in architecture in the world by the magazine Il Giornale dell'Architettura^[14]

Braden and Mehta

Founded in Tokyo with Jill Braden, Braden and Mehta^[15] is a design practice located in Honolulu and New York that has designed several residential and commercial projects in Japan and the US.

Media

Geeta Mehta is featured in the following new film about Jane Jacobs entitled "Citizen Jane: Battle for the City”, given speeches at Public Ideas Form in Perth, Australia and Post City event at ARS Electronica in Linz, Austia, and participated in a panel discussion at WomenDeliver 2016 in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Authorship

Geeta Mehta is author/co-author of the following books

• 2017: Building Social Capital by Design. Columbia University (expected Fall 2017)
• 2011: NEW JAPAN ARCHITECTURE. Tuttle Publishing Japan, Co-author with Deanna MacDonald.
• 2008: JAPAN GARDENS. Tuttle Publishing, Japan. Co-author with Kimie Tada.
• 2008: JAPAN LIVING. Tuttle Publishing, Japan. Co-author with Marcia Iwatate.
• 2005 : JAPAN HOUSES. Tuttle Publishing, Japan. Co-author with Marcia Iwatate.
• 2004: JAPAN STYLE. Tuttle Publishing, Japan. Co-author with Kimie Tada.

Awards and Board Positions

Geeta was honored as one of the 21 Leaders of the 21st Century (2015) by Women’s e-news^[16]

She currently serves on the advisory board of the Friends of University of Tokyo in USA,^[17] People Building Better Cities^[18] and the Board of Women Strong International.^[19]

References