Collaborative student research with Erasmus University

The GCRO continues to build partnerships with international academic institutions. The Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS) of Erasmus University in Rotterdam has a strong academic and applied research capacity focused on reducing poverty and improving the quality of life in cities; a research focus strongly aligned with the GCRO’s research programme.

From 26 February to 2 March GCRO researchers were hosted by Prof Ronald Wall, head of the Urban Competitiveness and Resilience (UCR) department at IHS, and spent a week giving lectures and interacting with Masters students. Prof Phil Harrison the South African Research Chair in Spatial Analysis and City Planning at Wits University provided the first lecture on urban planning in Gauteng. Rob Moore presented on the Gauteng City Region, the development of the GCRO and the role of an organisation like the GCRO to provide the evidence base for policy making. Gillian Maree gave lectures on Sustainability Transitions as well as water and food security challenges. The week’s lectures were rounded off by Graeme Gotz who presented an overview of data availability and challenges to the students.

A number of the students will focus their MSc thesis research on Johannesburg with support and supervision from GCRO staff members. We look forward to sharing the research outputs from the collaboration with you in the future.