Travels between the digital and material: Curating the gendered city from the margins
2019-11-01 13:00 - 14:00 (Africa/Johannesburg) | Room 3.33, Centlivres Building, Upper Campus, UCT, Berlin , Germany
The School of Architecture, Planning and Geomatics is hosting Ayona Datta, who will present Travels between the digital and material: Curating the gendered city from the margins on Friday, 1 November at 13:00 in Room 3.33, Level 3, Centlivres Building, Upper Campus, UCT.
This talk presents a gendered perspective of Delhi’s urban future produced and curated by young women living in slum resettlement colonies in the peripheries. Using the metaphor of #aanajaana [#ComingGoing] as a paradigm for postcolonial urbanism, this paper argues that their everyday mobility across the home and the city reflect the paradox of belonging and exclusion in a digital urban age. The paper captures the ambiguities and paradoxes of their lives – on the one hand living as second generation rural migrants forcefully evicted from the city slums in the 2000s and resettled in the peripheries. On the other hand, as millennials with increased access to mobile and communication technologies, these women are also riding the digital urban age with promises of their inclusion in the future city. Using WhatsApp diaries entries of multimedia content (audio recordings, photographs, videos and text messages by women), conversations between the women and researchers as well as observations of the dynamics within the WhatsApp group over a period of 6 months, I suggest that #AanaJaana highlights the inherent slow violence of living between material and digital exclusions from the city.
BIOGRAPHY
Ayona Datta is a Professor in the Department of Geography at University College London. Her broad research interests are in postcolonial urbanism, smart cities, gender citizenship and urban futures. In particular, she is interested in how cities seek to transform themselves through utopian urban visions of the future and their impacts on everyday social, material and gendered geographies. She uses interdisciplinary approaches from architecture, planning, feminist and urban geography, combining qualitative, digital/mapping and visual research methods to examine urbanisation and urban development as experiments in urban ‘futuring’. For her contributions to an understanding of smart cities through fieldwork she received the Busk Medal from the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) in 2019.

MPhil Southern Urbanism - a celebration of the first cohort
2019-11-07 14:00 - 19:00 | Davies Reading Room, Room 2.27, Environmental and Geographical Science, UCT, Cape Town, Western Cape, 8000, South Africa
Join us to celebrate and share the work of the first cohort of MPhil Southern Urbanism graduates, along with their first year colleagues.
WHEN: Thursday, 7 November
TIME: 14:00 to 17:00 with drinks and snacks afterwards
VENUE: Davies Reading Room, EGS Building, UCT
RSVP by Monday 4 November, to khaya.salman@uct.ac.za
PROGRAMME
Reflections on Thesis Work: 2nd Year Graduating MPhil Students

Thesis research artefacts
Fieldwork stories
Arguments and contributions
Finding a voice in urban studies

Discussion
Forthcoming Thesis Research: 1st Year Students

Discussants:
Anna Selmeczi – Mphil Southern Urbanisms Convenor
Sophie Oldfield – Professor of Urban Studies
Edgar Pieterse – Director ACC, Professor of Urban Policy

Global Agendas and Urban Equality: Exploring synthesis, connections and contestations
2019-11-08 12:30 - 13:30 | Studio 3, Environmental and Geographical Sciences Building, Upper Campus, UCT, Cape Town, South Africa
Join ACC on Friday, 8 November at 12:30 for a special seminar session entitled Global Agendas and Urban Equality: Exploring synthesis, connections and contestations. ACC Director Edgar Pieterse will be in conversation with Michele Acuto, Director of the Connected Cities Lab, The University of Melbourne, and Winnie Mitullah Director of Institute for Development Studies, University of Nairobi. The discussion will be chaired by Stephanie Butcher, a Postdoctoral Researcher with the Connected Cities Lab.
While great strides have been made in recent years to help place the urban more firmly on international development agendas, questions remain as to how, and in what ways, global policy can be operationalised at an urban scale. Bringing together leading thinkers on urbanisation this moderated discussion will explore the scalar connections between global processes and policy agendas and their material, political and social impacts across urban environments in the global South.
WHEN: Friday, 8 November
TIME: 12:30 to 13:30
VENUE: Studio 3, Environmental and Geographical Science Building, Upper Campus, UCT

BIOGRAPHIES
Professor Michele Acuto is an expert on urban politics and international urban planning. Michele is also a non-resident Senior Fellow of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and a Senior Fellow of the Bosch Foundation Global Governance Futures Program.
Before joining the Faculty, Michele was Director of the City Leadership Lab and Professor of Diplomacy and Urban Theory at University College London, having previously worked as Stephen Barter Fellow of the Oxford Programme for the Future of Cities at the University of Oxford. He also taught at the University of Canberra, University of Southern California, Australian National University and National University of Singapore. Outside academia, Michele worked for the Institute of European Affairs in Dublin, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), the Kimberley Process for conflict diamonds, the European Commission’s response to pandemic threats. He also has worked for several years on city leadership and city networks with, amongst others, Arup, World Health Organization, World Bank Group, the C40 Climate Leadership Group, and UN-Habitat.
Professor Winnie V. Mitullah is the current Director and Associate Research Professor of Development Studies at the Institute for Development Studies (IDS), and the Director Gender Affairs, University of Nairobi. She holds a PhD in Political Science and Public Administration from the University of York, UK. Her PhD thesis was on Urban Housing, with a major focus on policies relating to low income housing. Over the years, she has researched and consulted in the areas of governance, in particular in the area of provision and management of urban services and the role of stakeholders in development. Her focus in these areas has included an examination of policies, and institutional dynamics in relation to local level development, including that of devolved governments, Micro and Small Enterprises [SMEs], public and Non Motorised Transport (NMT), gender, youth and media.
Dr. Stephanie Butcher is a Postdoctoral Researcher with the Connected Cities lab. She is a part of the ‘Knowledge in Action for Urban Equality’ (KNOW) project, a global consortium which seeks to deliver transformative research and capacity in policy and planning that will promote and strengthen pathways to urban equality. Previous to this post, she worked with the Development Planning Unit (DPU) at the University College London as a Teaching Fellow, convening courses focused on the themes of participatory planning, urban inequality, and gender and diversity in the Global South. Her doctoral thesis was shaped by principles of action-research, and focused on the ‘everyday politics’ of water infrastructure for informal settlement residents in Kathmandu, Nepal. It examined the micro-politics of how gender, tenure relations, and ethnicity shaped how diverse residents interacted with the socio-technical aspects of infrastructure, impacting a sense of citizenship.

