Julia Bird is a Senior Economist at Vivid Economics, working on cities and development. Prior to joining Vivid Economics, she previously worked for the University of Oxford as a researcher focused on urbanisation in sub-Saharan Africa. She has worked with the IGC on a number of areas, particularly in Uganda, where she has published work on land tenure and urban growth, advised on firm clustering and the impacts of infrastructure investment, and is currently concluding a study on urban commuting.
Her research and policy interests include using geospatial data to understand the spatial patterns of urban growth, particularly in developing countries. Her recent work has included assessing the impacts of the Belt and Road Initiative on the geography of economic development in Central Asia, estimating the welfare effects of land tenure patterns in Kampala, and studying the location choices of households living in informal settlements in Nairobi.
Julia has a PhD in Economics from Toulouse School of Economics (France), and a BA in Economics from Cambridge University.
