Living the urban periphery: investment, infrastructure and economic change in African city-regions
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Sheffield
Department Name: Urban Studies and Planning
Abstract
Targeting the funding call's first and second topics of 'Urban economies and livelihoods' and 'Land, infrastructure and sustainable development', this project seeks to understand how transformation in the peripheries of African cities, (specifically related to infrastructural investments and economic change) is shaped, governed and experienced with a view to informing urban governance and strategies for urban poverty reduction. Life in urban peripheries is characterised by unevenness in economic and political terms, and challenges in terms of provision of, and access to, infrastructure, yet there is little understanding of how or why this occurs. Our project addresses this by mapping and detailing what changes are occurring, determining who in particular is driving these changes and why, and importantly, asking what the poverty implications of these processes are. In addition we identify a gap in understanding how life on the urban periphery is actually experienced by residents, thus we approach the issue of urban change through a 'lived experience' approach, outlined below.
Our innovative approach will build on the small, but growing, research on African urban peripheries. Drawing on the expertise of the investigators, the project will examine seven cases within three African city-regions (Beall et al 2015): Gauteng, eThekwini and Addis Ababa. This choice of cases will ensure comparison across low and middle-income countries in Africa, but also between primary and secondary cities. These three city-regions display rapid but variable urbanisation, variable investment strategies, changing patterns of segregation and integration, and complex changes in governance structures. These processes offer us critical cases to develop urban theory, and to consider practical and policy outcomes to ensure poverty reduction. As is evident, our project uses two key ideas to structure our research, namely the spatial periphery of cities in Africa and, the idea of lived experience. Spatial peripheries are not necessarily places of economic, political or cultural marginality. They may be places of economic opportunity and innovation. They are however often poorly understood as attention has focused on more established and spatially central locations, or on edge-cities relying on American-based theories. Furthermore, case-based and comparative detailed empirical investigation is lacking. Our proposed research offers careful investigation into actual processes of change in specific cities in Africa. The focus on lived experience directs attention to the people who occupy the spaces along the spatial edges of African cities recognising that some residents live in these spaces out of choice, whereas others, however, have been coerced there through state or market actions. This idea of the lived experience of spatial change draws on significant intellectual threads in fields including urban studies, geography and planning theory, urban anthropology and sociology, and is concerned with how people live in places, including how they work, eat, parent (Meth 2013), love and die.
It uses a mix of qualitative methods (including interviewing, diaries and auto-photography) to understand everyday life on the periphery. In addition the project uses key informant interviews, surveys, document analysis and mapping to understand the characteristics and drivers of changes, and also the governance and poverty implications of these urban changes. This project draws on the expertise of staff at Wits and Sheffield University, as well as the GCRO in Gauteng, and EDRI and ECSU in Addis Ababa, and benefits from a strong existing collaborative relationship, outlined below. The project expects to deliver: 8 academic papers, 3 working papers, pamphlets and posters to inform dissemination events; present at a minimum of 4 conferences; hold 7 dissemination workshops; and develop and sustain a project website and other media platforms.
Our innovative approach will build on the small, but growing, research on African urban peripheries. Drawing on the expertise of the investigators, the project will examine seven cases within three African city-regions (Beall et al 2015): Gauteng, eThekwini and Addis Ababa. This choice of cases will ensure comparison across low and middle-income countries in Africa, but also between primary and secondary cities. These three city-regions display rapid but variable urbanisation, variable investment strategies, changing patterns of segregation and integration, and complex changes in governance structures. These processes offer us critical cases to develop urban theory, and to consider practical and policy outcomes to ensure poverty reduction. As is evident, our project uses two key ideas to structure our research, namely the spatial periphery of cities in Africa and, the idea of lived experience. Spatial peripheries are not necessarily places of economic, political or cultural marginality. They may be places of economic opportunity and innovation. They are however often poorly understood as attention has focused on more established and spatially central locations, or on edge-cities relying on American-based theories. Furthermore, case-based and comparative detailed empirical investigation is lacking. Our proposed research offers careful investigation into actual processes of change in specific cities in Africa. The focus on lived experience directs attention to the people who occupy the spaces along the spatial edges of African cities recognising that some residents live in these spaces out of choice, whereas others, however, have been coerced there through state or market actions. This idea of the lived experience of spatial change draws on significant intellectual threads in fields including urban studies, geography and planning theory, urban anthropology and sociology, and is concerned with how people live in places, including how they work, eat, parent (Meth 2013), love and die.
