Patrick Geddes (1854–1932) was once a celebrated messiah of “humanist” urban development and influential social reformer, described by biographers as a “practical genius, bold and ambitious, a precise observer and of penetrating insight” (Slater 1932).

He is considered a father figure both in the academic discipline of sociology and the profession of urban planning in the United Kingdom. Geddes played a seminal role in the establishment of the disciplines of sociology and urban planning in India, and, in 1919, founded the Department of Sociology at Mumbai University. During his several extended stays in India, he prepared nearly 50 town planning reports for Indian cities that proposed their renewal, which are widely regarded as important contributions to the disciplinary discourse.

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The Need to Reinvent and Adapt the Work of Patrick Geddes | The India Forum