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Project Coordinator (2016-2020)

**Prof Dr Anna Steigemann** is an urban researcher and sociologist. She worked as a Senior Researcher and at Habitat Unit till 2022. From 2016 until 2020 she was coordinating the Wits-TUB Urban Lab. She is also co-supervising one of the project's PhD students. Her main research interests are neighbourhood and community studies, migration, diversity, gender and the city, critical governance and participation research, and collaborative research methods between the social and the spatial sciences. Since 2023 she works as a professor for the Sociological Dimensions of Space at the University of Regensburg.

Prof Anna Steigemann

Anna Steigemann

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PhD, 2022-2025 Cohort

**Michelle Tatenda Sonono** is a WITS-TUB-UNILAG Urban Lab PhD Scholarship recipient at the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa. He is studying towards a Doctor of Philosophy in Urban and Regional Planning at the School of Architecture and Planning (SOAP). Tatenda has an interest in the planning, management, implementation and evaluation of housing and urban development policies that affect the urban poor in the cities of the South. 

He is investigating how Temporary Relocation Areas (TRA) are formed, governed and lived by examining their form, function and experiences that take shape within them to highlight the longstanding policy and implementation challenges of TRAs in South Africa.

**Thesis:** Temporary or permanent? The policy implications of everyday lived experiences in Temporary Relocation Areas (TRAs) in Stjwetla, Johannesburg. 

Michelle Tatenda Sonono

Links

Linkedin

ResearchGate

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PhD, 2022 Cohort

**Bankolay Theodore Turay** is a PhD candidate at the University of Lagos and a research Teaching assistant/project support officer at the University of Makeni, Sierra Leone. His research and teaching focus on issues of community development, women’s land rights, sustainable development, and land governance reforms particularly on peri-urban settlements in Sierra Leone. 

**Thesis:** Women’s Access to Land for Sustainable Livelihood: Evaluating the Effects of Tenure Conflicts in Peri-Urban Settlements in Sierra Leone. Case Studies in Western Area Rural District and Bombali District. 

Bankolay Theodore Turay

The Wits-TUB-UniLag Urban Lab is a DAAD funded graduate school promoting cooperative efforts among the University of the Witwatersrand, Technische Universität Berlin and the University of Lagos seeking to contribute to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the New Urban Agenda (NUA) on the African continent

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Insightful Encounters and a Nostalgic Homecoming

# **Author: [Bankolay Theodore Turay](/about/people/Turay) (Centre for Housing and Sustainable Development, University of Lagos)**
My one-month stay at the Department of Development Studies, University of Makeni, Sierra Leone, provided both a homecoming and a valuable opportunity to conduct a pilot study for my PhD research. My research investigates "Women's Access to Land for Sustainable Livelihood: Evaluating the Tenure Conflict in Peri-urban Settlements in Sierra Leone." Collaborating with like-minded academics at the University of Makeni enabled me to refine my data instruments and gather pilot data from communities in Mabolleh and Yainkasa (Bombali district) and Grafton and Tokeh (Western area rural district). Additionally, I was able to access resources on women's land rights from civil society and non-governmental organizations – resources unavailable at my home institution.

**Home coming nostalgia**

Leaving Sierra Leone for an extended period while my family remained was difficult. Seeing my children again after my absence stirred a mix of joy, guilt, and the pressure of having only a short time together. My daughter, 7, and my son, 14, are still in school, and I felt the weight of all I had missed. Balancing my research commitments in distant communities with the longing for my family created a whirlwind of emotions.

I had missed countless moments: family gatherings, my children's birthdays, their games, and even simple bedtime stories. The anxiety of catching up was overwhelming. At first, I struggled to fully embrace either my research or family time. Ultimately, I found a way to bridge the divide by including my children in some of my fieldwork. I explained my research in simple terms, emphasizing the importance of what I do. My daughter's insightful response – "you're fighting for me and other women" – brought me solace. My son, ever the questioner, challenged me with concerns about the work's impact and my future plans. Patiently answering him built both understanding and acceptance. Leaving again wasn't easy, but I departed with newfound joy. My children's understanding and their willingness to participate in my work transformed my experience. Their support turned a difficult situation into a source of strength.

**Beyond homecoming-Pilot study**

My mobility stay was both insightful and engaging, thanks to the incredibly welcoming, resourceful, and receptive communities I encountered. 

