Bio
Astrid is an urban economist working across research and practice, supporting cities around strategy generally, and, specifically, to strengthen their financial systems, with a focus on understanding new opportunities for sub-national funding and financing. Her research to date has focused on how cities can raise revenue, with a focus on property tax and land value capture, as well as how to improve financial flows to cities. Her more recent research, which she is currently pursuing, is looking at the expenditure of cities particularly through a gender lens. Astrid has published over 30 research and synthesis papers as well as policy briefs used by mayors and city managers. Many of these papers outline tangible policy options and their trade-offs for urban decision makers.
As a Research Associate at the African Centre for Cities, she has co-designed and is co-teaching the Urban Finance course, a core module for the Masters of Sustainable Urban Practice. In addition, she has taught courses at the University of Oxford and Makerere University, in Uganda. She is an Extraordinary Lecturer at the African Tax Institute, in the Department of Economics at the University of Pretoria and a Fellow at the Infrastructure Institute at the School of Cities at the University of Toronto.
Astrid also works with city governments and other urban organisations across Africa, Middle East, and Asia as well as an advisor to policy makers. Her writing and work have appeared in various media outlets including the Economist, the BBC, the Financial Times, the East African and the Conversation Africa, amongst others. Her previous engagements include as an urban economist with the African Development Bank and Policy Director at the International Growth Centre. She holds an MSc in Public Financial Management from the School of Oriental and African Studies in London and an MA in International Economics and International Development from Johns Hopkins University.
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