IMAGE CREDIT: Unequal Scenes by Johnny Miller

Knowledge in Action for Urban Equality (KNOW): The challenges of translocal knowledge co-production
2019-11-15 12:30 - 14:00 | Davies Reading Room, Room 2.27, Environmental and Geographical Science, UCT, Cape Town, Western Cape, 8000, South Africa
Join ACC as we host Caren Levy, Camila Cocina and Alex Frediani from KNOW on Friday, 15 November, 12:30 to 14:00, in the Davies Reading Room, Environmental and Geographical Sciences Building, Upper Campus, UCT.
This talk, chaired by Vanessa Watson will introduce the KNOW programme, a 4-year research and capacity building programme funded by GCRF which works with 13 organisation across 12 cities in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The talk will reflect on its partnerships, operational principles and the interface between research and practice. It will draw on the KNOW work done so far as it approaches the end of its second year. We hope that this session will open up an opportunity to exchange experiences of collaborative initiatives addressing urban equality.
WHEN: Friday, 15 November 2019
TIME: 12:30 to 14:00
VENUE: Davies Reading Room, Environmental and Geographical Science Building, Upper Campus, UCT

BIOGRAPHIES
Caren Levy is the Principal Investigator (PI) on the GCRF funded project, Knowledge in Action for Urban Equality (KNOW), and Professor of Transformative Urban Planning at The Bartlett Development Planning Unit, UCL. Her research focuses on community-led approaches to planning and governance of transport and infrastructure, housing and land in cities in the global South. Levy has a special interest in the institutionalisation of social justice in policy and planning, particularly related to the cross-cutting issues of gender, diversity, and environment. She has 35 years’ experience of teaching, research, training and consultancy, developing innovatory approaches to planning methodology, planning education and capacity-building. Her works engages with communities, governments and international organisations both in London and abroad in a range of countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East.
Camila Cocina is a Research Fellow in the working package ‘Translating Research into Practice’ for KNOW. We focus on investigating the challenges of knowledge translation processes at the global and local levels, and support city research partners to influence policy and planning practices. Cocina is an urbanist and architect with a PhD in Development Planning and MSc Building & Urban Design in Development, from The Bartlett Development Planning Unit, University College London. She’s worked as a practitioner, researcher, and teacher in Chile and the UK, with experience of fieldwork and teaching in Latin America, Asia, Europe, and Africa. Her practice has focused primarily on urban development, housing policies, participatory urban design, urban informality, and housing reconstruction; and she’s worked both in academic institutions as well as in independent NGOs. She has a special interest in linking research, advocacy, planning practices, and policies. Cocina’s PhD research focused on the challenges faced by housing policies in reducing urban inequalities, in the Chilean context.
Alex Frediani is a Senior Lecturer at The Bartlett Development Planning Unit. He also co-direct the MSc in Social Development Practice and direct the DPUs communications. In KNOW, he leadsWork Package 4, which focuses on translating research into practice to advance urban equality. His research interests include the application of Amartya Sen’s Capability Approach in development practice; participatory planning and design; as well as housing and informal settlement upgrading. Frediani has collaborated with academics and grassroots collectives in Brazil, Ecuador, Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Kenya, and South Africa. Apart from research and action learning initiatives, he has provided consultancy for international development donors and agencies such as Oxfam, Comic Relief, Practical Action and UNDP. He is a founding and board member of the Sierra Leone Urban Research Centre (SLURC). He is also on the board of Habitat International Coalition and an associate of Architecture Sans Frontières–UK.