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FGD at Yainkasa community (Photo: John Brima Kargbo, SILNOF)

This stay proved invaluable in conducting a pilot study within these communities. The pilot aimed to:  refine my research instruments,  assess the feasibility of a larger study,  evaluate the practicality of my research protocol, check the effectiveness of the sampling frame and technique,  identify potential logistical challenges,  gather preliminary data, and  assess the data analysis methods for any issues.To achieve these goals, I employed a diverse range of data collection techniques, including: semi-structured interviews, questionnaires, focus group discussions, key informant interviews, and gathering biographical data on specific women within the communities. 

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FGD at Mabolleh community (Photo: John Brima Kargbo, SILNOF)

**Lessons learned and best practices**

My stay at the University of Makeni proved invaluable beyond the pilot study. It provided a platform to learn crucial skills for mobilizing communities, particularly when tackling sensitive topics like women's land rights. Furthermore, I established valuable contacts and networks that will significantly aid future data collection. Equally enriching was the exchange with fellow PhD candidates and learning from their research experiences. The stay also offered a unique opportunity to engage with advocates, local NGOs, academic researchers, and community leaders on land rights issues in Sierra Leone. Their practical insights proved invaluable, shaping my understanding of the research topic and generating new findings. This experience instilled invaluable collaboration skills and helped me build a network of partners, including the University of Makeni, Wits-TUB-UNILAG Urban Lab, and my research assistants. Their support was instrumental during my stay and continues to benefit my research. I have already integrated the lessons learned by collaborating with NGOs in their communities for my control study.

Researching Women’s Access to Land at the University of Makeni, Sierra Leone

The incorporation of renewable energy in the manufacturing of paper packaging within the city of Ekurhuleni

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Alumni Interviews

**Masters of Urban Studies (Sustainable Energy Efficient Cities), 2019**

**How are you related to Wits-TUB-UniLag Urban Lab?**

I received a scholarship in 2019 to complete a Master’s in Urban Studies specialising in Sustainable Energy and Efficient Cities at the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. The scholarship also gave me my first opportunity to travel abroad to Berlin and attend a summer school at TUB as part of my master’s program. The summer school was focused mainly on site visits in different neighbourhoods in Berlin to review different housing conditions and their relationship with the city's urban planning structure as well as how other communities are building their own energy electricity mini-grids with alternative renewable energy to achieve their energy security.

**Where and in which field do you currently work? What has been your career path so far?**

I currently work in the sustainable energy and climate change field, particularly focused on campaigning on halting the funding of fossil fuel related projects and advocating for channelling of climate finance to be used efficiently to implement the South African government’s Just Energy Transition Pathway and Investment Plan (JETP - IP). My career path and objective is mainly focused on expanding South Africa’s transmission and distribution electricity network to efficiently integrate more renewable energy technology and resources within the grid network to alleviate energy poverty and mitigate accelerating climate change to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7 to achieve universal energy access within South Africa and within the African continent whilst also achieving social and economic justice to bring an end to extreme forms of poverty.

**How did the fellowship contribute to your career development?**

The scholarship contributed immensely in advancing my educational knowledge in energy efficiency within buildings and cities and the importance of understanding urban politics and planning in integrating climate adaptation and mitigation strategies to achieve climate resilience within cities such as introducing solar mini grids and stand-alone renewable energy generation plants within municipalities to feed into municipal distribution networks which has assisted me in contributing effectively professionally in any project I am working on. 

I also learnt valuable technical skills in retrofitting buildings to become energy efficient in my energy efficiency in buildings module course taught by the late Dr Chungu which helped me learn that Green-House-Gas (GHG) emissions, even though energy systems that rely heavily from generating electricity from fossil fuels emit the most GHG emissions, various factors within an urban centres such as buildings can also contribute to accelerating global warming.

**Do you have any recommendations for graduates of the MUS starting their career?**

Yes. urban centre’s within countries host local municipalities that have the implementation mandate of all policies formed by national governments. Urban development is necessary especially to achieve sustainable environmental and economic development in that local municipalities can implement projects within policy conditions for long term benefits to achieve social, energy and climate justice. Starting a career in urban development will help new graduates do that and make South Africa a better place for all who live in it.

**Thesis:** The incorporation of renewable energy in the manufacturing of paper packaging within the city of Ekurhuleni

Khabonina Masango

Google Scholar

ORCID

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**How are you related to Wits-TUB-UniLag Urban Lab?**

I am an alumnus of the Wits-TUB-UniLag project and the School of Architecture and Planning, Wits University. I am part of the first PhD Cohort of the project. At our time it was called the Wits-TUB Urban Lab project. I think it is when I was concluding my PhD that the University of Lagos was annexed to the project’s name. 

