Pitamber Sharma, born in the village of Falebas in Parbat district, taught in the Department of Geography, Tribhuvan University for over two decades. He worked as a Regional Planner with the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) for about 12 years, and had a brief stint as the Vice-Chair of the National Planning Commission in 2008. His publications include Urbanization in Nepal (1989), Tourism as Development (2000), Market Towns in the Hindu-Kush Himalayas (2002), Unraveling the Mosaic: Spatial Aspects of Ethnicity in Nepal (2008), and Some Aspects of Nepal’s Social Demography (2014). He holds an MA in Geography from Tribhuvan University, an MSc in Civic Design and Regional Planning from University of Edinburgh, UK and a PhD in City and Regional Planning from Cornell University, USA.