Hello, I'm Oliver Harman, a spatial economist and economic geographer looking at urbanisation, decentralisation and internationalisation. I undertake this in three ways: policy research at LSE, academic research at Oxford and teaching at KCL (and soon LSE/ASE). 

With the first I work part time as a Senior Policy 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 and Visiting Researcher at the LSE's Department of Geography and Environment. In these roles I attempt to help bridge the gap between research and policy by translating economic/geographical literature (& data) into clear policy guidance for sub-national governments.

With the second, I research part time 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.

Finally, I also help teach as a Seminar Leader and Guest Teacher the module 'Using Economics in Government' at Kings College London, (shortly) the module 'The Economics of Cities' at LSE and am (currently) co-creating a professional diploma module in 'Urban Economics' at the African School of Economics' "Africa Urban Lab".

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