Prof Vlad Mykhnenko

Profile details

Professor of Geography and Political Economy

Research Fellow, St. Peter's College, Oxford

Academic Director (Social Sciences), Department for Continuing Education

Academic Profile

Vlad Mykhnenko is Professor of Geography and Political Economy in the University of Oxford, and Research Fellow in Sustainable Urban Development at St. Peter's College, Oxford. He is an economic geographer, specialising in geographical political economy. Since the early 2000s, Prof Mykhnenko's academic focus on challenging the conventional wisdom of urban and regional development has expanded from transition economies of eastern Europe (especially, Polish Upper Silesia and the Ukrainian Donbas) to encompass the development phenomena observed in high, low, and middle-income cities and regions across the world. So far, Vlad has produced over 140 research outputs, in total, containing books, chapters in books, journal articles, published conference proceedings, working papers, research reports, digital artefacts, databases, and other publications.

Prof Mykhnenko’s research has generated £15.6 million in external research funding, with £2 million as a Principal Investigator (PI). At Oxford, he has served as PI and Consortium Lead of Smart Shrinkage Solutions (3S RECIPE, €1.7m, 2017-2020) - a transdisciplinary international research project funded by the JPI Urban Europe and the UKRI Economic and Social Research Council, before pursuing a series of industry-funded research projects on the future of cities, work, ESG, metaverse, money, government, and data privacy. Vlad's current externally-funded research initiatives focus on green steel - rebuilding Ukraine’s iron and steel sector post-war without the use of fossil fuels - and sustainable urban development in Kazakhstan.

Prof Mykhnenko holds a PhD in Political Economy from Darwin College, the University of Cambridge (2005); an MA in International Relations and European Studies from the Central European University (CEU, Budapest Campus, 1999); an MA (1998), and a BA (1996) in International Relations from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.

Vlad currently serves as Academic Director (Social Sciences) of the Oxford University Department for Continuing Education (ContEd). He joined the Department in January 2017 to take up an Associate Professorship in Sustainable Urban Development.  At Oxford, he has sat on various Departmental and University committees, including the Research Degrees Panel. In 2018-2021, he served as the Department's Director of Graduate Studies for Postgraduate Research Students (DGS-R). Vlad's previous academic and research appointments were at the University of Birmingham, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University in Almaty, the University of Nottingham, the University of Glasgow, and the CEU Centre for Policy Studies in Budapest.

Prof Mykhnenko regularly acts in an advisory capacity for the public, private, and civil society sectors, local and national governments, intergovernmental organisations, and multinational enterprises. He currently serves as a non-executive director of Oxford International Study Abroad Programme Ltd., an EQAC-accredited short course provider.

In 2015, Vlad was appointed by the Secretary-General of the UN Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development to a High-Level expert group of 200 urbanists to provide UN-Habitat with independent policy recommendations. His Policy Unit 9 submission on urban services and technology has subsequently formed an integral part of the New Urban Agenda – a universal framework of actions for housing and sustainable urban development, which was officially adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in December 2016. In addition, he has sat on the Advisory Group on Declining Cities at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (2014-2015).

More recently, Prof Mykhnenko has given expert evidence in public to the UK House of Commons, in connection with the Foreign Affairs Committee inquiry into the challenges of Recovery in Ukraine. Since May 2023, he has been advising the Mayor of Mariupol and the local authority in exile on Mariupol Reborn – a post-liberation revival strategy for the pulverised east Ukrainian city. Currently, Vlad also sits on a Shrinking Smartly and Sustainably consultation panel at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD, 2023-2026). In March 2025, Prof Mykhnenko was appointed a commissioner for the Lancet Commission on Ukraine – a multi-disciplinary and science-led enterprise aimed at creating fundamental healthcare policy changes in the country.

Vlad is originally from Donetsk, Ukraine.

