Policy research

Policy research on municipal finance, global value chains and urban sustainability, written for governments in low-resource settings.
Oliver Harman on a panel of ministers and policymakers at the Africities summit
Tripartite Dialogue Roundtable between Ministers, Mayors and Development Partners, with Julius Kitur, Mayor of Eldoret, and Doreen Nyanjura, Deputy Lord Mayor of Kampala. Africities Summit, Kisumu, Kenya, May 2022. Photo: UCLG Africa

For a decade I wrote for and worked alongside finance ministries, city treasuries and mayoral teams across Africa, Asia and the Caribbean, mostly through the International Growth Centre’s Cities that Work initiative, and before that as an economist embedded in Guyana’s Ministry of Communities. That work has 61 externally validated instances of uptake by decision-makers, across 27 countries and four international organisations, a measure audited by the IGC’s government funder. The record is below.

The work below was written to be used rather than cited. Several pieces exist in French, Somali, Arabic or Hindi; ask if you need one.

Financing sustainable urban development

  • Understanding the Urbanisation Impacts of Ethiopia’s Land and Property Tax Reform: A Scoping Study With Franklin, S., Tilahun Mengistu, S., and Molla, K. IGC Working Paper

  • Mapping Municipal Finance Reform in Developing Countries (2022) Interactive webpage View

  • Enhancing the Financial Position of Cities: Evidence from Kampala (2022) With Delbridge, V., Haas, A., and Venables, A.J. IGC and UN-Habitat case study. French translation available. doi:10.35489/bsg-igc-wp_2022/2 Report French

  • Enhancing the Financial Position of Cities: Evidence from Dakar (2022) With Delbridge, V., Dia Sarr, K., Haas, A., and Venables, A.J. IGC and UN-Habitat case study. French translation available. doi:10.35489/bsg-igc-wp_2022/3 Report French

  • Enhancing the Financial Position of Cities: Evidence from Hargeisa (2022) With Delbridge, V., Haas, A., Venables, A.J., and Yusuf, A. IGC and UN-Habitat case study. French and Somali translations available. doi:10.35489/bsg-igc-wp_2022/4 Report French Somali

  • Enhancing the Financial Position of Cities: Evidence from Mzuzu (2022) With Delbridge, V., Haas, A., Jangia, D., Manwaring, P., and Venables, A.J. IGC and UN-Habitat case study. French translation available. doi:10.35489/bsg-igc-wp_2022/5 Report French

  • Financing Sustainable Urban Development (2021) Contributing author UN-Habitat and the European Commission. French translation available Report

  • COVID-19 and Taxes: Policies for the Post-Pandemic Recovery (2021) With Jensen, A., Naeem, F., Rukh, S., Saab, M., and Wilkinson, N. IGC Policy Brief. Arabic translation available. doi:10.35489/bsg-igc-pb_2021/1 Brief

  • Urban Property Taxes in Pakistan’s Punjab (2020) With Shaikh, H., and Wani, S. IGC Policy Brief. doi:10.35489/bsg-igc-pb_2020/1 Brief

  • Key Considerations for Government Housing Provision in Somaliland (2020) IGC Policy Note to the Ministry of Public Works, Land and Housing, Government of Somaliland

Global value chains and local development

  • Climbing Up Global Value Chains: Leveraging FDI for Economic Development (2022) With Crescenzi, R. Hinrich Foundation White Paper Paper Media and commentary: Public policy considerations for climbing GVCs in Asia Multiple pathways to upgrading in GVCs in Asia

  • Leveraging Opportunities from Global Value Chains for Regional Development (2023) Toolkit for local governments in the North of England, Connected Places Catapult

  • Written Evidence on Inward Foreign Direct Investment (2021) With Crescenzi, R. UK Parliament call for evidence Evidence

  • Public Policy Space: An Integrated Framework for the Analysis of Internationalisation and Territorial Upgrading (2019) With Crescenzi, R., and Comotti, S. Report for the European Commission and the Government of Slovenia

  • Move on Up! Building, Embedding and Reshaping Global Value Chains Through Investment Flows: Insights for Regional Innovation Policies (2018) With Crescenzi, R., and Arnold, D. Background paper, OECD and European Commission workshop series Broadening Innovation Policy: New Insights for Regions and Cities Paper

The book and book chapters on this theme are listed under research.

