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Most urban technology fails because we study pieces, not systems. As World Bank Manager for Urban Development and Disaster Risk Management across Eastern & Southern Africa, I lead operations in 13 countries. My team designs and finances city-scale solutions: affordable housing, resilient infrastructure, early warning systems, land systems, that turn rapid urban growth into inclusive economic opportunity. Two decades of implementation across 40+ countries has taught me the evidence on individual interventions. But we don’t know how they interact. We’re stuck in partial equilibrium while policy happens in general equilibrium. The pattern repeats across contexts. Since 2001, I’ve worked on urban policy reform and development finance in China, India, South Africa, Brazil, Kenya, Ethiopia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Myanmar etc. Before the World Bank, I spent 12 years in the Indian Administrative Service, at the Federal Ministry of Finance and in Bihar state, looking at policy formulation and implementation up-close. In fragile and displacement settings, the binding constraint is often not financing or intent, but basic spatial visibility. If you cannot reliably map where people live, how settlements expand, or where services reach, planning collapses into guesswork. I’ve seen boring technology (basic GIS, simple SMS systems) transform revenue collection. I’ve seen billion-dollar initiatives collapse because nobody thought about second -order effects. We need different research questions. Is infrastructure sequencing in rapidly urbanizing areas about technical optimality or political feasibility? How do you govern metropolitan areas that span multiple jurisdictions with misaligned incentives? What makes property tax administration actually work when state capacity is the binding constraint? I write about what actually works. At The Urban Stack, I publish implementation evidence and case studies on urban technology and service delivery. My goal: shift how we think about urban technology from “what’s innovative” to “what delivers services to the most people at the lowest cost with the capacity cities actually have.” I help governments and development institutions build systems that learn from implementation and improve over time, especially in public-sector AI, infrastructure, and state capacity. Website: https://abhaskjha.github.io
World Bank Manager for Urban Development and Disaster Risk Management in Eastern & Southern Africa for Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Somalia, South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Botswana, Ethiopia, Sudan and South Sudan. I lead a global team of specialists who design and finance city-scale solutions—affordable housing, resilient infrastructure, and land systems—that turn rapid urban growth into inclusive economic opportunity.
The South Asia Infrastructure Resilience Policy & Finance unit works to enhance resilience by leveraging data-driven solutions, innovative financing, and evidence-based policies that strengthen infrastructure, mitigate disaster risks, and accelerate climate adaptation in urban and rural environments in South Asia. We manage a portfolio of about $4 billion in projects, analytical and advisory work in South Asia that spans infrastructure resilience, disaster risk management, hydromet and early warning services, thermal comfort and sustainable cooling, reconstruction after disasters, and climate adaptation
I lead the urban development and disaster risk management practice for East Asia and the Pacific within the World Bank Group Global Practice for Social, Urban, Rural and Resilience. I am responsible for overall technical quality control of World Bank operations, strategic staffing and providing high quality investments, knowledge and services in these sectors to our clients. In addition I head a team that connects Singapore's expertise in urban development to World Bank clients and teams.
I lead the urban development and disaster risk management practice for East Asia and the Pacific within the World Bank Group Global Practice for Social, Urban, Rural and Resilience. I am responsible for overall technical quality control of World Bank operations, strategic staffing and providing high quality investments, knowledge and services in these sectors to our clients.
I lead the transport, urban development and disaster risk management unit for East Asia and the Pacific for the World Bank. I am responsible for overall technical quality control of World Bank operations, strategic staffing and providing high quality knowledge and services in these sectors to our clients.
I managed the World Bank's disaster risk management practice for the East Asia Pacific.
Led the World Bank's work on housing, urban development, disaster risk management in Turkey.
Thought Leadership, Coaching and +5 skills