Listen Now

GreenCape's Alternative Service Delivery Unit (ASDU) is working with different informal settlements to improve their access to basic services. This episode explores the ASDU, principles of co-design in asset based community development, and the impact of this and other ASDU project partnerships. This episode is presented in partnership with GreenCape in collaboration with the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom Listen or watch to understand: Guests in this conversation: Reshmi Wolvers, ASDU Project Manager at GreenCape and Jack Radmore , Energy Programme Manager and Climate Finance Lead at GreenCape. Background to the ASDU.  How the ASDU at GreenCape came about. The impact of the work to date. The research process to better understand the different and most pressing needs of communities. Principles of co-design in asset based community development. How to support improved access to basic services in informal settlements. Lessons learned from implementing projects in Freedom Farm and Malawi Camp The focus of the work that the ASDU is doing with the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom. What the ASDU hopes to achieve over the next few years. The importance of effective stakeholder collaboration when it comes to alternative service delivery and what more can be done to improve this collaboration. The role of local government in providing alternative service delivery. All episodes here: https://futurecitiesafrica.com/all-future-cities-africa-podcasts.php

GreenCape and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom are running a series of Green Economy decision-makers courses that have a reach into African cities. This episode explores the decision-makers courses, the planned Symposium, and the impact that this initiative is seeing by equipping decision-makers to understand and align their strategies with green economy principles. This episode is presented in partnership with GreenCape in collaboration with the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom Listen or watch to understand: Guests in this conversation: Lindiwe van Staden, Project Manager for Skills Development at GreenCape and Genesis Cleveland, Regional Project Manager at Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom. Background to FNF’s involvement in the Green Economy. Explanation of the Green Economy decision-makers course and Symposium. Who the decision-makers are in this context, and why the training is focused on them. How to access the course materials via GreenCape ’s Youtube  channel. (Waste, Energy and Water courses) Examples of positive impact from running these courses. The objectives of the Symposium themed: A new vision for delivering green economy solutions for African communities. How aligning to green economy principles potentially shape the future of African cities? The potential consequences when decision-makers do not understand and align their strategies with green economy principles. Spoiler: We might be left behind if we don’t act.

Abdullahi Ali Hassan has a Master’s in Urban Studies and is very active in the Bellville Somalian community. We explore the importance of multiculturalism in urban centres, narratives and perceptions, the importance of strong leadership, how city governments can better support multicultural populations, and more. Listen or watch to understand:This episode is presented in partnership with The Greater Tygerberg Partnership (GTP). Narratives and perceptions.  The importance of multiculturalism in urban centres. Most significant benefits of a multicultural community. Insights into the cultural environment in Bellville. How the Somalian community have been able to integrate into Bellville? Challenges and successes.  Most important factors in building community cohesion in multicultural urban centres. Major challenges for multiculturalism in urban centres to be successful and efficient, and how they can be addressed. How city governments can and should better support multicultural populations. The importance of strong leadership. See all episodes: https://futurecitiesafrica.com/all-future-cities-africa-podcasts.php

The Climate Finance Accelerator (CFA) directly responds to the urgency and scale of the climate crisis by supporting highly promising climate projects to become more bankable and appealing to investors, so that they can secure funding more readily. The CFA is part of the UK Government’s efforts to help South Africa tackle climate change and support a just transition. This episode is presented in partnership with GreenCape, in collaboration with the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom Read the CFA press release here Listen or watch to understand: Guests in this conversation: Ian Callaghan, Originator of the Climate Finance Accelerator, Mike Mulcahy, Chief Executive Officer of GreenCape and John Gibss, Infrastructure Finance Advisor to the Climate Finance Accelerator. What the CFA is, how it came about and what it will do. Why is it so hard for low carbon projects to find suitable investments. How the CFA understands the climate finance landscape in each country it operates in (Nigeria, South Africa, Mexico, Peru, Colombia and Turkey). How GreenCape reacted when they heard about the CFA and how it can help in South Africa.  The kinds of projects that are applying to be part of the CFA, and what kind of needs they have. The next steps for the South African CFA projects that have been identified. Major challenges standing in the way of the success of the CFA and how each show guest would solve it if they had a magic wand. All episodes: https://futurecitiesafrica.com/all-future-cities-africa-podcasts.php