Relaunch: Cityscapes Magazine
2019-11-19 17:30 - 19:00 | The Book Lounge, 71 Roeland Street, Cape Town, South Africa
African Centre for Cities invites you to the relaunch of Cityscapes Magazine on 19 November 2019, 17:30 at The Book Lounge. The new issue is themed ‘Passages’ is a collection of stories that explore the nature(s) of movement, the impact it has on how we live and who we are, as well as the lives that are made – mobile and immobile – after the passage.
People move. That is what we do. We move our bodies, move house, neighbourhood; we move across and through borders. We move because we want to and sometimes because we need to. To be with or away from family, to adventure and experience new things, on pilgrimage, to escape, learn, and sometimes to return home when it calls us. We move through space, we move up(becoming wealthier, more affluent),down (becoming materially more impoverished), we also move ideas and resources. We move to work, to search, to find, and sometimes to lose.
We move… It’s in our nature and has been since time immemorial.
Yet, as the world becomes better connected, moving has become a challenging and divisive experience at every scale you can imagine. We are building and strengthening physical borders to keep those we feel are “not worthy” from occupying the same spaces we do, while inviting the “desirable” – the educated, “clever”, connected, wealthy and talented – in. Our interest is in where people move to, and why. Also, how ideas and capital circulate, traverse borders, and what the impacts are once “there”. This is the reason we have produced this issue. The ninth issue of Cityscapes and our new tagline—Urbanism Beyond Geography—marks a re-launch, after a hiatus (of sorts).
As the abundance of figures being released on the topic attests, we have been moving to cities – everywhere. The magnetism of places larger than where we are from has attracted legions – for centuries – and is now just part of the human story. Cities are not a new construct, and moving to them is really not that new a phenomenon. What’s different is the scale. In many economies, cities are the places where opportunities lie, where dreams can be fulfilled—or dashed, but still given a chance—if you’re one of the lucky ones. We will always move to such places. Some inner instinct demands that we do.
What we have to figure out is how we live together once we get there. How the resources we have can be more equitably shared, and what we do when they are not. What do we do when the assets we have fuel distributional conflicts, understandably, with those who have been dealt a bad hand and have little to lose?
We have dug up stories that explore the nature(s) of movement, the impact it has on how we live and who we are, as well as the lives that are made – be they mobile or immobile – after the passage. It seems we move so that we are able to move some more. We move so we can “do better”, jump from one station in life to another. We become mobile hoping that it will expand our choices and send us ever onward.
Between these covers, we have tried to explore the question of what happens when we move to where we desire, or leave where we cannot be any more. In a “new” place, whether it’s for the short or long haul, how do we keep the ideas we hold dear? How do we, as “newcomers”, maintain the cultures that define us? How can we embrace our new situation in a manner that changes both us and our new settings?
Often, the “new” is old too. It seeks to hold on to its idea of self and wants to be loved and embraced on its own terms. It does not want to lose itself to the influence of newcomers – reinforcements of sorts – that, willingly or not, are its lifeblood.

Governance and politics of harnessing urbanisation for Sub-Saharan Africa’s urban development
2019-12-03 12:30 - 14:00 | Studio 3, Environmental and Geographical Sciences Building, Upper Campus, UCT, Cape Town, South Africa
Visiting scholar Prof Winnie Mitullah, of the Institute for Development Studies (IDS), University of Nairobi will present a seminar entitled Governance and politics of harnessing urbanisation for Sub-Saharan Africa’s urban development, on Tuesday, 3 December at 12:30 to 14:00 in Studio 3, EGS Building, Upper Campus, UCT. The session will be chaired by senior researcher Dr Liza Rose Cirolia.
Urbanisation in Africa has attracted attention of scholars, policy makers and practitioners, but problems of urbanisation are seemingly insurmountable and are not being adequately addressed. African cities are rapidly growing but contrary to conventional patterns, the population growth is not matched by economic growth and development. This inconsistency has resulted in the persistence of spatial, demographic, social, cultural, economic and environmental problems, which have diverted attention of the continent to studying and highlighting the problems of urbanisation, and theories which explain problems. This has left a gap in analysis in respect to harnessing opportunities for consolidating urbanisation and urban development. The seminar is part of a larger paper focusing on harnessing Africa’s urbanisation for sustainable urban development, concentrating on understanding how the unique aspects of Sub-Saharan Africa’s urbanisation, existing opportunities and related disruptions are being governed for Africa’s urban development.
The seminar will provide context and review some of the explanations and related theories used to explain Sub-Saharan Africa’s urbanisation. This is aimed at setting the ground for exploring governance attributes and related politics which advance or undermine Africa’s urban development. A key question for exploration is how governance and politics enable or undermine tapping urbanisation opportunities for sustainable urban development. Transport infrastructure in the city of Cape Town and the city of Nairobi is used to dig out inherent governance and related politics which shroud the development of urban areas in Africa. The seminar will concentrate on the first part of this research which include review of context, urban growth, theoretical lenses and overview of mediation of transport infrastructure for sustainable urban development.
WHEN: 3 December 2019
TIME: 12:30 to 14:00
VENUE: Studio 3, EGS Building, Upper Campus, UCT
BIOGRAPHY
Professor Winnie V. Mitullah is the current Director and Associate Research Professor of Development Studies at the Institute for Development Studies (IDS), and the Director Gender Affairs, University of Nairobi. She holds a PhD in Political Science and Public Administration from the University of York, UK. Her PhD thesis was on Urban Housing, with a major focus on policies relating to low income housing. Over the years, she has researched and consulted in the areas of governance, in particular in the area of provision and management of urban services and the role of stakeholders in development. Her focus in these areas has included an examination of policies, and institutional dynamics in relation to local level development, including that of devolved governments, Micro and Small Enterprises [SMEs], public and Non Motorised Transport (NMT), gender, youth and media.

EXHIBITION: It all starts with me
2019-12-05 16:00 - 18:00 | The New Lecture Theatre, Upper Campus, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, 7700, South Africa
You are invited to a pop-up exhibition and book launch of the Youth, Identity and the City project together with Rosca Warries, Kirstin Warries, Dane Van Rooyen and TPA Youth for Change, on Thursday 5 December from 16:00.
It all starts with me is a one-day exhibition based on the African Centre for Cities research project Youth, Identity and the City led by researcher Mercy Brown-Luthango, which engaged 13 out-of-school and unemployed young people from Mitchell’s Plain, Philippi and Gugulethu in a process of self-reflection using photography as a tool. The focus was on the role of young people in cities; how they understand their position, community, identity and location (spatially, emotionally and socially) in relation to the city as a whole, in this case Cape Town.
As part of this process, led by noDREAD Productions and their photography workshop design Image vs Truth, each participant was furnished with two disposable cameras to capture photographs of the communities where they live as well as historical places visited in the city. As one of the final outputs of the project, with guidance from Rosca Warries, Kirstin Warries and Dane Van Rooyen, the young people undertook a process of curating an exhibition of these photographs. All the photographs are part of a moving exhibition from the University of Cape Town, for the launch, to Phillipi Village and Tafelsig Library where the participants’ peers and community can engage and encounter their messages and photographs of hope.
WHEN: Thursday, 5th December 2019
TIME: 16:00 to 18:00
VENUE: The New Lecture Theatre, Upper Campus, UCT
RSVP: shakira.jeppie@uct.ac.za

