GCRO hosts Faces of the City seminar series

The Faces of the City Seminar Series is a partnership between the Centre for Urbanism and Built Environment Studies (CUBES); the South African Research Chair in Spatial Analysis and City Planning (SA&CP) in the Wits School of Architecture and Planning (SoAP); the Gauteng City Region Observatory (GCRO); and the Wits City Institute (WCI). The GCRO organised and chaired seven Faces of the City seminars in the second quarter (Q2) of 2023. Three of the seminars were hybrid events whilst four were held online. The second teaching block saw considerable GCRO representation as five GCRO researchers/scholars - Christian Hamann, Pedzisai Ndagurwa, Yashena Naidoo, Brian Murahwa and Shamsunisaa Miles-Timottheus - presented their papers at five of the seven seminars. Two external scholars, including a visiting international scholar (Professor Dan Inkoom), presented in the remaining two seminars. The GCRO’s Thembani Mkhize arranged and chaired these seven presentations for Q2:

● Mr Christian Hamann, ‘An Analysis of Micro-scale Social Mixing in Gauteng’, Hybrid presentation, 18 April 2023.

● Dr Pedzisai Ndagurwa, ‘Quality of Life in the Gauteng Province of South Africa: is the sex of the household head important?’, Hybrid presentation, 25 April 2023.

● Ms Yashena Naidoo, ‘Spatial Economic Activity in the City of Johannesburg between 2011 and 2021’, Online presentation, 2 May 2023.

● Dr Brian Murahwa, ‘Confronting Sound and Silence in Johannesburg’s Inner City’, Online presentation, 9 May 2023.

● Professor Dan Inkoom, ‘Heaven on Earth? The peri-urban landscape as a residential alternative for low-income migrants in Kumasi, Ghana’, Hybrid presentation, 16 May 2023.

● Professor Nancy Odendaal, ‘Postcolonial Science and Technology Studies as a Route to Theorising Smart Urbanism and Planning’, Online presentation, 23 May 2023.

● Mrs Shamsunisaa Miles-Timottheus and Dr Pedzisai Ndagurwa, ‘A Society in Fear? Socio-economic, demographic and spatial correlates of feeling (un)safe in Gauteng, South Africa’, Online presentation, 30 May 2023.