Vidyadhar Phatak was engaged in urban practice in Mumbai for 37 years till 2004 in various public agencies. In MMRDA he headed the Planning and the Town Country Planning Divisions. During the 1980s he was a member of the National Commission on Urbanization. After 2004 he has been engaged various consulting assignments with the World Bank and other leading consultants. He was part time director of National Housing Bank during 2006-2012. During 2016 to 2019 he was Dean of Faculty of Planning, CEPT University, Ahmedabad and now he is a Distinguished Fellow of the CEPT Urban Planning and Design Foundation.