It uses a mix of qualitative methods (including interviewing, diaries and auto-photography) to understand everyday life on the periphery. In addition the project uses key informant interviews, surveys, document analysis and mapping to understand the characteristics and drivers of changes, and also the governance and poverty implications of these urban changes. This project draws on the expertise of staff at Wits and Sheffield University, as well as the GCRO in Gauteng, and EDRI and ECSU in Addis Ababa, and benefits from a strong existing collaborative relationship, outlined below. The project expects to deliver: 8 academic papers, 3 working papers, pamphlets and posters to inform dissemination events; present at a minimum of 4 conferences; hold 7 dissemination workshops; and develop and sustain a project website and other media platforms.
Planned Impact
The project will benefit a wide range of stakeholders concerned with urban change and poverty reduction in urban peripheries. Key beneficiaries include:
- At the local scale: Planners, housing officers, municipal government officials charged with infrastructure implementation and economic development, ward councillors / party political leaders, investors, local NGOs, residents' associations / area committees, relevant religious institutions, community leadership, and residents living in case study areas.
- At the city-region scale: district, provincial and national government officials (including Planning Commissions in eThekwini, KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng) working in spatial planning, economic development and housing, and politicians.
- At the sectoral scale: academic and policy-orientated audiences (in the UK, Africa and elsewhere) with an interest in issues of urban change, the social effects of infrastructural investments, poverty reduction and social inclusion.
- Academics and students (from Sheffield and Wits universities, project affiliate institutions and elsewhere) who engage with project outputs (publications, presentations, website etc.) and, potentially, utilise our data for future studies and publications.
The research will benefit the above beneficiaries by providing high quality data and analysis on processes of urban change and related impacts on poverty reduction in three city-region peripheries. Understanding the connections between different investments, interventions, and subsequent changes, and residents' direct experiences of these will contribute to more efficient implementation of urban policies and assist with evaluating existing governance and planning policies currently in place. It has the potential to impact thus on poverty reduction and increase urban inclusion. Findings will be relevant to each case study area, but also produce comparative analysis, facilitating comparisons between more or less successful strategies of urban inclusion. The analyses will be available for use by all stakeholders outlined above and will facilitate their engagement in urban development initiatives through providing them with accessible information about urban change in the peripheries and its significance for poverty.
Plans for interaction with the above beneficiaries include:
1. The IAG who will meet at key stages during the project and are well placed to connect the project to a broad range of networks and interests.
2. Key stakeholders will attend inception workshops (in eThekwini, July 2016; in Gauteng, January 2017; and Addis Ababa, June 2017) to collaboratively draft and finalise the research focus and methods, ensuring data generated is beneficial to them.
3. The project website, and associated media briefs, will ensure the IAG, the stakeholders, residents and any other interested actors, can access up to date project information, appropriate data, analyses of trends and information about key institutions. This will contribute to enhancing knowledge, awareness and engagement at local and city-wide scales.
4. Targeted reflection and Dissemination workshops and related working papers will target stakeholders whose role it is to affect urban change, poverty reduction and urban inclusion. These will be available in paper and electronic format.
5. At these dissemination workshops, colour pamphlets and posters (including photographs) capturing residents' lived experiences in the peripheries will also be provided, with posters displayed in local community facilities beyond the workshops. This material will all be available on the project website, but material copies are essential in areas where IT access is limited.
6. Publications in both academic and policy-oriented journals, as well as presentations at academic and policy oriented conferences (especially World Urban Forum) will enable dissemination of results in an accessible form in South Africa, Ethiopia and the UK, as well as beyond
- At the local scale: Planners, housing officers, municipal government officials charged with infrastructure implementation and economic development, ward councillors / party political leaders, investors, local NGOs, residents' associations / area committees, relevant religious institutions, community leadership, and residents living in case study areas.
- At the city-region scale: district, provincial and national government officials (including Planning Commissions in eThekwini, KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng) working in spatial planning, economic development and housing, and politicians.
- At the sectoral scale: academic and policy-orientated audiences (in the UK, Africa and elsewhere) with an interest in issues of urban change, the social effects of infrastructural investments, poverty reduction and social inclusion.
- Academics and students (from Sheffield and Wits universities, project affiliate institutions and elsewhere) who engage with project outputs (publications, presentations, website etc.) and, potentially, utilise our data for future studies and publications.