Sustainability and climate change

Cities, transport and migration

  • IGC India Evidence Paper: Urbanisation, Rural Development and Migration (2025) With Ratra, V., Bhimsaria, S., and Dobermann, T. IGC Evidence Paper, India Sustainable Growth Hub Paper

  • The BRT and the Danfo: A Study of Lagos’ Transport Reforms from 1999 to 2019 (2019) With Otunola, B., and Kriticos, S. IGC Cities that Work Case Study Case study Media and commentary: Learning from Lagos (Think Global Health)

  • Assessment Framework for Measuring Economic Success in Transport, Land-Use Planning and Resilience Interventions (2018) With Blake, M., Collier, P., Delbridge, V., Glaeser, E., and Venables, A.J. Global Future Cities Policy Paper Paper

Government of Guyana

Before joining the IGC I was embedded in Guyana’s Ministry of Communities, working closely with the Minister, Permanent Secretary and Head of Planning. Guyana held its first local government elections for 20 years in 2016, and I helped build local government capacity, particularly through municipal finance reform.

  • Economist, then Senior Economist and ODI Fellow, Ministry of Communities (2016–2018) Input to the Green State Development Strategy (Office of the President); Addressing the Challenges Facing the Government Housing Programme (with the Central Housing and Planning Authority and Ministry of Finance); municipal tax progression, local government renewable energy policy, economic profiles of Guyana’s capital towns, and public financial management tools for municipalities

Programmes and partnerships

  • India Sustainable Growth Hub (2024–2026) Joint initiative of the IGC and the Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi, on low-carbon growth in India Hub

  • Transformative Economic Policy Programme, Bangladesh (2020–2021) Thematic lead for cities research. FCDO. Scoping paper on green growth and research strategy on sustainable urbanisation Programme Research strategy

  • Enhancing the Financial Position of Cities (2019–2021) Focal point, phases 2 and 3, ten cities. European Commission with UN-Habitat, with the IGC as academic partner co-creating and co-delivering the programme: a high-level policy session at the European Parliament in Brussels, a cities and experts workshop in Dakar following the European Investment Bank’s Africa Day, and the case studies above Collection European Parliament session Dakar workshop

  • Global Future Cities Programme (2018–2021) Focal point for the academic partnership across 19 cities in the strategic development phase: financial and legal analysis of interventions, evidence on thematic areas, and presentations to city stakeholders during charrettes. FCDO with UN-Habitat Programme Launch

Policy impact

Since joining the IGC’s Cities that Work initiative, my work has been taken up by the government decision-makers below, with each instance externally validated. The engagements vary in breadth and depth, and the list is not exhaustive. Policy impact from Harnessing Global Value Chains for Regional Development is tracked separately on the LSE Global Investments and Local Development blog.

Engagement record, 2018–2025
  • 2025: Egypt; Ethiopia; Kenya; Liberia; Malawi; Malaysia; Mozambique; Pakistan; South Africa; Zambia; Zanzibar, Tanzania.
  • 2024: Freetown, Sierra Leone (Mayor); Punjab, Pakistan (Executive Director); Cape Town, South Africa (technical staff); Accra, Ghana (technical staff).
  • 2023: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (technical staff); Bangladesh (tax technical staff); Accra, Ghana (technical staff); Ethiopia (Advisor to the Prime Minister).
  • 2022: Dhaka, Bangladesh (technical staff); Mymensingh, Bangladesh (Mayor and technical staff); Eldoret, Kenya (Mayor); Kampala, Uganda (Deputy Lord Mayor); Dakar, Senegal (Deputy Mayor); Tanzania (Minister of Housing); Yaoundé VII, Cameroon (Mayor); Niger (Minister of Territorial Administration); Mozambique (Minister of State Administration and Public Service); Rwanda (Minister of Local Government); Tanzania (Minister of Lands, Housing and Human Settlements); Arbaoua, Morocco (Mayor); N’Djamena District 4, Chad (Mayor); Mandlakazi, Mozambique (Mayor); Maputo, Mozambique (councillors); Kenya (Minister of Devolution); Trikala, Greece (Mayor); Bucharest District 2, Romania (Mayor).
  • 2021: Kampala, Uganda (technical staff); Egypt (former Minister of State for Environment Affairs); Nebbi, Uganda (technical staff).
  • 2020: Monrovia, Liberia (Mayor); Paraguay (former Minister of Habitat); Tengen, Germany (Mayor); Senegal (Minister of Town Planning, Housing and Public Hygiene); Dakar, Senegal (Mayor and technical staff); Kampala, Uganda (Executive Director and technical staff); Hargeisa, Somaliland (Mayor and technical staff); Lilongwe, Malawi (Executive Director and technical staff); Mzuzu, Malawi (technical staff); Freetown, Sierra Leone (Mayor); Punjab, Pakistan (technical staff); Somaliland (Ministry of Public Works, Land and Housing technical staff); Amman, Jordan (technical staff); Cape Town, South Africa (technical staff).
  • 2019: Kabul, Afghanistan (Acting Mayor); Accra, Ghana (Mayor and technical staff); Kampala, Uganda (Executive Director and technical staff); Hargeisa, Somaliland (Mayor and technical staff).
  • 2018: Bandung, Indonesia (technical staff); Surabaya, Indonesia (Mayor and technical staff); Abeokuta, Nigeria (technical staff); Lagos, Nigeria (technical staff); New Clark City, Philippines (technical staff); Cape Town, South Africa (technical staff); Johannesburg, South Africa (technical staff); Bangkok, Thailand (technical staff); Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (technical staff).