Research

The great bulk of Prof Mykhnenko’s academic research is devoted to geographical political economy – an interdisciplinary social science-based study of spatialities and landscapes of modern capitalism, its varieties, development trajectories, and contested futures. Generally, geographical political economy is founded on the assumption that social, technological, economic, environmental, and political processes are necessarily related – co-evolving spatially, and co-implicated territorially with each other. The connective thread throughout much of Vlad’s work involves the application of theoretical, conceptual, and methodological dimensions of Economic Geography, Geographical and Urban Economics, and Comparative Political Economy to the real-world challenges of urban and regional growth and decline, development and de-development, shrinkage, and resilience in the context of chronic stress (e.g., de-industrialisation, out-migration, and sub-replacement fertility), and sudden shock events (e.g., natural disasters, revolutions, and wars).

Grant income and funded research projects

Prof Mykhnenko has been successful in research project bids as the sole or Principal Investigator (PI) with the UKRI Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Joint Programming Initiative (JPI) Urban Europe, Brazil’s State of São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP), and a number of universities, charitable foundations, and private sector companies, including the Universities of Cambridge and Birmingham, the CEU, the Global Strategic Communications Council (GSCC) with the Meliore Foundation, the Open Society Institute (OSI), and Protiviti, Inc. In joint project bids, as a Co-Investigator (Co-I) or named researcher, he has been successful with the UKRI Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), the European Research Council (ERC), the ESRC, the European Union’s 7th Framework Programme (FP7), the National Scientific Council for Research in Social Sciences and Humanities at Kazakhstan’s National Centre of Science and Technology Evaluation (NCSTE), The Republic of Kazakhstan Ministry of Science and Higher Education, and the Regional Studies Association (RSA).

The total research funding associated with Prof Mykhnenko’s research is currently valued at £15,644,705 (Consumer Price Index-adjusted), with £1,998,131 in PI roles, as follows:

Research impact on policy and society

According to Overton and Altmetric data platforms, Prof Mykhnenko’s research has been quoted in at least 79 policy documents by 49 organisations across 21 countries and jurisdictions. These include (i) national parliaments, governments, ministries, and public bodies of Czechia, Estonia, Finland, France, Hungary, Latvia, Scotland, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom, (ii) a host of supra-national and international government organisations such as CEDEFOP, the European Commission, the European Committee of the Regions, European Environment Agency, European Investment Bank, the European Parliament, the International Organization for Migration, the Nordic Council, the OECD, UN-HABITAT, UNESCO, UNIDO, and the United Nations, in addition to (iii) leading think tanks worldwide, including the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Chatham House, the European Trade Union Institute, the Joint Research Centre, Open Society Foundations, voxEU, as well as the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, France’s Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches Internationales, Germany’s CESifo, Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik, Ecologic Institute, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, IZA Institute of Labor Economics, Kiel Institute for the World Economy, Population Europe, and Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung, Clingendael of the Netherlands, SeConS Development Initiative Group of Serbia, Switzerland’s IMPACT Initiatives, and the UK’s Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion, Centre for Cities, Centre for Economic Policy Research, Centre for Welfare Reform, the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), Institute of Development Studies, and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

Contributing to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), 30% of Vlad’s documented policy impact has been directly attributed to fostering SDG11: Sustainable Cities and Communities, 19% to SDG8: Decent Work and Economic Growth, 13% to SDG10: Reduced Inequality, 12% to SDG16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions, 8% to SDG9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure,  7% to SDG1: No Poverty, 4% to SDG5: Gender Equality, 2% to SDG3: Good Health and Well-being, and then 1% each to SDG13: Climate Action, SDG15: Life on Land, and SDG4: Quality Education, respectively.