Contested Knowledges for Just Urban Futures
2019-12-10 10:00 - 17:00 | Channing Hall, 45 Surrey Street, Sheffield, United Kingdom
For urban scholars to be committed to more just urban futures is not new; yet the conditions and contexts from and in which academics engage are constantly changing. From means concerning ourselves with the context of the university itself, the distancing and / or proximity afforded by the university, the dynamics of the spaces from which we engage and the implications for our understanding of and relationships between knowledge and action. In means recognising that a commitment and/or engagement to realising just urban futures is often practiced in the interstices, boundaries or margins of intersecting domains, in liminal spaces between the university and the urban context.

Working from and in these different spaces requires reflexive engagement (May and Perry 2017) and adaptiveness and creativity in academic practice, as knowledge claims are challenged and contested in intentional and unanticipated ways. A range of issues are brought into focus: how we think about time, space, positionality and power; how competing or contesting knowledge claims affect our sense of belonging and our commitment; if (and how) these are mediated through inter-referential reflexivity. We need to pay attention to the peculiarities of these spaces and how these are navigated, negotiated and with what effects. This seminar asks: How does our commitment to just urban futures specifically manifest in practice, in the context of the wider co-productive turn and interest in different ideas about what it means to be an ‘engaged’ academic?
Event details

Tuesday, December 10, 2019 – 10:00 to 17:00

Channing Hall, 45 Surrey Street, Sheffield S1 2LG
This seminar is explicitly aimed at established academic researchers working in universities, with a commitment to socially just and sustainable futures, to share and learn from practice. It will take place over one day with propositions, presentations and discussions and include an early evening dinner (1730-1900).

The seminar is organised by Professors Tim May and Beth Perry with funding from the Economic and Social Research Council and the Realising Just Cities Programme (https://realisingjustcities-rjc.org/). It is also part of the Urban Institute’s Co-producing Urbanisms theme.
Provocations will be made by

Professor Beth Perry, Urban Institute, University of Sheffield
Dr Zarina Patel, University of Cape Town
Dr Michele Lancione, Urban Institute, University of Sheffield
Professor Felicity Callard, Birkbeck Institute for Social Research, University of London
Dr Sally Lloyd Evans, University of Reading
Professor Rowland Atkinson, Urban Studies and Planning, University of Sheffield
Dr Lee Crookes, Urban Studies and Planning, University of Sheffield
Dr Hayley Bennett, University of Edinburgh and Dr Richard Brunner, University of Glasgow
Professor Doina Petrescu, University of Sheffield

Click here for a detailed seminar programme and abstracts.
Places will be limited and booking is essential. If you would like to attend, please RSVP to v.l.simpson@sheffield.ac.uk with name, university and a couple of lines on your urban research and engagement activity.

Cities of integrity – innovative approaches to tackling corruption and cultivating a culture of integrity, trust and openness in urban development
2020-02-09 14:00 - 16:00 | Hall 2, Room 1, Abu Dhabi , United Arab Emirates
Cities of Integrity project hosts a panel discussion at the World Urban Forum in Abu Dhabi, on Sunday, 9 February 2020 from 14:00 to 16:00.
Urban innovation flows from multiple actors securely, independently seeking opportunities for improvement of their livelihoods, their homes and their social fabric. Urban development that is underpinned by a culture of integrity, transparency and accountability is an essential condition minimising the risks that would otherwise block this innovation and investment. You may plan and wish for a prosperous, inclusive, equitable, resilient or sustainable city but if norms of integrity and openness are corroded by corruption none of these aspirations can be achieved. Our event will provide a platform to raise our shared understanding of the urban corruption risks at hand. We will discuss the latest facts and figures related to the major integrity challenges in urban development, their scale, scope and development over time in the cities of both the global north and south. At least equally important we will take this empirical overview as a point of departure to embark on a joint exploration of the innovative tools and approaches available to build and nurture strong cultures of integrity at the city scale. By weaving together insights and perspectives from urban planners, architects and urban policy-makers on the one side and experts and practitioners on transparency, integrity and governance we will launch an inspirational, interactive conversation around the many practical tools and innovative levers that can be activated to architect and nurture such cultures of urban integrity. Questions to explore with the audience include: what are the major ”integrity vulnerabilities” in urban development? What strategies to promote urban cultures of integrity have been found to be effective so far? What roles can the professional community of urban planners and architects play in addressing these integrity risks? What is a realistic contribution that new technologies can make beyond the hype that surrounds them? What responsibility falls to the private sector and what practical action is already coming from the business side? How can the creativity of urban place-making be harnessed? We will seek to explore these questions not just through a set of inspirational panel presentations but also by tapping into the expertise and creativity of the audience through interactive conversation formats. The aim is to provoke new thinking around these issues and plant the seeds for much needed new partnerships around urban integrity issues that harness the expertise and commitment of a diverse set of urban stakeholders.
MODERATOR
Adi Kumar – Development Action Group, South Africa
PANELISTS
Gilbert Siame – Centre for Urban Research and Planning, University of Zambia
Jennifer Bretana – Hivos, Philippines
Dieter Zinnbauer – African Center for Cities, South Africa and Copenhagen Business School, Denmark
Alex Warnock-Smith – Central Saint Martins, United Kingdom
WHEN: Sunday, 9 February 2020
TIME: 14:00 to 16:00
VENUE: Hall 2, Room 1, Abu Dhabi, UAE