**Where and in which field do you currently work? What has been your career path so far?**

Currently, I am in an academic position. I am Lecturer at the Department of Local Governance and City Management, Faculty of Public Policy and Governance, at the Simon Diedong Dombo University of Business and Integrated Development Studies (often abbreviated as The SDD-UBIDS), Wa in the Upper West Region of Ghana. I was appointed as Assistant Lecturer in November, 2020 when I was wrapping up with my PhD work. In April, 2022, I was promoted to the current rank of Lecturer (with PhD) in the same Department after successfully graduating in December 2021. 

**What topics are you focusing on?**

My research interest is in land tenure and urban management. I have been working on topics related to these including multiple land sales on peri-urban areas, the interface between land tenure and informal settlement planning, urban green space management specifically urban trees, and urban road safety.

**How did the fellowship contribute to your career development?**

The Wits-TUB-UniLag fellowship has played a life-changing role in my personal and career development. All in all, the scholarship to undergo PhD training is all important to me given the financial background of my family. The Summer schools gave me a great deal of exposure and the opportunity to experience real-life urban challenges and approaches to managing them in Berlin and Johannesburg. The visiting scholars bit enabled me to know the experiences of a PhD journey and to tap from their academic knowledge and experiences enabling me to finish my PhD early. At Wits, the Lunch-Box seminars, Graduate Seminars, PhD Symposia, Faces of the City Seminar, and the GOLD seminars were particularly important platforms for knowledge sharing that enriched my presentation, critical thinking, writing, qualitative data analysis, and other academic skills. A great supervisory team also sharpened my understanding and the essentials of academic research. 

**What would you recommend to new graduates starting a career in urban development?**

I will like to respondent to this respect to academic career only because of my career path. It is imperative for graduates starting an academic career in Urban Development, to in the onset, choose a clear line of research among the numerous urban challenges, deeply immense in the key literature and the state-of-the-art in the chosen research path in order to offer relevant contribution to knowledge in the chosen area. This, I believe, will enable career development and growth. Also graduates need to choose the relevant academic department related to urban development from the onset so as to utilise their knowledge and skills acquired from their training in the Urban Lab. 


Dr. Dennis Kamaanaa Sumbo

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# **Author: [James Gondwe](/about/people/Gondwe) (School of Architecture and Planning, University of the Witwatersrand)**
**Introduction**

Livestock were there at the ECAS 2023 Conference which took place from 31st May to 3rd June 2023.  They were neither physically plodding their hooves on the corridors of the University of Cologne nor mooing in conference rooms. I represented their plight of sidelined to the margins of the Southern urbanism by presenting a paper on various nuances of animal geographies of livestock in African cities and towns. My topic of presentation was ‘Situating animal geographies of livestock in African cities: Troubling the limits.’ In the preamble of my presentation, I showed the missing links between the Southern and animal turns. Although both conceptualise the shift of boundaries of narratives and discourses that shape urban 
 tudies and animal geography, there is a limited space of the ‘animal turn’ in Southern urbanism. Southern urbanism, though it is a vibrant academic space for scholars who are discontented by the mainstream urban theory which do not reflect the realities of the cities in the global South, its approach to the realities of urban Africa is anthropocentric. That urban Africa which includes world cities like Cape Town are ‘livestocking’ (see figure 1) remains an imperceptible reality that scholars who write from Southern perspective have underrepresented in their research activities. In my presentation I first cited reasons why Southern scholars have sidelined animal geographies to the edges of Southern urbanism and then proposed solutions to the academic impasse. 

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Figure 1: Cattle in Karonga Town, Malawi (Photo: James Gondwe)

**Reasons for the imperceptible realities of livestock geographies in the Southern urbanism**

Scholars who write from the Southern perspective are more engrossed in human agency than in subjectivities of livestock, yet scholarly reports show that the practice of livestock rearing in urban Africa is becoming a conspicuous landscape. A deep Southern scholarship on the circumstances and experiences of the urban poor at the expense of livestock agency in African cities and towns seem to indicate that urban Africa is space for human habitation only. Development theory and practice in urban Africa is dominated by themes that focus on how to reverse the socio-economic impact of colonialism. Subjectivities of livestock which are also migrating and living in African cities and towns remain a hidden reality. Seen in this, the Southern theory is as anthropocentric as the mainstream urban theory which assumes that cities and towns are spaces for human urban dwellers only. Livestock are perceived as adjuncts for human development.