A free and fair media is critical in a healthy democracy, though while the data age has dramatically enhanced our ability to generate and share news, it has similarly enabled the rise of fake news, programmatic agendas, and media echo-chambers. The Dexter project seeks to leverage modern computational paradigms to monitor and analyze Southern Africa's digital media. Listen or watch to understand: This episode is presented in partnership with Open Cities Lab Background on guests William Bird, Director of Media Monitoring Africa and Matthew Adendorff , Data Lead at Open Cities Lab. What exactly is Dexter and what does it do? How Open Cities Lab and Media Monitoring Africa got involved in the project. How Dexter can be used for a focussed subject: To track elections or COVID reporting in Africa. The elections work that the Dexter project is currently underway with. The biggest challenges they’ve overcome to date and how they did it. Application of Dexter beyond news media. The key steps to a more free and fair media. See all episodes: https://futurecitiesafrica.com/all-future-cities-africa-podcasts.php Youtube Channel: https://futurecitiesafrica.com/all-future-cities-africa-podcasts.php      

Zukiswa Mandlana is Director for Organisational Effectiveness and Innovation at the City of Cape Town. We discuss the latest innovations at the City of Cape Town, the innovation process they adopted, how they measure success, key milestones reached, overcoming challenges and how the Pandemic has influenced how they innovate. This episode is presented in partnership with the City of Cape Town See all episodes: https://futurecitiesafrica.com/all-future-cities-africa-podcasts.php

Miriam Maina is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of the Witwatersrand. She has a particular focus on the role of policy in shaping urban futures in Africa. Listen or watch to understand:This episode is presented in partnership with 1map (Visit them) Organic growth vs proactive town planning/city management. If organic growth is a good idea for African countries. What happens to town planning policies? Who informs them, who implements them? Why don’t policies always reach their goals? And why is there a need for improved policies? Challenges: Why are all the things that we know are necessary for city management success, not in place? Like Data, access to technology, lack of digital property register, silos in governments, funding Kenya’s land registry being digitised. How secondary cities and towns will grow exponentially. Modern skills, like visualisation of data for actionable insights, town planners will need to craft powerful policies that will shape African cities. Examples are GIS knowledge, data analysis, technical proficiency, and more. What is hindering the uptake of new technologies. Africa is expecting several of its cities to reach mega city status in the near future.  Is it too late to implement effective city growth policies for those cities and towns?  How African cities can adapt and prepare for what is to come? All episodes here: https://futurecitiesafrica.com/all-future-cities-africa-podcasts.php

Warren Hewitt is Chief Executive Officer at The Greater Tygerberg Partnership (GTP). We discuss the role of the GTP in unlocking Bellville’s potential as a sustainable and prosperous leading African city, Bellville’s culture and combined intellectual capital, attracting investment, working closely with the public sector, and many facts about Bellville. This episode is presented in partnership with The Greater Tygerberg Partnership (GTP). See all Future Cities Africa episodes here: https://futurecitiesafrica.com/all-future-cities-africa-podcasts.php 

We explore: This episode is presented in partnership with the City of Cape Town Major challenges faced and impacts of the pandemic and how the City is managing it. Scope and the key elements of the City’s Transport Strategy for growth and recovery. Barriers that exist to the implementation of the strategy. How the City is responding to the crisis involving the Minibus Taxi industry. The City’s response to criticism for only putting aside 2% of its budget for non motorised transport initiatives. The plan to accelerate Bellville PTI and Bellville as a hub - The Future Bellville Masterplan. Their views on the R300 Northern Extension. The Mitchells Plain TOC pilot and the City's plan for the future of the Minibus Taxi sector formalisation and modernisation. Views on the Province's Blue Dot Initiative. What the progress is for the City to take over the Management function of Rail. When the MyCiti Phase 2 will have the first wheels roll. Success stories from the sector. How the City is working with all industry stakeholders and what opportunities are there for collaboration. Main lessons taken from 2020 and the 1st half of 2021 and how the City can address them, to not only survive but thrive into the future. Watch the episode here: https://youtu.be/AdBLCaxUzjgVisit online here: https://futurecitiesafrica.com/all-future-cities-africa-podcasts.php 

Monica Rolo is an Industrial Engineer at Curro Holdings, an independent school network in South Africa. We discuss the societal needs addressed by Curro, the value in spatial representation of information for a school and how it enables them to identify and overcome key challenges, and much more. This episode is presented in partnership with 1map (Visit them)  See all FCA episodes: https://futurecitiesafrica.com/all-future-cities-africa-podcasts.php

