Who we are
Square Loop Planning brings a fresh, outside perspective and a unique approach to community-based planning, engagement, and development.
About Aneesha Marwah
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The founder’s work is deeply inspired by her diverse experiences living and working around the world. The name "Square" reflects her former neighborhood, Logan Square in Chicago, where she lived while studying at the College of Urban Planning and Policy at the University of Illinois-Chicago (UIC). "Loop" symbolizes her current home in the North Loop of Minneapolis, MN, a vibrant, mixed-use neighborhood where she is raising her family.
Squares and Loops are also the foundational building blocks of cities, representing the intersection of urban design, community, and growth.
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The firm specializes in managing creative engagement strategies, leading cross-sector teams, forging unexpected partnerships, and crafting right-sized action plans that are both innovative and actionable. With a strong background in arts and creative district planning, as well as extensive outreach with diverse communities, Square Loop Planning is dedicated to elevating underrepresented voices and ensuring newcomers have a seat at the planning table.
In practice, this means pushing the boundaries of traditional engagement by meeting communities where they are most comfortable and embracing out-of-the-box thinking. The goal is to create cities with more unique, thoughtful, creative, and vibrant spaces—places that truly reflect the people who call them home.
Aneesha Marwah is the founder of Square Loop Planning, established in 2024 to support organizations and municipalities in developing community spaces and engagement strategies. She was a Minneapolis Planning Commissioner from 2020-2024, and currently serves as a Minneapolis Arts Commissioner.
She most recently was a Senior Urban Planner at Zan Associates, where she led engagement for long-range planning studies with the Minnesota Department of Transportation and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.
Prior to that, she was the Director of Artspace Consulting at Artspace Projects, Inc. for seven years, Aneesha advised on arts-related developments in both rural and urban areas, including cities like New York, Salida, Bentonville, Little Rock, Las Vegas, New Orleans, and Minneapolis. She facilitated feasibility and market studies to advance creative space projects across the U.S. She also worked with cohorts of arts organizations on their own spaces and on action plans for cities and neighborhoods.
Aneesha earned her Master of Urban Planning and Policy (MUPP) from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). In Chicago, she worked at Goodman Williams Group, a real estate market research firm, where she advised on market conditions for downtowns, planned developments, and transit-oriented projects. She started her career in New Orleans, where she attended Tulane University and worked as a legislative aide in a majority Creole district, where she saw the neighborhoods struggle to rebuild in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Aneesha’s childhood as a third-culture kid in Saudi Arabia sparked her love for travel and community-building, a passion that continues to shape her work. She’s excited to create projects that integrate community engagement and creative sector voices, enabling residents to shape cities that are creative, vibrant, funky, and reflective of their unique cultures. Aneesha is a 2019 Fellow of the Salzburg Global Seminar and was designated as one of fifty Young Cultural Innovators from around the globe.
In her free time, Aneesha enjoys biking, hiking, and cross-country skiing in the Twin Cities, as well as discovering new museums and art events with her husband, daughter, and dog, Paws. She lives in the North Loop with her family.
Education:
Master of Urban Planning and Policy (Economic Development) // University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), Chicago, Illinois (2015)
Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and International Development // Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana (2009)
Professional Affiliations/Honors:
Salzburg Global Seminar, Young Cultural Innovator (2019)
Minneapolis City Planning Commissioner, Mayoral Appointee (2020-2024)
Minneapolis Arts Commissioner (2025 - present)
