ZIBS had the pleasure of hosting Roman Shemakov for a fireside chat with students on sustainable infrastructure development and his latest book, Decarbonizing Asia: Innovation, Investment, and Opportunities (World Scientific Publishing, 2022) which was released at COP27, in Sharm el-Sheikh as part of the Singapore Government's Industrial Delegation.
In 2021, Roman Shemakov was a visiting scholar to Zhejiang University International Business School on a special one-time grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the Ford Foundation, and the Harvard-Yenching Institute.
His research, titled "the Political Economy of Digitized Cities," was advised by Ben Shenglin and Chen Hungyi. Focusing on the planetary consequences of urbanization, the research outlined methods to expand the sustainable capacity of the built environment. Specifically, it combined integrated assessment climate models with the industrial policies of new structural economics. His time at ZIBS became the foundation for his latest book.
Roman Shemakov edited the 400 page tome on decarbonization, curating the perspectives of 12 industry experts. The contributors to the volume have spent their careers leading global climate transitions, and include directors from General Electric, Siemens, Macquarie, Nomura, the World Bank, and the United Nations.
This is Roman Shemakov's second book. In 2021, right before his visitorship at ZIBS, he coauthored the Digital Transformation of Property in Greater China (World Scientific Publishing, 2021) with ZIBS Professor of Practice Paul Schulte and Zhejiang University alumni, Dean Sun. The book was featured as part of Singapore's Future Economy Series and received accolades from industry and academia for its forward looking analysis on urban technology, amalgamation, and a peaceful pathway forward in US-China relations. The book went to print while Shemakov was still a Henry Luce Scholar in Taipei.
The Luce Scholars program is one of America's longest running and most competitive fellowships, offering "early-career leaders immersive, professional experiences in Asia." Shemakov spent his year under the tutelage of Paul Hsu (徐小波). As a Luce Scholar, he designed the financing and development plans for a sustainable city in the American Southwest and wrote for the Council on Foreign Relations.
The Henry Luce Foundation was established by the founder of Time, Life, and Fortune Magazines. In 1936, the foundation gave its very first grant to establish the endowment of Yenching University in Beijing. Notable Luce Scholars include Robert Zoellick (President of the World Bank), Robert Dohner (Director at the United States Department of the Treasury), and multiple Pulitzer Prize winning journalists.
Since February 24th of 2022, Roman Shemakov has been the Editor for Eastern Europe at Global Voice, an international nongovernmental publication started at Harvard Law School. During his tenure, the Eastern Europe desk expanded their coverage to infrastructure vulnerabilities, governance reform, industrial policy, and reconstruction planning. Shemakov has personally interviewed a range of government officials and economists across Europe and the United States, including the retired Dutch Ambassador to NATO and China, Ron Keller. Before coming to China, Shemakov facilitated investment dialogue between Ukraine's National Council for Reconstruction, the Ukrainian World Congress, and European development corporations.
Currently, Roman Shemakov is a Yenching Scholar at Peking University. At the Yenching Academy, he is taught by Justin Yifu Lin (the founder of New Structural Economics) and Wang Yuan (previously, chief economist at the China Development Bank).
Shemakov is writing his dissertation on how to improve pricing mechanisms for sustainable infrastructure investment and facilitate rapid economic development in the aftermath of a major crisis. Focusing on the political economy of "emergency powers," the thesis is overseen by Xu Jintao, Director of the China Center for Environmental and Energy Economics at the School of National Development (CCEEE).
Roman Shemakov received his undergraduate training at Swarthmore College, graduating with a High Honors degree in Economics and History. He was mentored and advised by Stephen O'Connell (chief economist of USAID), and wrote his thesis on the legal and infrastructural development of the internet. The thesis published in the Columbia Journal of History.
Roman Shemakov currently co-manages Edifice, a publication and advisory firm on sustainable infrastructure with an international climate journalist Jesse Chase-Lubitz.
