Sameh Wahba is an Egyptian urbanist and sustainable development practitioner. He worked in over 100 countries, advising heads of state, mayors, and senior government officials on urbanization, sustainable development, and infrastructure policy and finance issues.

He is currently the Regional Practice Director for the Planet Department at the World Bank’s Europe and Central Asia region, where he oversees all World Bank lending, technical assistance, partnerships, and policy advisory work in sustainable development, including agriculture and food, climate change, environment, natural resources and the blue economy, social inclusion and sustainability, and water. In this capacity, he oversees a $10 billion portfolio and a team of 200 staff. From 2016 to 2022, he worked as Global Director for Urban, Disaster Risk Management, Resilience and Land Global Practice, where he oversaw a team of 450 staff and a $30 billion portfolio. He holds a PhD and a master’s degree in urban planning from Harvard University and a master’s and bachelor’s in architectural engineering from Cairo University.

He has over 25 years’ experience in urban development, disaster risk management, infrastructure, and sustainable development. He authored several books, chapters, and articles in peer-reviewed journals on cities, housing, land, infrastructure, and finance, including Regenerating Urban Land , Hidden Wealth of Cities , and Business, Government and the SDGs . His writing and views on cities featured in Wired, BBC, Financial Times, and the Economist. He also oversaw the production of several World Bank flagship publications, including What a Waste , Thriving: Making Cities Green, Resilient and Inclusive in a Changing Climate , and Africa’s Cities: Opening Doors to the World . He is also a frequent speaker and lecturer in some of the world’s leading institutions, including Harvard, MIT, University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University, LSE, Erasmus University, Universidade de São Paulo, and Seoul National University.

He serves as co-chair of the Harvard Graduate School of Design Alumni Council, where he co-created the Design Impact global speaker series. He also serves as a member of the GSD Dean’s Council, the Harvard Alumni Association Board of Directors, the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Cities, the World Resources Institute Ross Center for Cities’ Advisory board, the Earthshot Prize’s Public Sector Expert Group, and the Global Commission for Urban SDGs Finance. Previously, he served on the Boards of Resilient Cities Network and Cities Alliance, and was a member of the jury for the WWF’s One Planet City Challenge. He is fluent in Arabic, French, English, and Portuguese.

Follow Sameh on LinkedIn .

Location: Washington, D.C.