This ADBI Featured Speaker webinar spotlighted University of Waikato development economist and Asian Development Review Editor-in-Chief John Gibson, who discussed growing evidence on the importance of secondary towns for poverty reduction.

Gibson explained that in contrast to traditionally more aggregative studies of urbanization’s development implications, research in Asia and beyond is increasingly highlighting the key role of secondary towns. He described how the balance of urbanization between big cities and secondary towns relates to progress in reducing poverty and the value of considering the urban mix for urbanization strategies in Asia and the Pacific.

About the Speaker

John Gibson is a development economist and economics professor at the University of Waikato. His research focuses on poverty and measuring living standards in Asia and the Pacific. He is a non-resident Visiting Fellow at the Asian Development Bank Institute and Editor-in-Chief of the Asian Development Review. He obtained his Ph.D. from Stanford University.

See more about this ADBI event here.