Academic Seminar: The edge economies of migration
2020-02-25 12:30 - 14:00 | Davies Reading Room, Room 2.27, Environmental and Geographical Science, UCT, Cape Town, Western Cape, 8000, South Africa
Join ACC as we host Suzanne Hall for a special academic seminar entitled The edge economies of migration on Tuesday, 25 February 2020 from 12:30 to 14:00 in the Davies Reading Room, Environmental and Geographical Sciences Building, Upper Campus, UCT. Camalita Naicker, of the Department of Historical Studies, University of Cape Town will act as a respondent.
ABSTRACT
‘Edge Economies’ emerge in the asymmetries of global migration and the ongoing ferocities of urban marginalisation. From the grounded perspective of street economies formed in the peripheries of post-industrial UK cities, I explore the racialised frameworks of citizenship and economic inequality and their everyday contestations. I locate the global and urban formations of the edge in the European ideologies of displacement and immobility, incorporating the extended coloniality of political interventionism and human subordination. By moving between spaces of globe, state and street, I further explore the edge as a capricious space in which social sorting, cultural intermixtures and claims to difference are forged. Such combinations encourage connections between the histories and geographies of how people and places become bordered, together with practices of edge economies that are both marginal and transgressive.
BIOGRAPHY
Suzanne Hall is a Co-director of the Cities Programme and Associate Professor in Sociology at the LSE. Suzi’s research interests engage with the street life of brutal borders, migrant economies and urban multi-culture.
WHEN: Tuesday, 25 February 2020
TIME: 12:30 – 14:00
VENUE: Davies Reading Room, Environmental and Geographical Sciences Building, Upper Campus, UCT

Non-Motorised Transport Capabilities and Needs in Sub-Saharan African Cities
2020-02-27 14:00 - 16:00 | 4th Floor Boardroom, New Engineering Building, Cape Town , South Africa
Join ACC’s researcher Sean Cooke for an open discussion on non-motorised transport capabilities and needs in Sub-saharan African cities. The two-hour session will start with a presentation by Bianca Ryseck on the capabilities approach and its applications to mobility followed by an open discussion to further understanding NMT needs of vulnerable groups through their capabilities.
WHEN: Thursday, 27 February 2020
TIME: 14:00 to 16:00
VENUE: 4th Floor Boardroom, New Engineering Building, Upper Campus, UCT
RSVP: sean.cooke@uct.ac.za
Refreshments will be served.

Book launch: Participatory Theatre and the Urban Everyday in South Africa
2020-02-27 17:30 | Breezeblock Cafe, 29 Chiswick Street, Johannesburg, South Africa
The South African Research Chair in Spatial Analysis and City Planning within the Wits School of Architecture and Planning, the Chair in Local Histories and Present Realities at the History Workshop, also at Wits, and the African Centre for Cities at UCT would like to invite you to the joint launch of Njogu Morgan and Alexandra Halligey’s new books, with guest speakers, Ruth Oldenziel and Terry Kurgan.
Cycling Cities: The Johannesburg Experience by Njogu Morgan and Participatory Theatre and the Urban Everyday in South Africa: Place and Play in Johannesburg by Alexandra Halligey will be jointly launched on 27 February at the Breezeblock Cafe, Johannesburg.
Ruth Oldenziel, Professor in The History of Technology at Eindhoven University of Technology and programme leader of Cycling Cities: The Global Experience will speak to Morgan’s book while Terry Kurgan, artist and writer based in Johannesburg, editor and partner of Fourthwall Books and Research Associate of the Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research, will focus on Halligey’s title.

DATE: Thursday, 27th February
TIME: 17:00 for 17:30
VENUE: Breezeblock Café, 29 Chiswick Street, Brixton
Please RSVP to alexandra.halligey@wits.ac.za by 24 February for catering and parking purposes.

LSX - WP Training
2020-06-13 08:00 - 2020-06-14 17:00, 2020-06-20 08:00 - 2020-06-21 17:00, 2020-06-27 08:00 - 2020-06-28 17:00, 2020-07-04 08:00 - 2020-07-05 17:00, 2020-07-11 08:00 - 2020-07-12 17:00, 2020-07-18 08:00 - 2020-07-19 17:00, 2020-07-25 08:00 - 2020-07-26 17:00 | UCT, Seminar Room 1 Chemical Engineering, UCT Upper Campus, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa

Southern Africa City Studies Conference
2020-08-30 - 2020-09-01
Since 2009 the Southern Africa City Studies Conference (SACSC) series has provided an interdisciplinary forum for researchers examining urban issues in Southern Africa. We are pleased to announce that the fifth conference in this series will take place from 30 August to 1 September 2020 at the University of the Witwatersrand.
Recent interest in comparative urbanism and southern urbanism, as well as a context of regional and global uncertainty, creates an important opportunity for scholars to engage these and other issues and debates from the vantage of urban experiences in our region. One of the objectives of this conference series is to promote emerging scholars who are residents of Southern Africa working on cities in the region or elsewhere, as well as scholarship on cities in Southern Africa.
The conference is hosted by the Centre for Urbanism and Built Environment Studies, the Gauteng City-Region Observatory, and the South African Research Chair in Spatial Analysis and City Planning, and in association with the other members of an evolving, informal urban studies network currently made up of the following university entities: the National Research Chair in Economic Development of the City of Johannesburg, University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), the Wits City Institute, the African Centre for Cities at the University of Cape Town, Department of Political Studies, University of the Western Cape, the Urban Futures Centre at the Durban University of Technology, the Centre for Development Support at the University of the Free State, the National Research Chair for Sustainable Human Settlements, Nelson Mandela University, the Department of Town and Regional Planning, University of Pretoria, the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Venda, and the Department of Social Anthropology, North West University.
www.sacsc2020.com

