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SEMINAR | Thinking problematically about the city: Planning as a site of innovation

African Centre for Cities (ACC) invites you to join us for an in-person seminar with Dr James Duminy, ACC Honorary Research Associate, and Lecturer at the School of Geographical Sciences, and Bristol Poverty Institute, at the University of Bristol. The seminar entitled Thinking problematically about the city: Planning as a site of innovation, takes place on Friday, 12 August at 12:00-13:15. ABSTRACT Urban innovation cannot be limited to the harnessing of technologies sourced from the private sector, civil society engagements, and the entrepreneurial spirit of informality within models of governance that position the city as a laboratorial site of experimentation. What government does, and what built environment professions do, in and through governance-related activities, including the establishment of durable procedures of government, must be incorporated into the purview of urban innovation. Yet, typically the place and role of the state within urban governance remains caught within a limiting critique of neoliberalism or a depiction of the state as incorrigible, at best, and oppressive, at worst. Planning, for its part, is presented in some critical accounts as a monolithic domain of state stasis; a procedural system for the reproduction of pre-existing and future inequalities. However, an alternative view of city transformation would place urban planning as a potential driver of governance innovation. Here we draw upon recent experiences of planning reform in South Africa, focusing on the development and application of a process known as the Built Environment Performance Plan (BEPP), to consider the implications of seeing the state as a site of problematization, and planning as a site of innovation in urban governance. Such a perspective draws attention to the temporalities of response, rupture, uneven institutionalization, and setback that attend acts and processes of innovation unfolding within the state. It highlights the demand for successful innovations to navigate cross-sectoral and multi-scalar imperatives, and draws attention to the enduring need to establish meaningful links between the fiscus and other modes and instruments of governance that can sustain or transform urban regimes. WHEN | Friday, 12 August 2022 TIME | 12:00-13:15pm VENUE | Studio 3, Environmental and Geographical Sciences Building, Upper Campus, UCT  

OPEN DAY | MPhil Southern Urbanism

Join the African Centre for Cities for the MPhil Southern Urbanism Open Day to learn about the programme.

SEMINAR | Housing Opportunities for All

ACC together with the Development Action Group (DAG), will be hosting a seminar entitled Housing Opportunities for All, presented by Dr Krista Paulsen and Dr Vanessa Fry, both fellows of the Mandela Washington Fellowship Programme.

PANEL | What is Critical Urbanism?

ACC is delighted to host a panel discussion centred on the newly published What is Critical Urbanisms?. The panel discussion takes place on Tuesday, 27 September from 16:00 to 17:30 and will delve deeper into the book to unpack some of the debates and themes.

Power Talks Public Discussion

Join ACC and the Goethe Institut for a reflection session on Power Talks, a programme which explored the nuanced forms, dynamics and functions of power in creative and cultural sectors in South Africa. 

JOBURG BOOK LAUNCH | Panya Routes

Join ACC for the Johannesburg launch of Panya Routes, at the Stokvel Gallery on Saturday, 22 October, at noon.

LAUNCHING THE URBAN ACADEMY: Smart cities, clever urbanism: digitally enabled practices in urban Africa

Workshop 17 32 Kloof Street, Cape Town

In 2021 the African Centre for Cities (ACC), an action-oriented research hub based at the University of Cape Town and UNITAC, the result of a partnership between the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), the United Nations Office for Information and Communication Technology (UN OICT), and the City Science Lab @HafenCity University in Hamburg (CSL), initiated a collaborative platform for shared research interests under the banner of the Urban Academy. The collaboration is based on a shared interest in unpacking the intersection of technology, society, and cities to examine democratic decision-making, new models of service delivery, and the future of work. Supported by the BMW Foundation Herbert Quandt, we are delighted to invite you to the official launch of the Urban Academy on the 6 December 2022 that will be facilitated by Nokukhanya Mncwabe, a human rights consultant who enjoys forming, implementing and pulling apart policies and projects, forging friendships across geographies and disciplines, and being a tourist at home (Africa). WHEN | Tuesday, 6 December 2022 TIME | 15:00-18:00 SAST WHERE | Workshop 17, 32 Kloof Street, Gardens, Cape Town RSVP | Please send an email to africancentreforcities@gmail.com Panel one: Introducing the Urban Academy: Smart Cities, Clever Urbanism In the first panel, partnering directors Edgar Pieterse (ACC) and Gesa Ziemer (UNITAC and City Science Lab) will introduce why thinking about people-centred smartness is important for urban sustainability and justice from their different perspectives. Panel two: RISE Cities: Different approaches to make our cities more resilient, intelligent, sustainable, and equitable This interactive panel hosted by RISE Cities explores innovative urban practices in achieving resilient, intelligent, sustainable and equitable solutions and the role of responsible leadership. We are happy to invite the following to share their perspectives and facilitate their reflections: Resilience – Dr Rudi Kimmie, TSIBA Intelligence – Saidah Nash Carter, Bright Insights Global Sustainability – Murendi Mafumo, Kusini Water Equity – Brian Green, Group 44 Panel three: Young and Online in African Cities: people-centred smartness and urban wellbeing  In the third panel we explore tech-enabled ways of making lives in African cities. The following panellists will bring brief reflections into a wider conversation about what it takes to shape research agendas about the role of technology in urban justice. It is also an opportunity to introduce a new collaboration under the Urban Academy, supported by the Robert Bosch Stiftung entitled Young and Online in African Cities. Rike Sitas - Introduction: Youth in digital city-making Daanyaal Loofer - From undersea cables to street corners: smart African cities Alicia Fortuin - Platformization and the future of work Neil Hassan - Safe queer digital spaces Liza Cirolia - Techno-ambivalence and socio-technical infrastructure Hilke Berger - A research agenda for the Urban Academy?   Space is limited so please RSVP to africancentreforcities@gmail.com with the subject line: Urban Academy RSVP. If you require any further information, please contact rike.sitas@uct.ac.za.