Aspects of Prof Mykhnenko’s research and policy analysis have been discussed and/or featured in at least 213 mass media contributions across 44 countries and territories, including Antena 1 TV (ROM) ● Arirang TV (KOR) ● Australian Broadcasting Corporation: ABC News & TV Channels (AUS) ● British Broadcasting Corporation: BBC News, TV & Radio (GBR) ● Berliner Zeitung (Berlin, DEU) ● Blick (CHE) ● CNN Indonesia ● The Daily Telegraph (GBR) ● Danas (HRV) ● El Heraldo de México (MEX) ● Expresso (PRT) ● Financial Times (GBR) ● Forbes (USA) ● Frankfurter Rundschau (DEU) ● Il Giorno (ITA) ● The Guardian (London, GBR) ● The Herald (Glasgow, GBR) ● Hindustan Times (IND) ● The i newspaper (GBR) ● INTER TV (UKR) ● The Irish Independent (IRE) ● Jornal Floripa (BRA) ● Klix (BIH) ● The Kyiv Independent (UKR) ● LBC Radio (London, GBR) ● LNK Žinios TV (LTU) ● The Mail on Sunday (GBR) ● Mediapart (FRA) ● Il Messaggero (ITA) ● Mladá fronta Dnes (CZE) ● Münchner Merkur (Munich, DEU) ● NDTV News (IND) ● Newsweek (USA) ● Oxford Mail (GBR) ● Premium Official News (PAK) ● Il Resto del Carlino (ITA) ● The Scotsman (GBR) ● States News Service (USA) ● The Sunday Telegraph (London, GBR) ● Svenska Dagbladet (SWE) ● TIME (USA) ● The Times (London, GBR) ● Times Radio (GBR) ● TV 2 Direkte (NOR) ● Vox (USA) ● Ukrainska Pravda (UKR) ● The Washington Post (USA) ● Yahoo! News UK (GBR) ● Zing News (VNM)

Teaching

Since 2001-2002, Prof Mykhnenko has taught and supervised over 3,000 undergraduate, graduate, and MBA students on 26 courses at various higher education institutions across the UK, Europe, and Asia, including the Universities of Birmingham, Cambridge, Glasgow, Nottingham, Oxford, and Taras Shevchenko Kyiv, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, The GEC Academy, Kyiv Mohyla Academy, and Kyiv Mohyla Business School. His commitment to research-led and research-orientated teaching was recognised in 2014, when Vlad achieved the status of Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and in 2015, when he was awarded a Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice (Merit) by the University of Birmingham. The outcome of his award-winning 4-year pedagogical experimentation with technology-enhanced learning tools and techniques was consequently published as a peer-reviewed academic paper in the Journal of Geography in Higher Education (see here).

At Oxford, Prof Mykhnenko makes a full contribution to the Department’s flagship MSc in Sustainable Urban Development (MSUD) Course, regularly contributing to its teaching weeks (modules), currently co-leading Teaching Weeks M1 Introducing Sustainable Urban Development and M4 Financing Sustainability. In addition, Vlad serves as a course admissions officer, a personal tutor to MSUD students, and regularly assesses their course assignments; since 2017, he has supervised 22 MSUD dissertation students.

Graduate Research Supervision

Prof Mykhnenko welcomes applications to the DPhil in Sustainable Urban Development (DSUD) Programme from outstanding individuals wishing to undertake doctoral research on urban and regional economies; shrinking cities; urban resilience; local economic development; regional growth and regional policy; fiscal federalism, devolution, and local government finance; and territorial cohesion and contentious urban politics.

Current Oxford DPhil Students:

  • Oliver Harman, Local government finance and decentralisation in sub-Saharan Africa, DPhil in Sustainable Urban Development Programme, OUDCE.
  • Camilo Gomez Osorio, Economic geography of public investment management in African cities, DPhil in Sustainable Urban Development Programme, OUDCE.
  • Frank Trevino, Jr., Smart city policy in second-tier cities, DPhil in Sustainable Urban Development Programme, OUDCE.

Past Doctoral Students:

  • Dr Zixuan Han (successful completion in 2023), Policy responses to urban shrinkage in North-eastern China, Sustainable Urban Development Programme, OUDCE (Recognised Student), PhD in Public Administration Programme, Harbin Institute of Technology, China.
  • Dr Bin Li (successful completion in 2017): Governance of urban redevelopment in Guangzhou, China from 1990 to 2015. The University of Birmingham.
  • Dr David Worrall (successful completion in 2011): Foreign trade developments in Ukraine, Russia, Poland, Lithuania, Belarus & Moldova, 1996-2006. The University of Glasgow.