Selected policy presentations

  • 2024 Introducing the Cities Spatial Model. World Urban Forum, Cairo
  • 2024 Resilient cities, Technical Session II. Resilient Ethiopia: Sustainable Growth in a Changing Climate, Addis Ababa. Chair
  • 2023 Challenges and Potential Measures of Solid Waste Management in Ethiopia. Presentation to the Addis Ababa City and Federal Governments of Ethiopia
  • 2023 Fiscal Decentralisation and Land and Property Tax in Bangladesh. Resilient and Resurgent Bangladesh, Dhaka
  • 2023 Fostering Sustainable and Liveable Cities in Rapidly Urbanising Bangladesh. Dhaka. Moderator
  • 2022 How to Optimise Own-Source Revenues of Local Governments in Developing Countries. World Urban Forum, Katowice
  • 2022 Positioning Developing Cities for a Green Growth Transition; Africities Tripartite Dialogue: Ministers, Mayors and Development Partners. Africities, Kisumu
  • 2022 Harnessing Green Global Value Chains for (Local) Development. Climate Change Summit, Bucharest
  • 2022 Climbing up Global Value Chains: Leveraging FDI for Economic Development. Hinrich Foundation
Earlier presentations, 2018–2021
  • 2021 Urban Solid Waste Management and Super Pollutants in Emerging Cities. Innovate4Cities, with the IPCC, UN-Habitat and the Global Covenant of Mayors
  • 2021 Infrastructure Projects for African Integration into Global Value Chains. Senior policymakers in ministries of economy, finance and external trade in Côte d’Ivoire, Togo, Madagascar and Senegal
  • 2021 Funding and Financing City Governments. The 19 cities of the FCDO Global Future Cities Thematic Programme
  • 2021 COVID-19 and Taxes: Policies for the Post-Pandemic Recovery. FCDO Economic Growth and Tax Team Community of Practice, with co-authors
  • 2021 Funding Urban Development Projects and Social Projects. Lagos Urban Development Initiative
  • 2021 Global Value Chains and Regional Innovation. RSA Policy Expo, Regions Cities Industry webinar series, pre-launch of the policy impact book
  • 2021 Connecting Back Better: GVC-Sensitive Policies for Regional Recovery. Special Session 25, RSA Regions in Recovery Global E-Festival
  • 2020 City Resilience through Time and Space. Arup City Resilience Workshop, World Urban Forum, Abu Dhabi
  • 2020 Enhancing the Financial Positions of Cities. European Commission, World Urban Forum, Abu Dhabi
  • 2019 Supporting the Urban Dimension of Development Cooperation. Advisory Group Meeting and Policy Session, European Parliament, Brussels
  • 2019 Economics of Land Use Planning; Accessing Opportunities. World Bank South-South Knowledge Exchange, Cape Town
  • 2019 The BRT and the Danfo. IGC Community of Practice
  • 2019 Designed to Succeed. Saïd Business School and Blavatnik School of Government Early Career Researcher Series, Oxford
  • 2019 Youth and the City. Challenges of Government Conference, University of Oxford
  • 2018 Land Value Capture. UKBEAG policymaker training, London
  • 2018 Analysis of Proposed Resilience and Transport Policies: Ho Chi Minh City. UN-Habitat charrette, Ho Chi Minh City, with simultaneous translation