The research will benefit the above beneficiaries by providing high quality data and analysis on processes of urban change and related impacts on poverty reduction in three city-region peripheries. Understanding the connections between different investments, interventions, and subsequent changes, and residents' direct experiences of these will contribute to more efficient implementation of urban policies and assist with evaluating existing governance and planning policies currently in place. It has the potential to impact thus on poverty reduction and increase urban inclusion. Findings will be relevant to each case study area, but also produce comparative analysis, facilitating comparisons between more or less successful strategies of urban inclusion. The analyses will be available for use by all stakeholders outlined above and will facilitate their engagement in urban development initiatives through providing them with accessible information about urban change in the peripheries and its significance for poverty.
Plans for interaction with the above beneficiaries include:
1. The IAG who will meet at key stages during the project and are well placed to connect the project to a broad range of networks and interests.
2. Key stakeholders will attend inception workshops (in eThekwini, July 2016; in Gauteng, January 2017; and Addis Ababa, June 2017) to collaboratively draft and finalise the research focus and methods, ensuring data generated is beneficial to them.
3. The project website, and associated media briefs, will ensure the IAG, the stakeholders, residents and any other interested actors, can access up to date project information, appropriate data, analyses of trends and information about key institutions. This will contribute to enhancing knowledge, awareness and engagement at local and city-wide scales.
4. Targeted reflection and Dissemination workshops and related working papers will target stakeholders whose role it is to affect urban change, poverty reduction and urban inclusion. These will be available in paper and electronic format.
5. At these dissemination workshops, colour pamphlets and posters (including photographs) capturing residents' lived experiences in the peripheries will also be provided, with posters displayed in local community facilities beyond the workshops. This material will all be available on the project website, but material copies are essential in areas where IT access is limited.
6. Publications in both academic and policy-oriented journals, as well as presentations at academic and policy oriented conferences (especially World Urban Forum) will enable dissemination of results in an accessible form in South Africa, Ethiopia and the UK, as well as beyond
Organisations
Publications
Charlton, S
(2017)
Poverty, subsidised housing and Lufhereng as a prototype megaproject in Gauteng
in Transformation
Harrison, P
(2017)
Satellite settlement on the spatial periphery: Lessons from international and Gauteng experience
in Transformation
Meth P
(2021)
CONCEPTUALIZING AFRICAN URBAN PERIPHERIES
in International Journal of Urban and Regional Research
Meth P
(2022)
Not entirely displacement: conceptualizing relocation in Ethiopia and South Africa as "disruptive re-placement"
in Urban Geography
Todes A
(2021)
Economies and employment in growing and declining urban peripheries in South Africa
in Local Economy: The Journal of the Local Economy Policy Unit
Todes A
(2017)
Shaping peripheral growth? Strategic spatial planning in a South African city-region
in Habitat International
| Title | Edge City: Online photographic exhibition |
| Description | This online exhibition displayed the works of photographer Mark Lewis of urban peripheries in Ethiopia and South Africa. It was hosted online due to covid, via a conference platform but available to the general public. The conference was: The Southern African City Studies Conference 30 Aug - 1 Sept 2020. The exhibition continues to be available online. It was accompanied by a Q&A with the photographer and Paula Meth. |
| Type Of Art | Artistic/Creative Exhibition |
| Year Produced | 2020 |
| Impact | Significant audience attendance and participation. |
| URL | https://sacsc.witsevents.co.za/ |
| Description | Our project has generated new knowledge about African peripheries in relation to our 7 case study areas. Our key findings are summarised in this blog published on the Urban Transformations website: https://www.urbantransformations.ox.ac.uk/blog/2019/living-the-peripheries-key-findings/ As indicated in the conclusion of this blog, the project team are busy developing a new framework to conceptualise African peripheries, consisting of 5 logics or categories relating to African peripheries. This was presented at the Royal Geographical Society conference in London in August 2019 to a strong audience, and was very well received. Key research questions that have emerged from the project are being debated and discussed in our current publications. They include questions such as: How can investment in African peripheries work to make real differences to the lives of poorer residents? What are the barriers to mobility, access and affordable transport and how can these be overcome? What governance practices thrive in the peripheries and what is the significance of this? What governance practices are needed to overcome the evident mismatches between policy initiatives at different scales of government, the interests and potential of the private sector (formal and informal), and the challenges for people living at a geographic distance from job opportunities and services? The project achieved significant goals as proposed in the application: Stakeholders and most communities were consulted before and after research commenced. Resident-friendly pamphlets were produced for all case study areas providing feedback on key findings. A social survey was conducted with around 200 households in each case area (i.e. 1400 surveys in total). In all areas sufficient individual community member diaries and interviews were completed to reach saturation, although this does not always amount to 50 per area. In total some 212 diaries have been collected and 157 interviews have been conducted, all of which have been transcribed. In Ethiopia, there is a significant