Bio
Nobukhosi Ngwenya is the University of Cape Town-University of Basel Postdoctoral Research Fellow based at the African Centre of Cities. As part of this fellowship, Ngwenya is involved in teaching on the Master of Sustainable Urbanism (MSU) programme. She also assists Prof Edgar Pieterse on the Master of Sustainable Urban Practice (MSUP).
Ngwenya research interests are centred on urban morphology, with a particular focus on community-led planning, development and transformation of human settlements in South Africa. As an urban planner and community development practitioner, Nobukhosi has worked extensively with communities and community organisations providing innovative solutions to some of the most pressing challenges faced by residents living in informal settlements.
Ngwenya also has extensive experience developing stakeholder engagement frameworks for projects being implemented in several countries on the continent. Nobukhosi’s research focuses on the drivers of change within Cape Town’s human settlements fabric. Particular attention is paid to the strategies used by informal land occupiers to claim, and sustain their claims, to vacant and/or under-utilised land and buildings in the city. In so doing, her research examines the interconnections between the land question and questions of identity, citizenship and belonging historically and in the present. Her current research reflects on these findings in relation to questions around the positioning of the housing question in just transition debates.
She hold the following degrees: a Bachelor of Social Science (BSocSci) with majors in Psychology and Sociology (UCT); a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Development Studies (UCT); a Master of Philosophy (MPhil) in Development Studies (UCT); a Master of City and Regional Planning (UCT), and; a Doctor of Philosophy with specialisation in Planning.
PUBLICATIONS
Book Chapters
- Ngwenya, N. & von Lieres, B. (2021). Silent Citizens and Resistant Texts: Reading Hidden Narratives. In F. Anciano & J. Wheeler, (Eds.), Political Values & Narratives of Resistance: Social Justice and the Fractured Promises of Post-Colonial States. Oxon & NY: Routledge.
Journal Articles
- Ngwenya, N. (2022). Rhodes has Fallen, Now the Work Begins. In K. McClymont, (Ed.), Interface: The Fall of Statues? Contested Heritage, Public Space and Urban Planning, Planning Theory & Practice. https://doi.org/10.1080/14649357.2021.1995255
- Ngwenya, N. & Cirolia, L. (2020). Conflicts between and within: The ‘Conflicting Rationalities’ of Informal Occupation in South Africa, Planning Theory & Practice. https://doi.org/10.1080/14649357.2020.1808237
- Cirolia, L., Ngwenya, N., Christianson, B. & Scheba, S. (2020). Retrofitting, Repurposing, and Re-placing: A Multi-Media Exploration of Vertical Occupation in Cape Town, South Africa, plaNext. https://doi.org/10.24306/plnxt/69
Conference Papers
- Ngwenya, N. (2021). ‘Unlearning within the Canon: A Critical Reflection on Navigating ’Western’ Theory’s Eurocentricism in the Global South’, Dislocating Urban Studies: Rethinking, Shifting Practice, Online, 18-19 February.
- Ngwenya, N. (2021b). Redefining Housing in Cape Town for a Post-Pandemic World, Royal Geographic Society-Institute of British Geographers Annual International Conference, 31 August – 3 September.
- Ngwenya, N. (2021c). Representing Occupation Practices in Cape Town, South Africa: An Initial Reflection, Royal Geographic Society-Institute of British Geographers Annual International Conference, 31 August – 3 September.
- Ngwenya, N. (2021d). The Politics of Possibilities in Cape Town’s Empty Buildings: The Case of Woodstock Hospital, Cape Town, “Emptiness: Ways of Seeing” Conference, Online, 29 September – 1 October.
Reports/Working Papers/Policy Briefs
- Ngwenya, N. (2022a). Overview of Land Access in Cape Town and Nairobi – Background Paper.
- Ngwenya, N. (2022b). Beyond Greenfield Development: Addressing Cape Town’s Housing Backlog through Retrofitting and Repurposing Vacant Buildings (Policy Brief). PEAK Urban. https://www.peak-urban.org/sites/default/files/2022-06/beyond_greenfield_development_peak_briefing.pdf
Other Outputs
- Ngwenya, N. (15 July 2011). High time young women stopped window-dressing and spoke up, Cape Argus. Cape Town: Independent Newspaper Group.
- Ngwenya, N. (August 29, 2011). Identifying the struggle for our generation. Available: http://www.thoughtleader.co.za/oneyoungworld/2011/08/29/identifying-the-struggle-for-our-generation.
- Rabkin, N.N., Rosenberg, M., Ngwenya, N., Petersen, A., Kay, N., van der Berg, H., Shaikh, M., East, C., Chitapi, S., Maritz, A., Kritzinger, M., Kaplan, J., Jackson, M., Myers, L., LEtang, Harding, J., Dayaram, C., Torien, T. (31 July 2013). Housing is important but not at the expense of the environmental value of Philippi. Cape Times. Cape Town: Independent Newspaper Group.
- Ngwenya, N. (March 13, 2014). Still a long way to go for young women in Zimbabwe. Available: http://www.oneyoungworld.com/blog/still-long-way-go-young-women-zimbabwe.
- Ngwenya, N. (April 2014). 20 years on, it’s still a long way to go for city planning in South Africa. Available: http://www.supersteelafrica.com/2014/04/20-years-on-it-still-long-way-to-go-for.html
- Cirolia, L., Ngwenya, N. & Christianson, B. (2019). Retrofit City-Making: A Multimedia Exploration of Vertical Occupation in Cape Town. Available: https://www.peak-urban.org/blog/retrofit-city-making-multimedia-exploration-vertical-occupation-cape-town.
- Buswala, B., Calderón, E.A. & Ngwenya, N. (2020). 13th de Noviembre, More Than a Date: Some Urban Reflections from Medellíns Comunas. Available: https://www.peak-urban.org/blog/13th-de-noviembre-more-date-some-urban-reflections-medellins-comunas.
- Mokwena, O. (2021). Just Transport Podcast: Space, People and Place with Nobukhosi Ngwenya. 11 March 2021. https://soundcloud.com/hlulanicom/9-space-people-and-place-with
