Engaging the problematic of extended urbanisation in South Africa

The GCRO is involved in international research and teaching focused on the problematic of extended urbanization in South Africa. Graeme Götz, the Director of Research Strategy, and Dr. Ngaka Mosiane, a Senior Researcher, frequently give lectures on this topic as part of a course offered jointly to Master's students by the University of the Witwatersrand’s School of Architecture and Planning and University College London’s Urban Laboratory.

The GCRO’s Director of Research Strategy and Senior Researcher are also participating in two other activities related to this research and teaching on engaging the problematic of extended urbanisation in South Africa. The first one is the Wits Rural Knowledge Hub Synthesis Working Group 2024/25, which met at the Wits Rural Campus from the 1st to the 6th of November 2024 and on the 7th to 12th of June 2025, moving to Mbombela and the ex-KaNgwane on the 12th to 15th of June 2025.

The major outputs of the Wits Rural Knowledge Hub Synthesis Working Group will be three academic papers on 1). The idea and practice of extended urbanisation; 2) the spatial histories of and contemporary dynamics in the ex-Bantustans; and 3) the socio-spatial and governance processes on the edges of the eThekwini and Gauteng metropolitan cities. The second activity related to research and teaching on engaging the challenges of extended urbanisation is the Evidence-Informed Policymaking Grant from the British Academy – a 12-month project on the relationship between research and policy making, including cities and urbanisation as a theme.

In addition to the GCRO and individuals from some institutions, other participating organisations are Wits (School of Architecture and Planning, the Southern Centre for Inequality Studies, the Wits Rural Knowledge Hub), University of Glasgow, University College London, University of the Western Cape’s Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, Walter Sisulu University, University of Venda, and the University of KwaZulu-Natal. The outputs of this Evidence-Informed Policymaking Grant will include dialogue and engagement between researchers and policymakers, and the initial development of research-policy hubs in institutions such as the University of Venda, Walter Sisulu University (Mthatha), and the University of Mpumalanga (complementing the established capacities we have at Wits, UKZN, and UDW).