I am Abiha Batool
City Planner
Skills
About me
Hello, I'm Abiha Batool, a service designer and city planner. My fascination with cities and the communities that breathe life into them has been the driving force behind my career. With a unique blend of expertise in design, planning, journalism, photography, and policy, I have dedicated myself to studying Karachi.
My city, Karachi, is one of the largest and least livable cities in the world, and uniqely one of the very few that operate without a coherent waste management system. My academic and professional endeavors have focused on studying Karachi’s waste crisis, mapping its informal systems, and amplifying the voices of those most impacted, particularly the often-overlooked waste picker communities who labor at the city's margins. My goal is to help reimagine and implement a contextually grounded, inclusive waste management system, one that places these communities at the center of both diagnosis and design, and moves toward a more sustainable, equitable, and livable Karachi.
Portfolio
- All
- Teaching
- Research
- Social Impact
- Photography
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Resume
Georgia Institute of Technology, Fulbright Scholarship
Master’s in City and Regional Planning (May 2023)
Certification in Global Development (May 2023)
Habib University, Pakistan
Communication and Design (June 2019)
Stanford University, USA
Summer International Honors Program (2018)
Adjunct Faculty, Communication and Design, Habib University
Jan 2025 – May 2025
Taught a field-based course on Karachi’s waste management crisis, cross-listed between the Communication and Design Program and the Social Development and Policy Program. Combining design, journalism, and planning, the course documented the city’s waste system, mapped key pain points, and analyzed the roles of various stakeholders.
HCD Consultant, GAIN x Proportion Global
Sept 2024 – April 2025
Consultant on a community-based participatory assessment with Food Distribution Networks in Pakistan, on gender and nutrition barriers. Responsible for field work and the design of intervention bundle for improving the nutrition impact of these networks, in collaboration with GAIN Pakistan.
Manager Undergraduate Education, Habib University
Dec 2023 - Present
- Spearheaded and strategized initiatives aimed at enhancing the university's four-year graduation rate.
- Worked directly with the Dean to develop and implement a comprehensive academic governance system, ensuring seamless university-wide flow of knowledge and efficient decision-making processes.
- Contributed to the University's pursuit of NECHE Accreditation.
- Oversaw and managed events within the Dean's department, including the coordination and execution of the final year capstone showcase event.
- Led efforts in strategizing and evaluating enhancements to Habib's liberal core curriculum, fostering academic excellence and adaptability, and overall good student experience.
Community Engagement Lead, Smart Sea Level Sensors
May 2022 - Aug 2022
In collaboration with The Harambee Foundation and the City of Savannah, conducted community workshops directly with residents of vulnerable neighborhoods to co-design locally led climate resilience strategies and support place-based adaptation efforts.
Service Designer/Consultant, Designist
Jul 2019 - Jun 2021
- Designed the end-to-end experience of Fujifilm’s home X-ray service RemoteCare.
- Designed Online Banking Platforms for Meezan Bank using UI/UX methods.
- Improved the existing designs of Bank Al-Habib’s Online Banking Platforms.
- Redesigned and improved the customer experience and services being offered by the biggest blood bank of Asia, Hussaini Blood Bank.
- Conducted UX research for Careem, a ride-hailing services company.
- Conducted a two-day workshop with Dawlance, one of the biggest home appliance brands in Pakistan, for Habib University’s Industry Training Series (2023).
- Designed and conducted a workshop at Habib University named “UX Design for Better Cities” (2023).
- Conducted a session for Habib University students to help them identify their paths after graduation (2024).
- Elected President of Fulbright Student Association at Georgia Tech (2022-23).
- Elected member of Curriculum Review Committee, Habib University (2018-19).
- Elected Senator for Communication and Design, Batch of 2019 (2017-2018).
- Founder and Chairperson of Sustainability Committee, Habib University (2017-18).
- Orientation Leader at Habib University for the batch of 2020 (2016)
- Awarded Fulbright Scholarship to pursue Masters in the USA (2021).
- Selected for the U.S. Mission’s Masterclass on ‘Mastering the Business Life Cycle’ (acceptance rate less than 6%) (2025).
- Selected to participate in Women Leaders Fellowship Program by Nest.io, an intensive 3-month training for women leaders in Pakistan (2024).
- Recipient of the Dean’s Medal for graduating with the highest CGPA in the Class of 2019, Habib University.
- Awarded scholarship by Habib University to attend Stanford University’s Summer International Honors Program (2018).
- Awarded almost 100% merit-based scholarship by Habib university to pursue undergraduate education.
- Invited as a speaker at the 17th Annual Conference on Climate Change in Islamabad, Pakistan (January 2024).
- Selected to participate in HPAIR (Harvard College Project for Asian and International Relations) Conference at Harvard University (February 2019).
- Project Playground selected to be presented at UNRH (Undergraduate Network for Research in Humanities) at Wooster University (February 2019).
- Represented Habib University at COP in My City Conference organized by Ministry of Climate Change, Pakistan, and won award for best delegation (2017)
- Presented an academic paper in a seminar on Social and Spatial Organization of Religious and Cultural Heritage in Sindh, at NED University (2017).
- Traveled to over 20 U.S. cities (Aug 2021–May 2023) as part of immersive academic, cultural, and urban research experiences.
- Founded and moderate a social media community for Pakistani city planners and urbanists to share ideas, research, and professional opportunities.
- Like to maintain a visual archive of cityscapes, architecture, and everyday spatial practices from around the world.
- Developed a city-wide cleaning campaign for the Sindh Waste Management Board as part of a course I taught at Habib University (2025).
- Volunteered with the Orangi Pilot Project (2017) to create hand-drawn maps for one of Asia’s largest informal settlements; the maps were used as legal evidence to help long-term residents claim land rights and prevent forced evictions.
- Supported fundraising efforts for Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital in Atlanta (2021 & 2022).
- Designed a public awareness campaign on organ donation for SIUT Hospital (2018) as part of an undergraduate course on health and communication.
- Karachi’s Waste Crisis (Instructor & Research Lead): Designed and taught a field-based course on Karachi’s municipal waste system; led the creation of comprehensive handbooks based on interviews and field research, documenting key stakeholders and the human impact (2025).
- Master’s Option Paper: Solid Waste Management in Karachi: Analyzed systemic failures and stakeholder roles within Karachi’s waste infrastructure; proposed policy recommendations to improve governance and service delivery (2023).
- Puerto Rico Housing Crisis (Georgia Tech Studio): Conducted post-disaster housing research in Puerto Rico, collecting and systematizing field data in collaboration with local government agencies (2023).
- Undergraduate Thesis: Post-Cosmopolitan Karachi: An ethnographic exploration of Karachi’s evolving urban identity through photography, journalism , and urbanism (2019).
- Women’s Fear in Public Space as a Design Problem: Investigated gender-based exclusion in urban design, highlighting how small-scale interventions impact women’s safety and spatial access (2018).
- Neighborhood Park Revitalization (TransDesign Practicum): Applied design thinking to co-create a sustainability-focused plan for a deteriorating public park based on community engagement (2018).
- Shrine of Udero Lal: Space, Identity, and Politics: Explored how built form mediates religious coexistence and class dynamics at a shared Hindu-Muslim sacred site of worship in Sindh (2017).
Contact
If you have any questions or would like to discuss my work further, please feel free to reach out.