lack of qualitative material on residents' experiences and the use of diaries as a method was previously untested. This proved a successful method in this context and it generated important qualitative insights. Some 33 key respondent interviews have been undertaken. Background data including grey literature, government reports, existing studies have been collected. Analysis of GIS data enabling an understanding of spatial change in the case studies and their city-regions in South Africa has been undertaken. A project website (https://www.wits.ac.za/urbanperiphery/) was set up, and is continually being updated. In South Africa some 18 students (nine masters, six honours) have been supported through the programme. In Sheffield one doctoral student has received funding in support of this project and is near completion. The project team have presented papers on findings in Rio de Janiero, Lisbon, Toronto, Edinburgh, Cardiff, London, Cape Town, Sheffield, Johannesburg and Addis Ababa. The project team has met up on numerous project workshops hosted in South Africa, the UK and Ethiopia in order to develop analysis and writing plans. The team have published some outputs with numerous others in draft. We are in the process of producing a book proposal, probably for consideration by Manchester University Press under the Urban Transformations theme, which will address the excellent range of findings from the project. The commissioning editor has indicated he is very keen on this publication. The team were hosted in Addis Ababa in 2019 to share findings and discuss future research collaborations. New research collaborations with partners in Addis have been produced as a result of this project, with a particular interest in new links between colleagues from Addis and those from Wits in South Africa sharing expertise and learning from each other. Collaborations between staff at Sheffield University and the University of the Witwatersrand have been strengthened and widened to include colleagues from other disciplines and research units. Collaboration with colleagues at Durban University of Technology has developed too as a result of this project. |
| Exploitation Route | Our project has four impact objectives which relate to different ways in which our findings might be taken forward by others a) to influence decision-making within city-regions by providing well-produced data and analyses of contexts, drivers and experiences of urban change in their peripheries and analyses of implications for poverty; b) to facilitate cross-country learning between African universities and partners, in order to understand what, how and why urban change is occurring, and how these issues relate to wider questions of poverty and governance in African cities; c) to foster meaningful collaboration, enhance research expertise and build intellectual and policy-relevant outcomes between Wits University and the University of Sheffield, and d) to build on relations between the two universities and partnership organisations through encouraging collaboration around project focus, implementation, analysis and evaluation. All these objectives are intended to serve the overarching long-term aim of improving the welfare, livelihoods and security of the urban poor in African cities through incorporating learning from a focus on the peripheries of city-regions. The primary targets of the impact strategy are fourfold as follows: 1) key actors within city-regions including government representatives (at municipal, metropolitan, provincial and national scales), planners, ward councillors / party political leaders, developers, private sector investors, land-owners, community representatives, religious institutions and NGOs, 2) residents within case studies within the city-regions; 3) academics in South Africa (SA), Ethiopia and the UK; and 4) partnership organisations in all 3 city-regions. A critical tool for realising all four impact objectives has been the inception, engagement and dissemination workshops held in all three city regions and with most of the community groups where primary research was undertaken. The idea here was to secure preliminary 'buy in', which was then deepened at the Key Stakeholders workshop (these included: NGO, private sector planners, professionals and policy makers in the field as well as academics were held in Durban and Gauteng). The dissemination workshops were open forums for discussion of project findings including the opportunity to provide feedback on results and interpretations from the investigation sites. These dissemination workshops all made use of resident-friendly pamphlets produced for each different case study area. These pamphlets were translated into a local language, as well as produced in English. These pamphlets summarised key findings from the case study area, as well as provided a brief overview of findings from the other case study locations. It was shared at all dissemination events, as well as provided to local libraries for wider sharing. In addition: International Advisory Group meetings were held in Johannesburg and Sheffield in 2016 and 2017 (for the Ethiopian component of the study). Project finding reports (more substantial than the pamphlets) are due for finalisation in October 2019 and these will be disseminated to all participants at stakeholder workshops and also made available on our project website. The project team has engaged in a wide range of conference, workshop and seminar presentations in order to share the project's findings and to test and debate our interpretations. The details of these presentations are available on the ResearchFish Website but include the following: the World Planning Schools Conference in Rio de Janiero 2016; the African Urban Planning Conference in Lisbon Sept 2017 (2 papers presented), at the SA Planning Institute Conference in Cape Town, the Institute for British Geographers Conference in Cardiff, August 2018 (7 papers presented); The South African Cities Conference did not occur in 2018 and was instead replaced with the UCT African Centre for Cities Conference, where we presented 3 papers. We presented 3 papers at the ECAS Conference in Edinburgh, June 2019, we presented 1 paper at the London Royal Geographical Society conference in