There is also epistemic dependence on the global North for animal geographies. Although there is an emerging scholarship on livestock geographies focusing on urban Africa, leading scholars come from universities and research institutions from the global North. Following that, worldviews of animal geographies are pervading cities of the global South including African cities. The globalisation of animal geography scholarship through scholarly outputs from global North based scholars imply that the local realities of livestock animals are being curtailed by the epistemic dependence from the universities based in the global North. While it is noted that ~~like other disciplines~~, animal geography originated in the global North, its representation of animal geographies of the global South which include African cities is limited because human-animal relations are perceived differently. On one hand animal welfare is practiced in most African countries and on the other hand animal rights are observed in the global North. 

The extermination of livestock in Western cities in the 1800s due to moral and hygienic narratives was relayed to African cities during the colonial period.  Municipalities in urban Africa have replicated the 1800s urban planning mood by developing by-laws that regulate the practice of animal husbandry in African cities and towns. In this regard, most scholars who write from the Southern position have neglected writing about livestock because their presence in African cities and towns is not recorded by annals of the municipalities. Their absence from the annals of municipalities imply that they are just any other raw material that should be used for urban development.

**Possibilities of the Southern turn to ‘turn’ into the ‘animal turn.’**

In this section of my presentation, I attempted to provide solutions to the neglected livestock subjectivities in African cities and towns. 

One of the solutions of breaking epistemic dependence and superiority from the global North is to deliberately set up city labs that focus on human-animal relations in universities based in African countries. Universities such University of Cape Town (UCT)and University of Witwatersrand established research labs which have a strong focus towards the material and imagined geographies of African cities and towns. The African Centre for Cities which is hosted by UCT focuses on the analytics of African cities, digging into realties of their post-colonial geographies. However, the centre’s approach to studying African cities is anthropocentric, yet it is hoisted in a transspecies world city. Seen in this, there is need to employ the posthuman thought in analysing African cities because most of them are displaying multispecies urban spaces. Livestock are post-colonial animals whose welfare can be improved by studying their space and place in African cities. 

A deliberate focus on research methods that decenter the human voice and bring out the imperceptible circumstances and experiences of livestock will increase research outputs on animals’ geographies. One of the reasons why research outputs on ‘beastly urbanisation’(how urban animals experience the ‘urban’) are limited is traditional methods of research cannot be used to collect data from animal agency. Animals do not speak the language we understand and write, therefore, cannot participate in interviews, focus group discussion and other human centric methods. Thus, universities in Africa should either make use of already developed more than human research methods or develop new frontiers of research methods that capture the subjectivities of livestock. In fact, universities which have animal studies in their curricula can easily adapt some already existing methods to collect data from the lived experiences of livestock animals.

**Conclusion**

The future of African cities as envisaged by the ‘Urban 16 Panel ‘African urban futures and positionalities towards global urban policies’ in which I was given a slot to present the findings of my study which, I have summarised in this blog, is shaped by multispecies entanglements. Urban animals, including livestock are sharing spaces with people, foraging on human based food stuffs, and also fabricating the urban form and the functionality of African cities in various ways and forms. Following that, the ‘animal turn’ should be embedded into the Southern turn as a way of capturing the lived experiences of livestock in African cities. Scholars who are researching and writing from a southern perspective should be aware that much as they are preoccupied by solving problems which the urban poor are experiencing in post-colonial African cities, livestock are also post-colonial animals whose lived experiences are worthy researching and writing about.  Animal welfare can be improved if we understand their contribution to the development of African cities beyond the label of innate objects of development. The future of African cities is shaped by the complexity of human-livestock relations which co-produce the urban form and its functionality.

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Figure2 : James Gondwe presenting at ECAS (Photo: Michelle Tatenda Sonono)

Bringing animal geographies to the ECAS 2023 conference

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WELCOME TO THE WITS-TUB-UNILAG URBAN LAB‘- The WITS-TUB-UNILAG Urban Lab is one of the DAAD Bilateral SDG Graduate Schools that provide infrastructure for cooperative efforts among German higher education institutions and their international counterparts. Find the latest project news and information on our activities, bursaries, the team and further resources on this website.

Welcome to the Wits-Tub-Unilag Urban Lab

The call for papers for the African Urbansims conference organised by the Wits-TUB-UniLag Urban Lab and hosted by Wits Unversity's School of Architecture and Planning is still open until **April 21 2024**. The conference will take place from October 23 to October 26 2024. To submit an astract, please upload your proposal under the respective session. You can find all the sessions open to presentation proposals [here](/african-urbanisms/call). 




