Vera Kichanova

Vera Kichanova, PhD, is an urban economist and policy strategist focused on urban development, economic policy, and alternative models of city governance. She currently serves as Senior Economist at the Free Cities Foundation, where her work centers on economic policy and research. Her professional expertise includes urban planning, land-use policy, smart-city governance, sustainability, housing, mobility, and self-governing urban development. Previously, she spent more than seven years as a Senior Urban Strategist at Zaha Hadid Architects, contributing to masterplans, civic projects, transport hubs, and mixed-use developments across more than 20 countries. Her academic work examines the economics and institutional design of private urban development.

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Kichanova began her career in journalism, working with Novaya Gazeta, Voice of America, and Slon.ru, where she covered politics, society, and economics. She later became Editor-in-Chief of Reed Media at Atlas Network, leading editorial production and public-engagement activities. After completing a Master of Public Policy at the University of Oxford, she moved into urban strategy and worked at Zaha Hadid Architects from 2017 to 2024. Alongside her architectural and policy work, she developed an academic specialization in political economy, earning a PhD from King's College London. Since 2022, she has also worked as Senior Economist at the Free Cities Foundation.

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