9th World Bank-GWU Conference on Urbanization and Poverty Reduction
(in Cape Town; co-organized with the City of Cape Town and the IGC)
11-12 June 2025
High rises and hotel buildings in Punta Pacifica, Panama City, Panama. Photo: Gerardo Pesantez / World Bank. Link to the license: Click here.
The 9th Urbanization and Poverty Reduction Conference will bring together academics and development practitioners to present and discuss questions relating to Theme TBD.
The policy-focused research conference day will take place on June 11, 2025 and will be hosted by the City of Cape Town, the World Bank (Development Research Group and Urban, Disaster Risk, Resilience, and Land), George Washington University (Elliott School of International Affairs and Institute for International Economic Policy), and the International Growth Centre (Cities that Work and Cities Research Program). The Young Urban Economist Workshop and more technical conference will take place on June 12, 2025.
Conference organizers:
Harris Selod (The World Bank)
Remi Jedwab (George Washington University)
Hugh Cole (Director of Policy and Strategy for the City of Cape Town)
Victoria Delbridge (International Growth Centre)
Oliver Harman (International Growth Centre)
Tanner Regan (George Washington University)
Roman David Zarate (The World Bank)
2th World Bank-GWU-UVA Conference on
The Economics of Sustainable Development and Climate Change
2 December 2024
Iron and Steel giant ISKOR's Vanderbijl Park refinery. Farm land bordering the industrial area. 2007. Photo: © John Hogg/World Bank. Link to the license: Click here.
The World Bank, in collaboration with George Washington University (GWU) and the University of Virginia (UVA), will host the 1st World Bank-GWU-UVA Conference on “The Economics of Sustainable Development”.
The conference will be held at the World Bank headquarters in Washington DC on December 2, 2024 from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm EST. It will be followed by a reception at GWU from 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm EST.
The Conference will bring together academics and development economics practitioners to present and discuss pressing questions relating to sustainable development, a theme which is central to the World Bank’s mission of tackling poverty on a liveable planet.
This theme is of increasing importance due to the growing recognition that a commitment to development and tackling poverty is unviable without an equal commitment to the urgency of addressing climate change, pollution, and environmental degradation.
Conference organizers:
Richard Damania (The World Bank)
Andrew Dabalen (The World Bank)
César Calderón (The World Bank)
Aparajita Goyal (The World Bank)
Remi Jedwab (George Washington University)
Molly Lipscomb (University of Virginia)
Sheetal Sekhri (University of Virginia)
Esha Zaveri (The World Bank)
11th WADES (Washington Area Development Economics Symposium) Conference (at Georgetown University)
3 May 2024
Workers cut and stack logs at a wood processing facility outside of Kisumu, Kenya. Photo: Peter Kapuscinski / World Bank. Click here for the license.
The Washington Area Development Economics Symposium (WADES) is an annual research conference which highlights academic work from researchers at leading economics institutions in development economics in the Washington DC area. Organized by Georgetown University, George Washington University, the University of Maryland, and the University of Virginia, WADES features research by students and faculty at these institutions, as well as other DC-area researchers. The 2024 WADES will be hosted by Georgetown University.
Conference organizers:
Remi Jedwab, GWU
Tanner Regan, GWU
Jessica Goldberg, Maryland
Molly Lipscomb, UVA
Andrew Zeitlin, Georgetown
8th World Bank-GWU Conference on Urbanization and Poverty Reduction
7-8 March 2024
City view of Bogotá, Colombia on January 11, 2016. Photo © Dominic Chavez/World Bank. Link to the license: Click here.
The 8th Urbanization and Poverty Reduction Conference will bring together academics and development practitioners to present and discuss questions relating to Urban expansion and the future spatial organization of cities.
The theme is of increasing importance to academics and policy makers alike as the supply of ideas and demand for solutions grow. Cities in developing countries are growing at faster rates and at lower income levels than those in developed country alternatives. If well-directed and well-managed, expansion and densification of urban areas can bring economic growth while also offering poverty reduction opportunities. If poorly directed and managed, the result can be congestion, contagion, and contraction.
Planning for the cities of tomorrow is thus a crucial task, but one benefitting from a multi-disciplinary approach. This edition of the conference will draw from economists and other scholarly communities at the interface of policy and research to understand which new ideas, new methods, and new collaborations can bring about the change necessary for development.
The policy-focused research conference day will take place on March 7, 2024 and is hosted by the World Bank (Development Research Group and Urban, Disaster Risk, Resilience, and Land), George Washington University (Elliott School of International Affairs and Institute for International Economic Policy), the International Growth Centre (Cities that Work and Cities Research Program), and Millennium Challenge Corporation. The Young Urban Economist Workshop and more technical conference will take place on March 8, 2024.
Conference organizers:
Harris Selod (The World Bank)
Remi Jedwab (George Washington University)
Victoria Delbridge (International Growth Centre)
Oliver Harman (International Growth Centre)
Tanner Regan (George Washington University)
Mesbah Motamed (Millenium Challenge Corporation)
Roman David Zarate (The World Bank)
1st World Bank-GWU-UVA Conference on
The Economics of Sustainable Development and Climate Change
9 November 2023
Tree stumps, Indonesia. Photo: Curt Carnemark / World Bank. Link to the license: Click here.
The World Bank, in collaboration with George Washington University (GWU) and the University of Virginia (UVA), will host the 1st World Bank-GWU-UVA Conference on “The Economics of Sustainable Development”.
The conference will be held at the World Bank headquarters in Washington DC on November 29, 2023 from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm EST. It will be followed by a reception at GWU from 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm EST.
The Conference will bring together academics and development economics practitioners to present and discuss pressing questions relating to sustainable development, a theme which is central to the World Bank’s mission of tackling poverty on a liveable planet.
This theme is of increasing importance due to the growing recognition that a commitment to development and tackling poverty is unviable without an equal commitment to the urgency of addressing climate change, pollution, and environmental degradation.
Conference organizers:
Richard Damania (The World Bank)
Andrew Dabalen (The World Bank)
César Calderón (The World Bank)
Aparajita Goyal (The World Bank)
Remi Jedwab (George Washington University)
Molly Lipscomb (University of Virginia)
Sheetal Sekhri (University of Virginia)
Esha Zaveri (The World Bank)