In today’s TTPod episode we look across continents and the Ukrainian conflict. The episode tries to consider the challenges and support being rendered via the reflection of two South Africans currently based in Europe. In the last months, the world’s media has focused in on the Ukraine and the untold suffering endured by the communities and cities affected by Russian military activity in the Ukraine. 

For every action, there is a re-action and, one major driver of transformation of communities and cities - in the most negative way imaginable - is via war.  At the time of recording, Reuters news agency estimates that more than 15 million people have been displaced from their homes. More than 2,500 buildings have been destroyed and the costs in pure property dame is estimated to exceed $600billion. 

This episode looks north to two European cities – Munich in Germany and on the eastern border of Poland, Rzeszow that are directly absorbing the impact of the Russian actions in the Ukraine as refugees – predominantly women and children – flee their homes and communities for the safety of the west. I had wanted to understand how these challenges are playing out and reached out to two friends and colleagues who are directly working with the refugees in those cities: Diana Arvanitakis is located in Munich and Jan de Bruin in Rzeszow. 

Both are South African’s working abroad and you’ll hear from both how they came to be working in this space and what challenges the displaced communities face.  What I can tell you from the outset is that Diane helped me re-assess my own goals and objectives as a planner – learning from her practical means of using urban design to shape transformation initiatives. Her CV is rich with practical and academic experience in some of South Africa’s most innovative spaces. Likewise, Jan has a CV that illustrates a practical and wide-reaching experience of disaster and relief coordination in some of the most challenging environments of the last two decade – South Sudan, Lebanon, Iraq and war-torn Sri Lanka before and after the devasting tsunami – Jan’s experience and commitment to serving the communities most in need are truly inspiring. I wanted to hear from them, their experiences and the realities being faced by the refugees and beyond that how the scale of the out-migration is impacting on the receiving cities. In the trauma and tragedy are strong messages of hope, courage and resilience from all parties involved.  I am deeply indebted to both for the time and willingness to discuss these issues with me and I hope they will highlight the challenges faced by the refugees and the laudable work Diane and Jan are engaged in. 

Find out more about Diane's work and organisation via: https://nfp-muc.org/ 

Medair NGO's details can be found via medair.org

Recorded June 16th 2022

This podcast episode is markedly different from the more routine Talking Transformation “script” and speaks to two graphic illustrators, Nathan Trantraal and Julia Louise Pereira from South Africa and Canada respectively. Both have used their talent to tell stories about factors that have shaped or are currently shaping or cities and communities.

I’ve been wanting to have this discussion since coming across the internationally acclaimed: Crossroads I Live Where I Like: A Graphic History publication (https://jacana.co.za/product/crossroads/). It’s a non-fictional cartoon strip set in 1970’s South Africa - that tells the powerful and moving story of the women-led resistance to apartheid laws, planning principles and community rhetoric of the time. To understand Crossroads in Cape Town you can begin to understand the trauma and legacy of apartheid in South Africa and the role and bravery women played in shaping and fighting the authorities. The story embodies the mantra: “You Strike a Woman, You Strike a Rock / Wathint' Abafazi, Wathint' Imbokotho”.

Nathan Trantraal is one half of the two Trantraal brothers who illustrated the book. He is a poet, cartoonists, writer and and translator, currently lecturing in School of Languages at Rhodes University on this very subject of the graphic novel.

I’m very much looking forward to understanding the genesis of the project, how the book was received locally and internationally and the importance of the medium in the age of social media and attention deficit that we frequently seem to be caught up in.

The inspiring Julia Louise Pereira (https://julialouisepereira.com/) is based in Toronto, Canada. Her recent comic strip in the UK’s Guardian tackled the subject of climate change in cities and what has been done and what can be done to address this global crisis via small-scale and larger city building initiatives. Her comic strip “Cities need to be redesigned for the climate crisis. Can they make us happy, too?”, resonated by reflecting on actual families affected by Hurricanes Ida and Sandy. The point hammered home is that – like with so many urban issues – the impacts and worst of the effects are borne by the most disadvantaged communities.

As her comic strip suggests: “it’s tempting to design a city by drawing lines on a map. But that ignores what cities are for. To serve the people who live there.” The strip raises the issue of cultural identity, sense of place and belonging and in a clear and precise graphical form illustrated issues of redlining, physical buffers between communities. It’s a masterclass in demonstrating the multiple agendas and challenges faced by cities and the approaches from small “pinprick” interventions to grander city building initiatives.

Both the South African and American case studies use real people, telling their stories to frame the graphics and storyline. They are inspiring and informative means of digesting the complexities and in many instances traumatic stories. I hope you enjoy their reflections and message in this episode.

Recorded 22nd May, 2022

If you’ve listened to the first couple of productions in Series 2 you’ll know this period of 2022 has been very much a period of personal transformation for me. Just over a month prior to leaving the public service I concluded studies with the London School of Economics in February. I had chosen the Executive Masters In Cities (https://www.lse.ac.uk/cities/education/emc), as much for the content as the ringing endorsements from South Africa’s who had studies in the first few years of the course’s inception. You’ll already heard from a couple if you are a regular listener. 