Association of African Planning Schools Conference 2020
2020-11-18 - 2020-11-20 | Unnamed Venue, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, United Republic Of
The Institute of Spatial Planning (IRPUD) at TU Dortmund University (Germany), together with the Institute of Human Settlement Studies and School of Spatial Planning and Social Sciences at Ardhi University (Tanzania) hosts the fifth international conference of the Association of African Planning Schools (AAPS) from 18 to 20 November 2020 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Themed Urban Africa in the Twenty-First Century: Current Issues and Future Prospects of Urban Governance and Planning, the conference will be organised along five thematic tracks relevant to current issues and future prospects of urban governance and planning in urban Africa:

Track 1: Localising planning theories
Track 2: Innovating planning education to fit the challenges of climate change
Track 3: Participatory and multi-governance approaches for urban resilience
Track 4: Toward pro-livelihood adaptation and risk management approaches
Track 5: Information and communication technology (ICT) for inclusive spaces

The conference will feature keynote addresses from leading urban and planning scholars including Prof Stefan Greiving (TU Dortmund University), Prof Robert Kiunsi (Ardhi University), Prof Wilbard Kombe (Ardhi University), Prof Garth Myers (Trinity College, USA), Prof Sophie Schramm (TU Dortmund University), Prof Vanessa Watson (University of Cape Town).

RISE Africa Action Festival 2021
2021-05-24 - 2021-05-28
The RISE Africa platform, together with its partners, hosts its first annual event that brings together Africa’s urban thinkers, doers and enablers, including ICLEI Africa’s member cities, subnational and local governments, from 24 to 28 May 2021. The event is planned around celebrating Africa Day, 25 May, and this year’s theme is NEXT URBAN CHAMPIONS*.

See the Curator Statement here, explore the video provocations, or view the RISE Africa 2021 Roadmap.

Explore the full 5-day programme below and register for individual sessions or register below for multiple RISE Africa 2021 sessions at once. With 46 sessions to choose from there is something for every thinker, doer and enabler working toward sustainable urban African solutions!

The titles with both english and french will have two-way interpretation.

Explorez le programme complet de 5 jours ci-dessous et inscrivez-vous à des sessions individuelles ou inscrivez-vous ci-dessous pour plusieurs sessions RISE Africa 2021 à la fois. Avec 46 sessions au choix, il y en a pour tous les penseurs, acteurs et facilitateurs travaillant vers des solutions urbaines africaines durables!

Les titres en anglais et en français auront une interprétation bidirectionnelle

Download the quick PDF guide to sessions here.

LAUNCH | Masters in Sustainable Urban Practice
2021-05-26 13:00 - 14:00
From siloed practitioner to urban integrator for sustainable African city futures – this new Masters programme, convened by the African Centre for Cities, at the University of Cape Town cultivates a new generation of Urban Champions.

The complex, multi-dimensional demands of our rapidly urbanising world require holistic, inter-disciplinary thinking and practice. However traditional professional paradigms and often-siloed institutions seem doomed to replicate the entrenched patterns and practices of path-dependent urban infrastructure provision and management. To overcome the often-fragmented ways in which urban questions are framed, institutionalised, and engaged by varied levels of government, citizens, civil society organisations, and private sector actors, we need a new kind of urban practitioner, who can work across practices, professional norms, hierarchies, sectors and urban problems. To meet this need, the African Centre for Cities (ACC), UCT, launches a new Masters in Sustainable Urban Practice, which seeks to cultivates urban integrators who are able to discern opportunities for integration, and can build the necessary coalitions for change; who are confident in varied cultures of communication and can build bridges between sectors, fields, and scales of urban practice.

Join ACC for the launch of the programme as Prof Edgar Pieterse, director of the African Centre for Cities, and South African Research Chair in Urban Policy, and programme convenor Dr Mercy Brown-Luthango introduce this exciting new degree.

A Story of a Zambian Planner: Animating Integrity in Urban Planning
2021-06-03 15:00 - 16:30
The FCDO-funded Global Integrity Anti Corruption Evidence Programme supports research teams in not only creating actionable evidence, but deepening engagement with practitioners. The Cities of Integrity research team have tried many different ways to communicate research more effectively with practitioners. Over the course of the project they have developed a series of animated videos illustrating the specific issues of corruption in urban planning and its consequences for cities and their publics. These animations have been used in workshops, social media, and direct engagement with particular groups such as early career planners.

As part of this event the team will screen the series followed by a panel discussion with the animators, the research team, and a representative from the Zambian Institute of Planners. We will discuss the advantages and limitations of using animated film in workshops and communications around integrity-strengthening as a response to corruption in planning. The Cities of Integrity team will reflect on their experience working with the production house in translating their research into accessible language and visuals and hone in on the question of impact together with the Zambian Institute of Planners as a key stakeholder.

Join us for the official premiere of their three-part series of animated shorts.

Zoom Registration

PanelistsBart Love – Director, AnotherLoveProduction, Cape TownLaura Nkula-Wenz – Cities of Integrity, Project Coordinator, African Centre for CitiesVanessa Watson – Cities of Integrity, Principal Investigator, University of Cape TownGilbert Siame – Cities of Integrity, Co- Principal Investigator, University of ZambiaPlanner from Zambian Institute of Planning (ZIP)

Anotherlove Productions has been creating engaging visual content for clients from around the world for over a decade. They believe that a well-told visual story – be it an animation, a documentary or an infographic – can challenge, encourage and activate audiences whilst shifting perceptions. For this creative team, a rigorous and engaged production process is as valuable as the final product. They are happiest when their clients have enjoyed working with them, and they have a piece of meaningful and effective media at the end of it.

