Abigail Friendly is an Assistant Professor in Spatial Planning in the Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Utrecht University and a Research Fellow at the Global Cities Institute, University of Toronto. Previously, she held a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Institute on Municipal Finance and Governance, Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto. She has a PhD from the Department of Geography and Planning at the University of Toronto. Her research focuses on the intersection between urban planning, international development, governance and urban policies.