August 2019. In August 2019 Professor Todes presented to the MMI in Johannesburg, the Momentum Metropolitan Foundation, which is a corporate social responsibility organisation on 'Location Matters: Employment and Livelihoods on Urban Peripheries'. The presentations shared our knowledge and findings with a wide range of academics from multiple disciplines (Geography, Planning, Architecture, Sociology, Anthropology, and History) as well as with representatives from community organisations and also private sector organisations. Various academics have already made use of our findings in their own presentations and this has lead to subsequent invitations. A project website was developed, which contain considerable material on the project. Two blogs were written for the Urban Transformations website (2017 and 2019) and a third for the Sheffield Institute of International Development in 2018. These are found on our project website, communicated through twitter and also here at: https://www.urbantransformations.ox.ac.uk/blog/2019/living-the-peripheries-key-findings/ https://www.urbantransformations.ox.ac.uk/blog/2017/methodologies-of-the-urban-periphery-defining-and-researching-urban-african-peripheries/ http://siid.group.shef.ac.uk/blog/methodologies-urban-periphery-defining-researching-urban-african-peripheries/ The proposal promised 8 academic articles within 2 years of the project. Due to the time required to conduct the study and analyse data, most of these articles are still to be submitted. One article on Lufhereng has been published in the journal Transformation (2017). Drawing from research done in the period leading up to the project (and directly related to it), an article on international and Gauteng experience with satellite cities was published in Transformation (2017), and another on the growth of Northern eThekwini in Habitat International (2017). A chapter relating to the methodology and challenges of the project is being published in an Urban Transformation edited collection due in late 2019 / early 2020. There are however plans to write articles based on conference presentations within the allocated time. We also have plans to write a book based on the research in 2019/2020 and a meeting has been held with Manchester University Press in September 2019 to discuss Open Access funding and the book proposal. The project did not specifically design workshops to enable collaboration across universities, although this was an impact objective. Several workshops have been held to enable the research team to work together on specific tasks, and to compare and analyse findings. |
| Sectors | Construction,Environment,Government, Democracy and Justice,Retail,Transport |
| URL | https://www.wits.ac.za/urbanperiphery/ |
| Description | The data collection and analysis of our research is complete. Our primary impact so far has been our engagement with key stakeholders in South Africa in the early and final stages of our project, as detailed in our engagement sections of this submission. We have also engaged with Ethiopian stakeholders / specialists in the UK and in Addis during the data collection phase of Ethiopian data collection. Further dissemination events occurred in Addis Ababa and the city of Hawassa in June 2019 in Ethiopia. These engagement events have allowed stakeholders to assist in the direction and focus of our research (identifying key priorities for the city and determining important cases for analysis) as well as for us to feedback our findings and our interpretation of findings and their policy significance. We have produced 5 different pamphlets summarising the South African data, each has been produced in two languages, the local language (i.e. Sotho or Zulu) and English. We have held dissemination events at 4 different community workshops in South Africa - detailed in the engagements section. We have thus far communicated findings at several international conferences: Toronto 2017, Lisbon 2017, Cape Town 2018 and at an ESRC Urban Transformations event in Cape Town in 2018. We have also run a full panel at the annual Royal Geographical Society conference in Cardiff, in August 2018 showcasing our research through 5 different papers, alongside panelists whose work spoke directly to our wider project aims. Our work was also presented at the British Sociological Association conference in April 2018. The project was presented at a workshop at the LSE in London in October 2018 focusing on peripheries. Presentations are planned for the ECAS conference in Edinburgh in June 2019, and also at the Royal Geographical Society conference in London in August 2019. Team members also have delivered presentations at conferences for practicing planners in South Africa. A book chapter has been published within an edited collection of other ESRC Urban Transformations projects. The chapter details are here: Meth, P; Todes, A; Charlton, S; Mukwedeya, T; Houghton, J; Goodfellow, T; Belihu, M. S; Huang, Z; Asafo, D; Buthelezi, S and Masikane, F (2021) 'At the city edge: situating peripheries research in South Africa and Ethiopia' Michael Keith and Andreza De Souza Santos (Eds) African cities and collaborative futures: Urban platforms and metropolitan logistics, Manchester University Press, Manchester, pp 30 - 52. We have also presented a full panel of papers at the 2020 Southern African City Studies Conference hosted by Wits University in Johannesburg. We have held two public engagement events using the photographs from the project. The first exhibition was held in Sheffield in November 2019 and the second was hosted online from August 2020 onwards. These events benefitted from publicity via twitter. We have secured a book contract with Manchester University Press and we have delivered a draft manuscript to the publishers in January 2023. They have agreed to publish our book open access, meaning that researchers working in the global South can access our research findings free of charge. A further publication by Meth, P; Belihu, M; Buthelezi, S and Masikane, F (was published in 2022) Not entirely displacement: conceptualising relocation in Ethiopia and South Africa as 'disruptive re-placement', Urban Geography. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2016 |