The Zambian Institute of Planning is a professional corporate body established by the Urban and Regional Planners Act of 2011 of the Laws of Zambia to register and regulate the practice of planning in Zambia

Prof. Vanessa Watson is an emerita professor at the School of Architecture, Planning and Geomatics, University of Cape Town. She is the Principal Investigator for the Cities of Integrity project. Dr. Gilbert Siame is a lecturer at the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies at the University of Zambia (UNZA) as well as the Co-PI and Zambia research lead for Cities of Integrity. Dr. Laura Nkula-Wenz is a lecturer at the African Centre for Cities, University of Cape Town and the project lead for Cities of Integrity.

MPhil Southern Urbanism Info Session
2021-06-14 12:30 - 13:30
The MPhil Southern Urbanism programme is conceived of, and designed to cultivate a new generation of urban scholars rooted in the realities and theories of Southern cities. The programme as an intellectual project has its foundations in Urban Studies as a scholarly debate and as an interdisciplinary imperative situated in the complex realities of African and southern cities.

Through a combination of guided learning in small-group seminars, experimentation in various spaces of urban practice and independent thesis research, the programme provides a truly unique opportunity to ground yourself in the realities, theories and practise of cities of the Global South.

The programme seeks to build students’ capacity to engage in epistemological debates, thinking from the vantage point of African and Southern cities, and versed in global urban debates. The core courses, namely Urban Theory, Urban Everyday and Curating Urban Regulation, are designed to impart these skills and knowledge.

A cornerstone of the programme is the City Research Studio, a compulsory, year-long course that aims to cultivate methodological dexterity and the capacity for rigorous research through experimental and experiential learning.

Finally the minor dissertation provides students with the opportunity to build confidence in writing, in articulating scholarly arguments, and in positioning oneself in the field effectively.

Applications for the 2022 MPhil Southern Urbanism programme are open. If you are interested in applying but have some questions, join programme convenor Dr Anna Selmeczi for an info session. In the session she will give a brief overview of the programme and there will be plenty of time for your questions.

WHEN | Monday, 14 June 2021TIME | 12:30-13:00 SASTREGISTER HERE

Presencing and publishing Urban Studies from Africa
2021-07-16 14:00 - 15:30
Many urban studies journals publish few articles from African-based scholars: how can this be changed?

While in “international” northern-based journals publishing the work of African based scholars seems to remain a challenge for editors, African scholars have organised many dynamic venues for publishing urban and African studies research. We have invited African-based scholars who have been involved in leading these initiatives to share their experiences; and editors working on Western-based journals to respond.
We will hear from four African urban scholars, and then three editors of urban studies journals will respond. French Language translation will be available.
Panelists– Edgar Pieterse (founding director of the African Centre for Cities; Professor of Urban Policy, University of Cape Town)– Saheed Aderinto (founder, Lagos Studies Association; Professor of African History at Western Carolina University)– Nadine Machikou (editor, Politique Africaine; Professor of political science at the University of Yaoundé)– Kingsley Madueke (Centre for Conflict Management & Peace Studies, University of Jos, Nigeria; PhD University of Amsterdam)
Respondents– Vanessa Watson (Global South editor of Urban Studies; Emerita Professor of City Planning in the School of Architecture, Planning and Geomatics and a founder member of the African Centre for Cities)– Liza Weinstein (Editor, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research (ijurr); Associate Professor of Sociology and Chair of the Sociology and Anthropology Department at Northeastern University)– Nik Theodore (Interventions editor of the International Journal of Urban and Regional Research and past editor of Antipode: A Radical Journal of Geography; Professor and Head of the Department of Urban Planning and Policy, as well as the Director of the Center for Urban Economic Development, at the University of Illinois Chicago)
This event is part of the RC21 annual conference is the main international urban sociology conference. It brings together scholars in urban sociology and neighbouring fields to discuss developments in urban social theory, methods and empirical research and stimulate discussion and cooperation by offering a variety of formats (plenary lectures, paper sessions, author meets critics sessions, roundtables and panels, walkshops, etc.). This years’ edition takes place from 14 July until 16 July 2021 and is hosted by the University of Antwerp (Belgium). The 2021 conference centers around ‘Sensing and Shaping the City’, focusing on how citizens experience the fragmentary, unequal and contradictory realities of global urbanity.

REGISTER HERE

UCT SDG Summit | Circular Economy Pre-Summit Workshops
2021-08-31 14:00 - 16:30
The Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Town is convening an international summit on how the SDGs can best be realised in the African context with an eye on the role of science and mission-driven partnerships.

In the build-up to the Summit, a series of workshops are being organised around seven themes, of which the Circular Economy is one.

READ THE CONCEPT NOTE HERE

WORKSHOP 1 | 17 August, 14:00 to 16:15

The first workshop will explore the definitional debates around the circular economy with an emphasis on the state of macro scholarship and policy positions adopted by select African governments and civil society actors.

Speakers

Prof Ester van der Voet – Leiden University & UN International Resource Panel
Dr Willi Haas – BOKU, Vienna
Bezawit Eshetu – African Circular Economy Network
Reniera O’Donnell – Higher Education Lead at Ellen MacArthur Foundation

Register here

WORKSHOP 2 | 31 August, 14:00 to 16:15

The second workshop will be an exploration of circular economy applications through case studies with an eye on research questions and issues.