Call for Papers African Urbanisms Conference - Deadline April 21

Webinar organised by the Wits-TUB-UniLag Urban Lab - March 27, 11:00CET


[Eventbrite Link](https://www.eventbrite.de/e/urban-nature-relations-tickets-866106938167)

**Prof. Matthew Gandy: Learning from Lagos (reprise)**

**Prof. Matthew Gandy** is Professor of Geography at the University of Cambridge. He was previously Professor of Geography at University College London and was founder and first director of the UCL Urban Laboratory from 2005-11.

**Prof. Boris Schröder-Esselbach**

**Prof. Boris Schröder-Esselbach** is a professor of Plant Ecology at TU Berlin. Previously he held a professorship for Landscape Ecology and Environmental Systems Analysis at TU Braunschweig, where he was also Dean of Environmental Sciences/Geoecology.

**James Gondwe: Can Cattle Speak? Collecting data from cattle using multispecies methods**

**James Gondwe** is a PhD student in the School of Architecture and Planning at Wits University and scholarship-holder under the Wits-TUB-Unilag Urban Lab. He is also a senior lecturer in the Department of Geosciences at Mzuzu University. His research focuses on more than human geographies in the context of animal geographies of cattle in Karonga Town, Malawi.

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Urban-Nature Relations: Webinar with Matthew Gandy, James Gondwe and Boris Schröder-Esselbach, March 27

The call for papers for the African Urbansims conference organised by the Wits-TUB-UniLag Urban Lab and hosted by Wits Unversity's School of Architecture and Planning is now open! The conference will take place from October 23 to October 26 2024.  You can find all the sessions open to presentation proposals [here](/african-urbanisms/call). The call is open until **April 21 2024**. 
![flyer call for papers.jpg](https://cms.urban-sdg-school.org/uploads/flyer_call_for_papers_5f2923a87f.jpg)



African Urbanisms conference - Call for papers is now open!

NEWS

##### [Call for Papers for the African Urbanisms Conference is now open!](/african-urbanisms/)

Resources

Publications

Here you can find information on publications by the members of the Wits-UniLag Urban Lab team as well as publications that resulted from work and studies funded by the project.

Event Materials

The Wits-TUB-UniLag Urban Lab regularly hosts events such as summer schools, talks and webinars that provide training for early career researchers and present research on sustainable urbanism by the team and collaborators from across the African continent and beyond. Here you can find recordings of talks, additional materials provided by the speakers and documentations of events.

Quick Links

African Urbanisms Conference

The conference will take place from October 23 to October 26 at Wits University. The call for papers is open until April 21 2024. 

Scholarships

The project offers a limited number of scholarships for the Urban Management programmes at UniLag and at Wits each year. Furthermore, there will be more scholarship opportunities for postdoctoral researchers and PhD students. All information on scholarships and current calls will be published here.

Study programmes

Find out more on the project's postgraduate study programmes at Wits University and the University of Lagos.

Welcome to the Wits-Tub-Unilag Urban Lab

Call for Papers for the African Urbanisms Conference is now open!

News

Call for Papers African Urbanisms Conference - Deadline April 21

Urban-Nature Relations: Webinar with Matthew Gandy, James Gondwe and Boris Schröder-Esselbach, March 27

African Urbanisms conference - Call for papers is now open!

All announcements

Quick Links

African Urbanisms Conference

Scholarships

Study programmes

Blog

Researching Women’s Access to Land at the University of Makeni, Sierra Leone

Khabonina Masango

Dr. Dennis Kamaanaa Sumbo

Bringing animal geographies to the ECAS 2023 conference

About

Meet the team

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Resources

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Event Materials

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Welcome to the Wits-Tub-Unilag Urban Lab

.css-185o5ba{text-decoration-line:underline;}Call for Papers for the African Urbanisms Conference is now open!

News

Call for Papers African Urbanisms Conference - Deadline April 21

Urban-Nature Relations: Webinar with Matthew Gandy, James Gondwe and Boris Schröder-Esselbach, March 27

African Urbanisms conference - Call for papers is now open!

All announcements

Quick Links

African Urbanisms Conference

Scholarships

Study programmes

Blog

Researching Women’s Access to Land at the University of Makeni, Sierra Leone

Khabonina Masango

Dr. Dennis Kamaanaa Sumbo

Bringing animal geographies to the ECAS 2023 conference

About

Meet the team

Partners

Resources

Publications

Event Materials

Links

Social Media

Legal

Contact

Partners

Supported by

Call for Papers for the African Urbanisms Conference is now open!