Hello, I'm Oliver Harman, and I work primarily as a Cities Economist for the International Growth Centre's (IGC) Cities that Work initiative based at London School of Economics and Political Science. I am also Research Associate at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford. In these roles I attempt to help bridge the gap between research and policy translating economic literature into clear urban policy guidance for emerging country city governments.

A secondary part of my focus is as a Clarendon scholar studying Sustainable Urban Development at the University of Oxford. I am using mixed methods to try to understand decentralisation and (local) development in low income and fast growing East & Central African cities.

I also help teach the module 'Using Economics in Government' at Kings College London. 

The following webpage is a collection of my policy research, academic literature, commentary and talks. My current focuses are financing sustainable urban development, decentralisation & multi level governance, and global value chains for regional upgrading—the last a subject of a recent book publication online and in print.

In my roles I have engaged with local government Ministries and Mayoral teams across Africa, Asia, Latin America & Caribbean and Europe. Specific work includes local government reform in Guyana, urban resilience in Ghana, post-disaster policy in Mozambique and municipal finance in Malawi, Senegal, Somaliland and Uganda. Prior to working with governments and undertaking with policy focused research I spent a few years in the private sector on large scale urban regeneration projects in London.

My email address is o.harman@lse.ac.uk for urban economics and oliver.harman@kellogg.ox.ac.uk for sustainable urban development.

If you are ever in Oxford or London I am (nearly) always available for a cup of tea!

Webpages: Profile on IGC | Profile on BSG | Twitter | LinkedIn