It was arguably the biggest career interruption since starting work in 1996. It challenged conventions and my own limitations whilst also reinforcing some of the positives we as South Africa have to offer. For all of our challenges and frustrations, we still have some of the most progressive thinking and personalities pushing the decision makers and it’s important we don’t forget that. I was constantly reminded of that as we shared experiences from fellow course participants from around the globe: from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, Kyiv in the Ukraine, Chicago and LA in the States, Sydney, Australia and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – these were just some of the home bases for my fellow students.

Like countless students around the globe, we had COVID – or at least, the fallout from COVID - and all of its challenges, as a constant companion throughout our studies. The idea of travelling back and forth to the UK five times was always going to be a financial stretch but COVID and the global travel bans made sure the medium for learning and tuition was online. COVID also informed some of the course content and certainly shaped the rhythm and conversations we had between the diverse participants. Was this the end of Cities as we knew them? What were the implications for socio-economic, spatial and transport planning? And, just how responsive and adaptive were city governance models across the world to this latest disruption on an epic scale? What could COVID "do" to accelerate the climate change behaviours and responses? You’ve heard a number of these debates on the podcast: it was another thing to look at these issues through an academic lens.

I wanted to sign-off my studies with an appreciative nod to the course leadership – Dr Savvas Verdis and Dr Philipp Rode who co-direct the course. I wanted as much to give them the opportunity to reflect on the course – why a course on cities, the adaption of content and their own stories – as much as to give me closure on this personal learning and transformation journey.

I hope you enjoy the episode and find your own inspiration for your own next chapter :-)

Recorded April 1st, 2022

Dr Mark Napier is currently Principal Researcher with CSIR and project lead for the design and management of the “Urban Knowledge Exchange Southern Africa” - an online knowledge-sharing platform https://www.ukesa.info/. Mark has a strong background in land and housing issues and prior to joining the CSIR, was director of the Urban Land Markets (ULM) Programme Southern Africa, between 2006 - 2013. The ULM team established some of the foundational research and analysis in land markets and human settlements in that period. 

In this bulletin we discuss UKESA and the support it is rendering to the TTPod in establishing a stable web-based platform and archive of material - searchable by key topics and guest names etc. Find the links via https://www.ukesa.info/partners/view/talking-transformation-podcast 

The purpose of the bulletin is to share with listeners the UKESA platform: what it is and where to find it and the value of the material it. We hope it is of interest and value to our listeners. 

Recorded April 5th 2022

Today's Talking Transformation Podcast tackles the issue of state-owned land and its importance in supporting spatial transformation and city-building, in particular, for affordablehousing programmes. It comes at a time when Illegal land occupations and the quantum of informal settlements in many of the towns and cities continues to increase as tangible indicators of urbanisation.

Legislative reforms considering land expropriation without compensation are unfolding at the same time when the state is accused of paralysis and inertia in releasing well-located land it owns for the purposes of affordable housing and social amenities.

Many advocacy groups are critical in their assessment that spheres of government are unable to release state land for public benefit and much-needed housing programmes to address urbanisation and substantial housing backlogs. 

In June this year the Development Action Group (DAG), along with Ndifuna Ukwazi (NU), SASDI alliance, the Legal Resources Centre, the Community Organisation Resource Centre (CORC) and UCT’s Professor Vanessa Watson held a virtual public meeting to discuss the merits of releasing three state-owned land parcels in Cape Town, namely: Wingfield, Ysterplaat and Youngsfield. These advocacy groups suggest these well-located land parcels could house in excess of 120,000 Capetonians and 40,000 homes.

This episode revisits the propositions made at that meeting and we hear from three of the participants: Adi Kumar from (DAG), Chadernnay Glenn (CORC) and Michael Clark (NU).

The public sectors voice is missing from this episode and, as you’ll hear, it’s something we aim to address in the coming weeks and months. In the meantime, enjoy the episode and thoughts from passionate representations from the NGO sector.

Recorded Tuesday 17th August 2021.

Following on from our introductory episode this second and final part (for now!) considers:

Our guests are Eric Raboshakga, City of Johannesburg, Dylan Weakley Senior Specialist: Strategic Urban Planner, City of Johannesburg; Lorraine Nzimande: Masters Graduate University of Witwatersrand and former CoJ; Robyn Park-Ross, researcher, Ndifuna Ukwazi; Willard Matiashe Lead Researcher, Development Action Group; and Catherine Stone Director Spatial Planning (Western Cape Provincial Government.

There’s still an opportunity to respond to the Provincial policy via: https://www.westerncape.gov.za/eadp/news/western-cape-inclusionary-housing-policy-framework-open-comment

Learn more about Ndifuna Ukwazi’s perspective and position: https://jumpshare.com/v/tid8aqhyeIQ4uNnSGS7S

Recorded 30th June 2021