Shahrukh Wani - Personal Website

I’m Shahrukh Wani (شاہ رخ وانی; also go by Shah or Wani). I’m an economist passionate about using evidence in shaping better policymaking, especially policy that unlocks the potential of cities.

I presently work as an urban economist at the International Growth Centre (IGC) based at the University of Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government. In this role, I support evidence-based economic policy reforms in several countries across Africa and South Asia with work focusing on two broad areas: (1) public finance and procurement, and (2) urban governance and infrastructure provision. In these areas, I have worked with policymakers in Afghanistan, Uganda, Pakistan, and Zambia on a range of policy questions.

I also regularly contribute opinion pieces on economic policy to various outlets, with a focus on urbanisation in developing countries and, more broadly, on public policy in Pakistan. When invited, I occasionally talk to journalists about these topics and participate in speaking engagements. You can find most of these articles and engagements as your scroll through this webpage — but I want to highlight this recent interview I gave on the potential of cities.

I was born and raised in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, with a portion of my childhood spent in Muzaffarabad, Kashmir. I moved to London to study at the London School of Economics and have since lived here, although I typically spend about a quarter of my year in Pakistan.

When I’m not working, my life centres around literature (Camus, Wilde, Coward, Chekhov, Baldwin, Morrison), food (restaurants, chai, cheesecakes, cafés), the theatre, and attempts to run for longer.

I tweet (very regularly, unfortunately) at @ShahrukWani and I can be emailed at s.rukh@lse.ac.uk.

Webpages: Profile on IGC | Profile on Oxford | Linkedin