Carlo Barnard is Business Intelligence Specialist at Munsoft and a past municipal CFO at Victor Khanye Local Municipality. We discuss the value in spatial representation of information for a municipality, major challenges that can be visualised and solved, why collaboration between departments are important in the context of using technology, and much more. Presented in Partnership with 1map, visit them at www.1map.co.za Watch all episodes: https://futurecitiesafrica.com/all-future-cities-africa-podcasts.php 

Craig Kesson is Executive Director for Corporate Services at the City of Cape Town. We explore the thinking behind the City’s Infrastructure Strategy, its scope and key elements, impacts of and lessons from the pandemic, a uniformed standard to Sector Plans, enabling innovation in alternative service delivery, reaching historically under-serviced areas, and more. This episode is presented in partnership with the City of Cape Town To partner contact Futurecitiesafrica.com

Kadri Nassiep is Executive Director for Energy at City of Cape Town. We explore the City’s energy and sustainability strategy for growth and recovery, major challenges, energy independence, success stories, future technologies, opportunities for collaboration with private sector, and what the future can look like. This episode is presented in partnership with the City of Cape Town Contact us to partner on www.futurecitiesafrica.com

Michael John Webster is Executive Director for Water and Waste at the City of Cape Town. We explore the City’s water strategy and key commitments, lessons from the 2018 water crisis, recent progress made, future thinking, new technologies, opportunities and challenges for private sector collaboration, and advice for cities grappling with water management. This episode is presented in partnership with the City of Cape Town Read the Water Strategy here

Joanne Parker is the project lead for SCODA at Open Cities Lab. Tshegang Chipeya is the project lead for the Durban EDGE Programme at eThekwini Municipality. We explore what SCODA is, what it offers Cities, tools utilised in the Durban EDGE case and success stories, Open Data challenges at the municipal level and how they can be overcome. See all episodes: https://futurecitiesafrica.com/all-future-cities-africa-podcasts.php Subscribe on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/FutureCitiesAfrica

Nicolaas Klopper is Director at 1map. We explore the National Property Register and its importance to the management of a city, how maps make complex data less abstract and provide actionable insights that drive revenue and improve service delivery, and how Mapping will be transformed as part of everyones’ workflow. This episode is presented in partnership with 1map (Visit them) See how you can partner with Future Cities Africa

Sarah Findlay is 'Africa Data Hub' Project Lead at Open Cities Lab. We explore the importance and key features of the Africa Data Hub, responsibly sourced data, enabling trust in the media, value offered by the African Data Hub, how to collaborate with them and their plans to have a quantifiable impact. This episode is presented in partnership with Open Cities Lab See how you can partner with Future Cities Africa

Garsen Naidoo is GM at Cisco Sub-Saharan Africa. We explore the various impacts of the pandemic, how technology can be used as an enabler to inclusive economic recovery, Smart Cities, IoT in Africa, main lessons taken from 2020 and how cities might change over the next 5 years. Website: https://futurecitiesafrica.com/all-future-cities-africa-podcasts.php  Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/FutureCitiesAfrica 

Ben Bradlow is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University. We dive deep into an article from his dissertation project called: Weapons of the Strong: Elite Resistance and the Neo-Apartheid City. This episode dives into: • His larger book project that compares Johannesburg and São Paulo. • Summary and key takeaways from the article and his dissertation project. • What is meant by “Weapons of the Strong”. • Why Johannesburg was chosen for this enquiry. • How private property developers and neighborhood associations demonstrate tactics of elite resistance. • Strategies used by “The Strong” to undermine the transformative capacities of the local state: “ring-fencing” and “venue-shopping.” • Potential solutions Website: https://futurecitiesafrica.com/all-future-cities-africa-podcasts.php  Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/FutureCitiesAfrica 

Danga Mughogho is Programme Manager for Well Governed Cities at South African Cities Network. We explore the State of City Finances 2020 report, impacts of the pandemic on city finances, trends in the affordability of municipal bills, lessons from the report, and implications for municipal finance in the future. This episode is brought to you in partnership with South African Cities Network (SACN). Website: https://futurecitiesafrica.com/all-future-cities-africa-podcasts.php  Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/FutureCitiesAfrica