Academic Citizenship

Since 2010, Prof Mykhnenko has been making a structured contribution to the development of Human Geography and Urban and Regional Studies through participation in the leading learned societies – the Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers) (Elected Fellow, 2010 - present), the Regional Studies Association (Elected Fellow, 2015-2022), and the American Association of Geographers (ad hoc Associate Member). To foster research in geographical political economy, Vlad currently serves on the editorial boards of Eurasian Geography & Economics, and Chinese Geographical Science.

Prof Mykhnenko has contributed 16 paper presentations at the annual conferences of the RGS-IBG, RSA, and AAG. Moreover, he has convened 6 special panels of papers, including the RSA 2010 (After the Global Financial Crisis – Cities, Regions, and Sectors in East-Central Europe and the Former USSR); RSA 2011 (Shrinking Cities: The Governance of Shrinkage within a European Context); RGS-IBG 2011 (The Governance of Urban Shrinkage), RSA 2012 (Planning Smarter Cities and Regions), RGS-IBG 2012 (Planning Smarter Places), and AAG 2019 (Smart Shrinkage Solutions). Vlad has also helped to organise the 1st International Conference on Urban Sustainability and Resilience, hosted in 2012 by the UCL Centre for Urban Sustainability & Resilience, and the International Scientific Conference on Urban Sustainability: Challenges and Solutions, hosted in 2024 by Al-Farabi Kazakh National University in Almaty.

8 Keynote Addresses

111 External Invited Talks

38 Academic Conference Papers Given

23 Internal Invited Talks at Oxford

Research Groups and Affiliations at Oxford:

Editorship of Journals:

  • Eurasian Geography and Economics (Taylor & Francis) - Editorial Board Member
  • Chinese Geographical Science (Springer) - Editorial Board Member

External Examiner:

  • 2025: Doctoral and Lifelong Education, EPFL: The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, Switzerland.
  • 2015 – 2019: BA in Management in the Creative Arts, The University of Manchester at the Moscow School of Social and Economic Sciences, Russia
  • 2014 – 2018: MA in Urban Studies, The University of Manchester at the Moscow School of Social and Economic Sciences, Russia

Peer-Review College Member for 12 Research Funding Bodies:

  • AHRC: The Arts and Humanities Research Council, UK Research and Innovation
  • The British Academy, UK
  • DAAD: German Academic Exchange Service, Germany
  • DSF: German Foundation for Peace Research, Germany
  • ESRC: The Economic and Social Research Council, UK Research and Innovation
  • GCRF: The Global Challenges Research Fund, UK
  • MRC: The Medical Research Council, UK Research and Innovation
  • NCN: National Science Centre, Poland
  • NCSTE: National Centre of Science and Technology Evaluation, Kazakhstan
  • SNSF: The Swiss National Science Foundation, Switzerland
  • SSHRC: The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Canada
  • UEFISCDI: The Executive Agency for Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation, Romania

Peer-Reviewing for 62 Academic Journals

Peer-Reviewing for 8 Academic Publishers

Publications

Books:

  • (2011) The Political Economy of Post-Communism: The Donbas and Upper Silesia in Transition. Lambert Academic Publishing. 244 pages. ISBN: 978-3845409344.
  • (Eds.) (2010) The Rise and Fall of Neoliberalism: The Collapse of an Economic Order? Zed Books, an Imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing. 280 pages. ISBN: 978-1848133495 (hardback). ISBN: 978-1848133488 (paperback).
    • Reprinted as Indian and Serbian language editions.

