My name is Harshavardhan Jatkar and I was born and brought up in the city of Pune, India. At the age of fifteen I got an opportunity to go for an exchange program to Argentina for one year, which influenced my decisions in my academic career. I decided to do Architecture to quench my thirst of understanding and being able to mould the built environment. I graduated Architecture in 2011 from Sir J.J. College of Architecture in Mumbai with a Gold Medal. I did my final year thesis on ‘Alternative Redevelopment models for Inner cities of Mumbai’ which triggered my interest in the urban setups and the socio-economic aspects that influence the urban form. I worked with one of the renowned architectural firms in India - CCBA (Christopher Charles Benninger Architects) for one and a half years and later with INTACH (Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage) for period of 6 months as a consultant for architectural values in historic core of Pune. After this experience, I decided to study further in the area of urban development and I got an opportunity to study in Mundus Urbano – ‘MSc. International cooperation in Urban Development’. As part of the masters I spent one year in TU Darmstadt, Germany and decided to specialise in ‘Development Economics’ at MESCI, University of Rome Tor Vergata. Summer internship in Cairo with ‘Shehayeb CONSULT’ in 2014 working on human behavioural aspects of informal settlements and urban governance further fortified my interest in studying Development Economics. After finishing MESCI, I wish to work in the field of Development with an understanding of built environment and socio-economic aspects of human settlements so as to humbly try to bring about change in people’s lives towards a better future. Apart from my mother tongue ‘Marathi’, I can speak Hindi, English, and Spanish. I am currently pursuing German and Italian.