| Sector | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Education,Government, Democracy and Justice,Other |
| Impact Types | Societal,Policy & public services |
| Description | HEFCE GCRF |
| Amount | £23,142 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | X/159922 |
| Organisation | University of Sheffield |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 02/2019 |
| End | 07/2019 |
| Description | HEFCE GCRF Fund - Internal funding University of Sheffield |
| Amount | £10,000 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | X/011949 |
| Organisation | University of Sheffield |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 10/2017 |
| End | 07/2018 |
| Description | Youth and the work/housing nexus in Ethiopia and South Africa |
| Amount | £298,318 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | YF\190036 |
| Organisation | The British Academy |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 03/2020 |
| End | 02/2023 |
| Title | Empirical data from project |
| Description | The data set consists of all interviews and solicited diaries completed during the project. These have been shared with the UK data repository. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | The data provides unique insights into the everyday lives of residents living in hard to reach peripheral areas of cities in Ethiopia and South Africa. |
| Description | Edge City Photographic Exhibition. Exhibit of Mark Lewis' images from urban peripheries project, via Southern African City Studies Conference platform 30 August 2020 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | This event was an online exhibition of a selection of photographs taken by photographer Mark Lewis for this project. This event was held online due to Covid, but a substantial online platform was built to host this exhibition accessible through this URL: https://sacsc.witsevents.co.za/ The event included a special plenary session with the photographer in discussion with Dr Paula Meth (project PI). The questions asked and discussed during this event are copied below: 1. How did you feel about being asked to photograph these 7 peripheral cases? 2. What were your experiences of going to and working within these contexts? 3. Did you find any areas particularly hard to capture, or indeed easier? Please give some examples here. 4. Were there significant contrasts between the 7 areas or comparisons with other contexts that you have worked in previously (either in South Africa or elsewhere) that stood out for you? 5. What role do you think photography can play in research processes, and what are the challenges of this for you as a photographer? 6. For any budding photographers in the audience, what do you look for or do when you photograph urban contexts, what helps to produce a great shot? 7. Finally, do you think trying to capture 'the periphery' is more or less challenging than an inner city context? The platform was also shared on Twitter and is still available for viewing via the project's website. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://sacsc.witsevents.co.za/ |
| Description | Feedback at local community workshop Molweni, Durban 5 December 2018 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | We visited Molweni, one of our case study settlements in the city of Durban to provide feedback to residents in the community, the local chiefs and ward councillor. We distributed pamphlets which summarised the findings of our project, relating to the area of Molweni, but also our other cases in South Africa and Ethiopia. A community feedback meeting was arranged but only one person was present. So we instead adopted an ad hoc feedback approach which included the distribution of the pamphlet through the participant who did attend, and would share them with the secretary of the traditional leaders office; through teachers and parents at a local creche; through the Ward Councillor office (where findings were also discussed with two assistants); through a local informal cafe; and through a library. A community feedback meeting was arranged in the traditional leaders court rooms with project participants. However despite this being organised and agreed, on the day when we arrived, only one participant was present and the site was locked and inaccessible. After attempting to get in touch with the leaders for some time, and failing, we instead adopted an ad hoc feedback approach as discussed above. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Feedback workshop for residents in Lufhereng, Gauteng South Africa December 2018 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | Post Doctoral researcher Tatenda Mukwedeya visited Lufhereng, one of our case study settlements in the region of Gauteng to provide feedback to residents in the community, and local leadership. He distributed pamphlets which summarised the findings of our project, relating to the area of Lufhereng, but also our other cases in South Africa and Ethiopia. Two communities workshops were held - in Lufhereng and Waterworks. Pamphlets were were handed out and then discussed highlighting prominent issues. The engagement was welcomed by residents and they were keen to talk more about issues affecting their communities. They also appreciated being given feedback and reading the pamphlets they had contributed to through their participation. One challenge was that it was difficult to access residents in Waterworks, so attendance was not as high as desired. Nevertheless, pamphlets were given to residents to distribute. In Protea Glen, a few individuals were met to distribute and discuss the pamphlet after they were invited to the broader session, but indicated that they were unable to attend. Community members, including those who had participated in the research attended consisting of 20 community members, mainly women (2 men) in Lufhereng, 6 in Waterworks (all women), and 3 individuals in Protea Glen. Community members indicated that they would use the pamphlet to lobby for intervention for government. The research reinforced their calls for improved facilities. