David received his doctoral degree in Urban Studies and Regional Science with honours at Italy's Gran Sasso Science Institute in 2017. David is an urban geographer interested in mega-events, megaprojects and mobilities in the Global East. His research examines the role of legal exceptions and politics in large-scale urban projects and mostly focuses on the cities of Central Asia and South Caucasus. David is part of research team M3 (Materialities | Multiplicities | Metropolis). He is working on the project Cultural Flagships: Pathways, Practices and Politics of a Global Urban Type.
David is a principal researcher at Socio-Spatial Georgia funded by the Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia. The project aims to understand the deeper societal implications of large, private-sector, urban development in Batumi and Tbilisi in some fifteen years after their emergence, and at a time when Georgia continues to rely heavily on such projects to boost the economy