Articles published in journals or books:

  • (2023) Intergovernmental dynamics in responding to COVID-19 in English and Australian cities. Cambridge Journal of Regions Economy and Society, 16(1): 185-196.
  • (2023) Сток-город искусств: культурная регенерация сжимающегося города.  In Karpova. O. (Ed.), Российские региональные столицы: Развитие, основанное на культуре (pp. 74-90). The European University in St. Petersburg Press.
  • (2017) 欧米諸国における都市縮小事情と国際的な比較研究の必要性. In Architectural Institute of Japan (Eds.), 都市縮小時代の土地利用計画 多様な都市空間創出へ向けた課題と対応策  (pp. 168-175) Gakugei Publishers.
  • (2016) Resilience: A Right-Wingers Ploy? In S. Springer, K. Birch & J. MacLeavy (Eds.), The Handbook of Neoliberalism (pp. 190-206) Routledge.
  • (2010) Class voting and the Orange revolution: A cultural political economy perspective on Ukraine’s electoral geography. In S. White & D. Lane (Eds.), Rethinking the Coloured Revolutions (pp. 166-184). Routledge.
  • (2010) Conclusion: The end of an economic order? In K. Birch & V. Mykhnenko (Eds.), The Rise and Fall of Neoliberalism: The Collapse of an Economic Order? (pp. 255-268). Zed Books.
  • (2010) The Corruption industry and transition: Neoliberalizing post-Soviet space? In K. Birch & V. Mykhnenko (Eds.), The Rise and Fall of Neoliberalism: The Collapse of an Economic Order? (pp. 112-132). Zed Books.
  • (2010) Introduction: A world turned right-way up. In K. Birch & V. Mykhnenko (Eds.), The Rise and Fall of Neoliberalism: The Collapse of an Economic Order? (pp. 1-20). Zed Books.
  • (2009) Transition economies. In C. Wankel (Ed.), The Encyclopedia of Business in Today’s World (Vol. 4, pp. 1613-1615). SAGE Publishing.
  • (2008) Revolution in Orange. Europe-Asia Studies, 60(5): 867-869.
  • (2008) Global Focus: European Cities. Australian Planner, 45(4): 50-51.
  • (2008) Understanding Ukrainian Politics. Europe-Asia Studies, 60(2): 340-342.
  • (2007) Strengths and weaknesses of weak coordination: Economic institutions, revealed comparative advantages, and socio-economic performance of mixed market economies in Poland and Ukraine. In B. Hancké, M. Rhodes & M. Thatcher (Eds.), Beyond Varieties of Capitalism: Conflict, Contradictions, and Complementarities in the European Economy (pp. 351-378). Oxford University Press.
  • (2007) Poland and Ukraine: Institutional structures and economic performance. In D. Lane & M. Myant (Eds.), Varieties of Capitalism in Post-Communist Countries (pp. 124-145). Palgrave Macmillan.
  • (2007) The Ukrainian Donbas in transition. In A. Swain (Ed.), Re-constructing the Post-Soviet Industrial Region: The Donbas in Transition (pp. 7-46). Routledge.
  • (2007) Resurgent European cities? Population trajectories, 1960-2005. Examination of population growth rates - How do our cities compare? The Yorkshire & Humber Regional Review, 17: 3-5.
  • (2007) Resurgent European cities? Merseyside and North Wales Business Prospect, 5(1): 32-33.
  • (2006) Rescaling International Political Economy. Urban Studies, 43(11): 2126-2127.
  • (2005) What type of capitalism in post-communist Europe? Les Actes du GERPISA, 39(December): 83-112.
  • (2004) Ukrainian steel: Vulnerable overseas, weak at home.  Steel Times International, 28(7): 54-57.
  • (2003) State, society and protest under post-communism: Ukrainian miners and their defeat. In C. Mudde & P. Kopecký (Eds.), Uncivil Society? Contentious Politics in Eastern Europe (pp. 93-113). Routledge.

