Based in Arup’s Johannesburg office, Aamena Desai is an experienced urban designer who strives to deliver sustainable and resilient development projects that enrich the lives of people in urban environments. Aamena blends technical expertise and imaginative problem solving to drive meaningful economic, social, and environmental change, while helping clients to achieve their project aims. 

With over 15 years’ experience, Aamena has worked on a range of urban design, masterplanning, and architectural projects of varying complexities and across a diverse range of geographic contexts. These include large scale housing and new city projects, infrastructure advisory programs for special economic zones, educational and healthcare institutions, sector specific industrialisation programmes, ports, airports, and public space design schemes. Some of her projects include: the Anglo-American Johannesburg Regeneration in South Africa, Anambra Inland Container Terminal Planning in Nigeria, and the Addis Ababa TOD Masterplan in Ethiopia.   

Aamena is also a professional member of the Urban Design Institute of South Africa, and has contributed to multiple reports and publications, including African Cities Research, Under the Viaduct, and Cities Alive: Arid Environments.