Purva is an Architect with a Master’s in Urban Design from Kamla Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute of Architecture, Mumbai, India. She is currently a SEED-funded PhD Scholar at the University of Manchester. Her research investigates the processes of negotiations and struggles through which the sanitation infrastructure is produced in Mumbai. Before commencing her PhD, Purva worked extensively in India. She has worked as a program coordinator for the ‘Transforming M East Ward Project’, an action research project of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences that seeks to create a model of inclusive urban development in M East Ward, the poorest administrative ward in Mumbai. She was also involved in teaching Urban Design Master’s program at Dr D Y Patil College of Architecture and is deeply involved in the people's campaigns on Right to Water and the Development Plan of Mumbai 2014-2034.