Conference proceedings & working papers:

  • (2024) Rebuilding Ukraine: a preliminary input-output analysis of the post-war reconstruction spatial dynamics. In V. Shnaider, O. Anisimov & J. Lawson (Eds.), Rebuilding a Place to Call Home: The Role of Land Policy in (Post)War Ukraine (pp. 41-44). Lviv: New Housing Policy; Kharkiv School of Architecture.
  • (Eds.) (2018) Регіон – 2018: стратегія оптимального розвитку. Karazin Kharkiv National University Press.
  • (2007) European Cities and Regions Dataset 1960-2005: Methods and Sources. Working Paper No. 3 (Amended version; 25 pp.). The University of Glasgow Centre for Public Policy for Regions.
  • (2004) From exit to take-over: the evolution of the Donbas as an intentional community. Workshop 20: Intentional Communities as Social Science Microcosms. ECPR Joint Sessions, Uppsala.

Research reports:

  • (2012) Governance of shrinkage: Lessons learnt from analysis for urban planning and policy. Shrink Smart: The Governance of Shrinkage within a European Context (47 pp.). Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Leipzig.
  • (2011) Mapping urban shrinkage in Europe. Training School Final Report. EU-COST Action TU0803. Department of Spatial Planning and Planning Theory (ROP), Dortmund Technical University.
  • (2010) Убывание в городах Донецк и Макеевка, Донецкая городская агломерация, Украина: Доклад по результатам исследования. (Final ed., 118 pp.). Industrial Economics Institute, Ukraine National Academy of Sciences.
  • (2010) Discussion Paper on Cross-Cutting Challenges. D7 Research Report. Shrink Smart: The Governance of Shrinkage within a European Context (32 pp.). Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Leipzig.
  • (2009) The specification of the working model. D1 Research Report. Shrink Smart: The Governance of Shrinkage within a European Context (43 pp.). Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Leipzig.
  • (2004) The Ukrainian Ferrous Metals Industry (3 pp.). The CEU Center for Policy Studies and Open Society Institute.

Digital artefacts: website content

  • (2019) 主动应对欧洲城市收缩现象. CSSN–Chinese Social Sciences Net, 21 November.
  • (2017) 3S RECIPE – Smart Shrinkage Solutions: Project Poster. JPI Urban Europe ENSUF Call.

Digital artefacts: digital or visual media

  • (2022) Ukrainian Cities at War. The Urban Political Podcast on Urban Theory, Research, and Activism by Ross Beveridge and Markus Kip. The Georg-Simmel-Center for Metropolitan Studies, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin.
  • (2021) Cities 2030: Oxford Research Offers Global Perspectives from the C-Suite. A VISION by Protiviti Launch Interview (9:15 min).

Research data sets and databases:

  • (2019) State rescaling and economic convergence: Supplementary data set. Regional Studies, 53(4).
  • (2007) Back matter: Statistical appendix. In D. Lane & M. Myant (Eds.), Varieties of Capitalism in Post-Communist Countries (pp. 258-270). Palgrave Macmillan.

Other:

  • (2023) Letter: Is ‘territorial compromise’ even in Russia’s lexicon? The Financial Times, 15 September, p. 16.
  • (2021) Smart Shrinkage Solutions: Saving Europe’s Cities with Proper Policy Analysis and Bold Interdisciplinary Approaches. St. Peter’s College Record 2021 (pp. 20-21). St. Peter’s College, Oxford.
  • (2021) Urban-rural governance drives common prosperity. Chinese Social Sciences Today, No. 334, 16 September, p. 3
  • (2020) 3S RECIPE: Saving Europe’s cities with proper policy analysis and bold interdisciplinary approaches. JPI Urban Europe Newsletter, 15 April.
  • (2020) Research focus: The reality of shrinking cities. Oxford University Department for Continuing Education Newsletter, Summer Term 2020 (27 July).
  • (2019) Converging Cities: Why the Gap Between the Haves and Have-nots Is Getting Smaller. Oxford University Department for Continuing Education Newsletter, Hilary Term 2019 (5 February).
  • (2018) Ask an Outsider. Mayor Mike Duggan: How I Am Halting Detroit’s Decline. The Financial Times, 8 January, p. 24.