Speakers

Prof Christina Trois – University of KwaZulu-Natal
Kirsten Barnes – GreenCape
Paul Currie – ICLEI Africa
Sudhir Pillay – Water Research Commission
Prof Harro von Blottnitz – University of Cape Town

Register here

These workshops are open to all who are involved in Circular Economy related work and research.

UCT SDG Summit | Circular Economy Pre-Summit Workshops
2021-08-31 14:00 - 16:30
The Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Town is convening an international summit on how the SDGs can best be realised in the African context with an eye on the role of science and mission-driven partnerships.

In the build-up to the Summit, a series of workshops are being organised around seven themes, of which the Circular Economy is one.

READ THE CONCEPT NOTE HERE

WORKSHOP 1 | 17 August, 14:00 to 16:15

The first workshop will explore the definitional debates around the circular economy with an emphasis on the state of macro scholarship and policy positions adopted by select African governments and civil society actors.

Speakers

Prof Ester van der Voet – Leiden University & UN International Resource Panel
Dr Willi Haas – BOKU, Vienna
Bezawit Eshetu – African Circular Economy Network
Reniera O’Donnell – Higher Education Lead at Ellen MacArthur Foundation

Register Closed:

WORKSHOP 2 | 31 August, 14:00 to 16:15

The second workshop will be an exploration of circular economy applications through case studies with an eye on research questions and issues.

Speakers

Prof Christina Trois – University of KwaZulu-Natal
Kirsten Barnes – GreenCape
Paul Currie – ICLEI Africa
Sudhir Pillay – Water Research Commission
Prof Harro von Blottnitz – University of Cape Town

Register Closed:

These workshops are open to all who are involved in Circular Economy related work and research.

UCT SDG Summit | An Urban Lens on the Achievement of the SDGs
2021-09-09 10:00 - 16:00
A Masterclass alongside the UCT SDG Africa Summit 2021The ACC Masterclass will be structured in three parts, comprised of 75min each. The first session will unpack the political and institutional backstory in ensuring that there was an SDG to address the imperatives of urbanisation, and connections were drawn with other SDGs. The second session will focus on the complexities and contradictions of implementing the SDGs when it is a nexus issue such as urban food security. The analytical focus will fall on the challenge of effective inter-governmental coordination and alignment across scales and sectors. The third session will focus on the practical policy tools that are being deployed at city-level to track the implementation of the SDGs at the local level, considered against the national reporting system of the South African government. This raises institutional questions about fostering a shared perspective when municipal officials remain deeply commitment to sectoral specialisms, as well as issues about alignment and meaningful societal engagement in tracking government performance in delivering on stated commitments. Across the three sessions participants will be exposed to the cutting edges of the interface between applied research and policy implementation.

Session 1 | The genesis of SDG 11: Getting the urban onto the agenda10:00 to 11:15Edgar Pieterse (ACC) in conversation with Aromar Revi (Indian Institute for Human Settlements) and Monika Glinzler (International relations, Department of Human Settlements)

By some estimates, getting the urban question right is a precondition to achieve up to 70% of the overall SDG agenda. However, until the last hour before the finalisation of the seventeen SDGs, there was great doubt that an explicit urban goal would be included. This session will pull the curtain on the backstage advocacy arguments, evidence and diplomatic work that was conducted to secure an urban perspective across the SDGs. It is a given that the multilateral system is not perfect, but for those on the frontlines of policy mainstreaming, it is indispensable and a permanent site of struggle.

Session 2 | Teasing out the tensions: SDGs as a national imperative, and SDG 11 as a city-level goal11:30 to 12:45Gareth Haysom (ACC) in conversation with Jane Battersby (University of Cape Town) and Julian May (University of the Western Cape)

The urban food lens offers a unique scalar perspective bringing the tensions and opportunities presented at the intersection between zero hunger (SDG 2), and sustainable cities (SDG 11), as well as health and well-being (3), education (4) and gender equality (5). The session will engage in both the challenges presented at these intersections between nexus and scalar issues, while attempting to engage the complexities and contradictions of implementing and measuring the SDGs when it is a nexus issue such as urban food and nutrition security, and what this might mean in context, but equally, effective inter-governmental coordination and alignment across scales and sectors.

Session 3 | Lessons towards SDG localisation and indicators14:00 to 15:15Andrew Tucker (ACC) in conversation with Alexis Schäffler-Thomson (Pegasys) and Natasha Primo (City of Cape Town)

It is a given that the SDGs will only find full expression if they become the focus of local action, established within enabling national parameters. There is great potential in using indicator frameworks and monitoring systems to establish productive alignment between national and local governments. This session will share research findings and potential of using local level indicator frameworks to track and reflect on policy efforts to implement the SDGs, whilst being mindful of the statistical challenges of generating local level data. The empirical reference point will be South Africa and Cape Town.

MPhil Southern Urbanism Info Session
2021-10-19 13:00 - 14:00
The MPhil Southern Urbanism is designed to cultivate the next generation of urban thinkers from the South, who are rooted in the realities, theories and practise of cities of the Global South.

Drawing together a diverse cohort of scholar and practitioners, the programme utilises a combination of guided learning in small-group seminars, experimentation in various spaces of urban practice and independent thesis research to ground students in Urban Studies theory, and new research methodologies.

The application deadline for 2022 South African applicants is on 31 October 2021.

If you are interested in applying for the MPhil Southern Urbanism programme but still have some questions? This info session, hosted by programme convenor, Dr Anna Selmeczi will provide a brief overview of the pedagogical approach, programme structure and entry requirements, as well as discussion time to answer all your questions.

REGISTER HERE
