South African Research Chair in Development Planning and Modelling

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 This newly established research programme is funded by the National Research Foundation (NRF) and is led by the South African Research Chair in Development Planning and Modelling, hosted by the School of Architecture and Planning at the University of the Witwatersrand. The research responds to the challenges of rapid urbanisation in the global South, and especially to the development of large and complex city-regions that pose considerable dilemmas for planning and urban management. The primary objective of the research is to support, develop and promote forms of development planning that will contribute to making cities in poor and middle-income countries more liveable, sustainable, efficient and equitable. The research is initially focussed on the City of Johannesburg, and the city-region of which Johannesburg is a part, but may extend its focus through comparative study to other city-regions in the global South. The research uses contemporary technologies of spatial analysis and modelling to identify and describe trends but also draws on current theoretical work internationally, and on experiential knowledge, to interpret and explain the trends.

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