Sukanya Sharma

Department: Land Use
Email: ssharma@mapc.org

Biography:

Sukanya joined MAPC in February 2021 as a Regional Land Use Planner II, working within the Economic Development Division. After a six-month break from work, she (re)joined MAPC’s Land Use Specialists Division in December 2022. She collaborates with cities and towns as part of this division to analyze land use patterns, assists in Section 3A Massachusetts Zoning Act adoption and compliance, and implements initiatives that promote smart growth, economic inclusion, and regional cooperation.

Prior to joining MAPC, Sukanya worked as an Economic Development Planner at Champaign County Regional Planning Commission, Illinois. There she worked on various economic and workforce development policy and planning efforts creating plans by analyzing and cataloguing target industries as well as workforce development activities in the region. She also led preparation of various market and labor studies, along with policy analysis and strategic planning for economic and community development.

Sukanya received her master’s in urban planning (MUP) from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where she focused on economic development concentration, land economics and housing affordability. Her master’s thesis titled – Impact of short-term rentals on the rental affordability in San Francisco – the Case of Airbnb, used spatial econometric research stusy the effects of Airbnb on rental affordability. She earned her bachelor’s in planning (B.Plan) from School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi where she received institutes’ gold medal of merit.

Areas of Expertise: Regional planning, community and land use planning, economic development, workforce development, GIS/geographic data science.