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Feedback workshop in Ekangala, December 2018 South Africa |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | Post doctoral researcher Tatenda Mukwedeya visited Ekangala, one of our case study settlements in the region of Gauteng to provide feedback to residents in the community. He distributed pamphlets which summarised the findings of our project, relating to the area of Ekangala, Dark City, Ekindustria and Rethabiseng, but also our other cases in South Africa and Ethiopia. Two meetings were held in the area - in Ekangala and Dark City. Pamphlets were handed out and then discussed highlighting prominent issues.The engagement was welcomed by residents and they were keen to talk more about issues affecting their communities. They also appreciated being given feedback and reading the pamphlets they had contributed to through their participation. Attendance was as follows: 15 people in the Dark City meeting (9 women and 6 men), and 10 people in the Ekangala meeting (7 women and 3 men). The meeting also provided a platform for community members to discuss issues of common concern. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Feedback workshop in case study settlement Waterloo / Hammond's Farm, Durban South Africa 6 December 2018 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | We visited Waterloo / Hammond's Farm, one of our case study settlements in the city of Durban to provide feedback to residents in the community, residents who had participated in the study and local ANC political party leadership. Residents from surrounding informal settlements attended. We presented a powerpoint presentation of our findings and had an open discussion responding to questions and queries from the audience. We distributed pamphlets which summarised the findings of our project, relating to the area of Waterloo / Hammond's Farm (in Zulu and/ or English), but also our other cases in South Africa and Ethiopia. We distributed pamphlets to the local Canelands library which supports residents in the surrounding informal settlement complex of Canelands/Conniston. Around 40 residents attended a formal powerpoint presentation in the community hall. Approximately 16 were male and 24 were female. Both groups covered age ranges of between early 20s to 60s. The majority were isiZulu speaking, but some residents were from the Eastern Cape. The engagement workshop contributed to better community understanding of their conditions and other contexts. ommunity members were very appreciative of the feedback, and felt that the project had captured the hardships of their lives. They were very interested in the comparative findings to other places. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | International Advisory Group workshop in Johannesburg, September 2016 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | We held a International Advisory Group panel meeting in Johannesburg in September 2016 with representatives from city and regional government as well as urban professionals based in Johannesburg to discuss our project objectives, choices of case studies and aims. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Key Stakeholder workshop in Johannesburg, South Africa January 2019 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Key stakeholders including government representatives from the municipalities of Johannesburg and Ekhurleni, from regional government (Gauteng) attended (mainly from planning and economic development but also housing). Also the event was attended by academics and researchers from different NGO's and think tanks, as well as practising planners from the city of Johannesburg. We presented our findings from the project and discussed policy implications and responded to questions and feedback. Specifically the event was attended by: 36 individuals, including 2 from NGOs, 9 academics, 12 from research agencies working closely with government (CSIR, Gauteng City-Region Observatory), 2 consultants in the field, a developer, 5 municipal officials, 2 officials from municipal support agencies (SA Cities Network) and 2 provincial officials. A morning long workshop was held where findings from the project were presented. The presentation covered both some of the overall findings of the project, and then went into more detail on the Gauteng cases. The session was structured to enable debate and discussion by all participants. There was considerable interest in the findings, and debate over the implications. Participants made useful comments on the findings, which will also be helpful in taking the project findings further. Our engagement activity contributed to a broader understanding of conditions in peripheral areas - not a well-understood part of SA cities. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Key stakeholder workshop with International Advisory Members, Durban, September 2016 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | We held a key stakeholder workshop which included some members of our international advisory panel in Durban in September 2016 which included senior government representatives from the eThekwini municipality, senior planners from the city, senior planners who worked as urban professionals, and academics who also worked as consultants. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Local resident workshop, Molweni, South Africa |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | An event with local residents in one of our case study areas to encourage participation in our project and to determine key issues facing residents in the local area. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Local stakeholder workshop with community leaders in Waterloo, September 2016 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | We held a local stakeholders workshop with community leaders (area committee members, community policing forum, ANC local representatives) in the community hall at Waterloo near Hammond's Farm (our first case study area) in the city of Durban / eThekwini in September 2016. This was to share our project's aims with local community representatives, to request their assistance with the implementation of the project and to garner feedback on what key issues they considered central to their area. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Photographic Exhibition, Sheffield, November 2019 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A photography exhibition is being held in Sheffield during the week of 2 - 9th November 2019 as part of the Sheffield ESRC Festival of Social Science. This exhibition will display around 50 images taken by professional photographer Mark Lewis of our 7 case study areas across South Africa and Ethiopia. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/pre/public-engagement/festivals-opportunities/foss-2019 |
| Description | Presentation of a key finding to non-academic user: Momentum Metropolitan Funding (MMI) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Professor Alison Todes gave a presentation to the MMI (Momentum Metropolitan) Foundation. This organisation focuses on corporate social responsibility funding mainly skills development especially ICT skills. The event was their Board's strategy session. She focused on findings from the project relating to employment/livelihoods and the title of her talk was: "Location Matters: Employment and Livelihoods on Urban Peripheries". The feedback from the audience was really positive, they were were very engaged. A member of staff from the ILO (International Labour organisation) was present and she said that she would organize for us to present to them and South African Department of Trade and Industry. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Production of project website |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A project website has been constructed to enhance our sharing of project purpose, findings and outputs:https://www.wits.ac.za/urbanperiphery/ |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | http://www.wits.ac.za/urbanperiphery/ |
| Description | Stakeholder workshop in Johannesburg, Gauteng |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Around 40 individuals attended a workshop held in Johannesburg in March 2017 where we presented information on the project aims and our proposed case studies. The purpose was to garner feedback on case study selection and also on the identification of key concerns facing peripheral locations in Gauteng. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Stakeholder workshop in city of Durban 2019 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Key stakeholders including government representatives from the municipality of eThekwini (Durban), and from regional government (KwaZulu) (mainly from planning and economic development but also housing), and local business groups attended . Also the event was attended by academics and researchers from different NGO's and think tanks, as well as practising planners from the city of Durban. Specifically 12 attended: including 2 from local government, 1 from provincial government, 1 from a larger developer in the region, 2 local consultants, and the remainder from universities (most of whom are highly engaged in policy processes in the region). Despite wide circulation of the invitation, numbers were lower than expected since several people invited were away or previously committed.We presented our findings from the project and discussed policy implications and responded to questions and feedback. A morning long workshop was held where findings from the project were presented. The presentation covered both some of the overall findings of the project, and then went into more detail on the eThekwini cases. The session was structured to enable debate and discussion by all participants. There was considerable interest in the findings, and debate over the implications. Participants made useful comments on the findings, which will also be helpful in taking the project findings further. The engagement event contributed to a broader understanding of conditions in peripheral areas - not a well-understood part of SA cities. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Stakeholder workshop on Ethiopia |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Around 10 key informants attended a workshop on Addis Ababa hosted in Sheffield in May 2017 to discuss our project and to share advice on the practicalities of doing research in Ethiopia, the key issues facing areas in the periphery of the city and the choice of case studies. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Workshop with graduate students at Wits University |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | We held an event in December 2018 with several postgraduate students from Wits school of Architecture and Planning where we engaged with students in a research group around their projects, enabling them to learn from each other's work. The students had all conducted research in the case study areas where our project was focused, and had been funded by the South African funding stream via the NRF. Five sessions where all six students presented their 1) initial research problem, 2) objectives and research questions, 3) their methods, 4) case studies and initial findings, and 5) a final session where they presented their overall report. Supervisors and other team members who were available attended, especially the final session. Students presented and their was constructive engagement about their work, and space for interested discussion. These sessions went very well - the students found them interesting and useful, it built their knowledge base and gave them space to discuss their work. They were enthusiastic about the sessions. The research team were very keen to hear students findings which covered new dimensions of the topic. Students became enthusiastic about their research, and about research generally. All three honours students, whose work has already been marked, did very well academically. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Workshop with local participants |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | Workshop held with potential participants in Ekangala, Gauteng, to encourage participation in our project, seek local political approval and engagement and determine key issues. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Workshop with local residents, Lufhereng, Johannesburg |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | A workshop held with local residents in Lufhereng, Johannesburg to encourage participation in our project and to determine local issues. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |