Urban Limitrophe

What does it mean to design from an African perspective? And how do questions of identity, belonging, and culture shape the spaces we create?

In this episode, I speak with Eunice Nanzala Schumacher, architect and founder of My African Aesthetic, about how her experiences living between Uganda and Norway inspired a deeper exploration of African aesthetics, design philosophy, and placemaking. Through conversations with architects, artists, designers, and community-builders from across Africa and its diasporas, Eunice and her team have been documenting the ideas, histories, and practices that shape how people create meaningful places and communities.

Together, we explore:

• African aesthetics, design philosophy, and placemaking
• Identity, diaspora, and the meaning of home
• Why documenting African knowledge systems matters
• Professor Mugendi's concept of "Africa with a K"
• The search for an African placemaking toolbox

Ultimately, this conversation explores what happens when different worlds meet. As ideas, identities, and cultural traditions move across borders, they reshape how we understand home, belonging, and place. It is a reminder that home is not always somewhere we return to—it is something we continually create.

Guest: Eunice Nanzala Schumacher

Acknowledgements:

This episode is co-supported by the Nurubian, the University of Toronto School of Cities and the Department of Geography and Planning. 

About Urban Limitrophe:

Please visit www.urbanlimitrophe.com for all episode show notes, references and guest details. 

To access social media, newsletter, and additional projects visit: https://linktr.ee/urbanlimitrophe

Please address any related communication to hello[at]urbanlimitrophe.com 

Credits: 

Music by Imany Lambropoulos

Podcast concept, development, and design by Alexandra Lambropoulos

A gift isn't always free. But when a foreign government offers to build your parliament—for free—it's easy to miss where the real cost lands.

In this episode, Dr. Innocent (Ib) Batsani-Ncube discusses China's role in constructing parliament buildings across Africa, and what these projects reveal about architecture, power, procurement, and urban development.

Drawing from years of research across Malawi, Zimbabwe, and Lesotho, Ib unpacks how these landmark buildings reshape cities and political systems—from imported construction materials and sidelined local architects to leaking domes that only foreign maintenance crews can repair.

Together, we explore:

• How parliament buildings shape political culture and urban identity
• What gets lost when foreign actors design local democratic spaces
• Why procurement and infrastructure are never politically neutral
• The tension between modernity, symbolism, and local belonging
• What ordinary citizens, planners, and parliament staff really think about these projects

This episode explores how infrastructure is never just infrastructure. Parliament buildings are not only physical spaces — they shape governance, political culture, procurement systems, and the everyday experience of cities. By examining who builds these spaces and whose visions are embedded within them, the conversation raises deeper questions about sovereignty, urban identity, and development in African cities.

Dr. Batsani-Ncube's book, China and African Parliaments, is available now via Oxford University Press. 

Guest: Dr. Innocent (Ib) Batsani-Ncube

Acknowledgements:

This episode is co-supported by the Nurubian, the University of Toronto School of Cities and the Department of Geography and Planning. 

About Urban Limitrophe:

Please visit www.urbanlimitrophe.com for all episode show notes, references and guest details. 

To access social media, newsletter, and additional projects visit: https://linktr.ee/urbanlimitrophe

Please address any related communication to hello[at]urbanlimitrophe.com 

Credits: 

Music by Imany Lambropoulos

Podcast concept, development, and design by Alexandra Lambropoulos

We often think of innovation as something inherently good — new technologies, sleek apps, disruptive ideas, and economic growth.

But who actually benefits from innovation? And what gets erased in the process?

In this episode, Alexandra speaks with Dr. Pierce Otlhogile-Gordon, a knowledge architect and social change educator based in Botswana, about the relationship between innovation, development, land, power, and cultural knowledge systems.

Together, they unpack Botswana’s efforts to build an innovation economy beyond diamonds, while exploring larger questions around colonialism, intellectual property, indigenous knowledge systems, youth unemployment, and the politics of global development.  

Dr. Pierce shares how land, policy, history, and local knowledge shape what innovation can — and cannot — achieve; how national ambition meets lived reality; and what other countries, regions, and cities can learn from Botswana’s approach.

Together, we explore:

• How innovation is shaped by policy, history, and place
• The opportunities and constraints facing emerging entrepreneurs
• Why innovation is never truly neutral
• The relationship between indigenous knowledge and intellectual property
• The tension between national development goals and everyday realities

Guest: Dr. Pierce Edward Cornelius Otlhogile-Gordon

Acknowledgements:

This episode is co-supported by the Nurubian, the University of Toronto School of Cities and the Department of Geography and Planning. 

About Urban Limitrophe:

Please visit www.urbanlimitrophe.com for all episode show notes, references and guest details. 

To access social media, newsletter, and additional projects visit: https://linktr.ee/urbanlimitrophe

Please address any related communication to hello[at]urbanlimitrophe.com 

Credits: 

Music by Imany Lambropoulos

Podcast concept, development, and design by Alexandra Lambropoulos

How will water scarcity shape the future of cities, migration, and global stability?

From climate change to migration, the African water crisis is deeply connected to global challenges — and global solutions. 

In the final episode of this series, we explore why water scarcity is not just a regional issue, but a global one. We unpack the legacy of extractive systems, the role of youth and local leadership, and the urgency of declaring not just a climate emergency, but a water emergency. 

Through the lens of the TransAfrica Pipeline, we ask: what does global responsibility look like in a time of water crisis — and what can we do to build a more secure, just, and caring future?

Guest: Dr. Rod Tennyson & Dr. Romila Verma

Series: How the Trans Africa Pipeline (TAP) Can Solve the Sahel Region’s Water Crisis

What if water infrastructure could do more than deliver clean drinking water — what if it could transform economies, support food security, reduce climate migration, and unite communities across borders?

In this 3-part series, Urban Limitrophe explores the story of the TransAfrica Pipeline (TAP) — a visionary project to bring clean, desalinated water across the Sahel through a 7,000-kilometre pipeline powered by renewable energy. Through conversations with co-founders Dr. Rod Tennyson and Dr. Romila Verma, we unpack how water connects to everything: agriculture, innovation, migration, environmental justice, and community resilience.

Acknowledgements:

This episode is co-supported by the Nurubian, the University of Toronto School of Cities and the Department of Geography and Planning. 

About Urban Limitrophe:

Please visit www.urbanlimitrophe.com for all episode show notes, references and guest details. 

To access social media, newsletter, and additional projects visit: https://linktr.ee/urbanlimitrophe

Please address any related communication to hello[at]urbanlimitrophe.com 

Credits: 

Music by Imany Lambropoulos

Podcast concept, development, and design by Alexandra Lambropoulos

Why do some water systems work— and others fail?

Successful water infrastructure isn’t just about engineering. There’s a hidden social side — shaped by governance, culture, and power — that often determines whether systems actually work, or get built at all.

In this second episode, beyond the technical side of infrastructure to explore the social, ethical, and ecological dimensions of water access. Dr. Verma introduces her Four Pillars of Water Sustainability — science, governance, economics, and cultural connection — and we explore how these ideas can reshape how cities, towns, and regions manage water today. From sponge cities to sacred rivers, we discuss why collaboration and care are at the heart of any truly sustainable water system.

Guest: Dr. Rod Tennyson & Dr. Romila Verma

Series: How the Trans Africa Pipeline (TAP) Can Solve the Sahel Region’s Water Crisis

What if water infrastructure could do more than deliver clean drinking water — what if it could transform economies, support food security, reduce climate migration, and unite communities across borders?

In this 3-part series, Urban Limitrophe explores the story of the TransAfrica Pipeline (TAP) — a visionary project to bring clean, desalinated water across the Sahel through a 7,000-kilometre pipeline powered by renewable energy. Through conversations with co-founders Dr. Rod Tennyson and Dr. Romila Verma, we unpack how water connects to everything: agriculture, innovation, migration, environmental justice, and community resilience.

Acknowledgements:

This episode is co-supported by the Nurubian, the University of Toronto School of Cities and the Department of Geography and Planning. 

About Urban Limitrophe:

Please visit www.urbanlimitrophe.com for all episode show notes, references and guest details. 

To access social media, newsletter, and additional projects visit: https://linktr.ee/urbanlimitrophe

Please address any related communication to hello[at]urbanlimitrophe.com 

Credits: 

Music by Imany Lambropoulos

Podcast concept, development, and design by Alexandra Lambropoulos

What if water infrastructure could do more than deliver clean drinking water — what if it could transform economies, support food security, reduce climate migration, and unite communities across borders?

In this 3-part series, Urban Limitrophe explores the story of the TransAfrica Pipeline (TAP) — a visionary project to bring clean, desalinated water across the Sahel through a 7,000-kilometre pipeline powered by renewable energy. Through conversations with co-founders Dr. Rod Tennyson and Dr. Romila Verma, we unpack how water connects to everything: agriculture, innovation, migration, environmental justice, and community resilience.

TAP is more than a pipeline — it’s a call to imagine water systems built with care, innovation, and the future in mind.

Guest: Dr. Rod Tennyson & Dr. Romila Verma

Episode 1: How to Build a Continent-Sized Water System

How do you build a continent-sized water system?

In this episode, we explore what it takes to design a 7,000-kilometre pipeline to bring clean water across one of the driest regions in the world. Co-founders Dr. Rod Tennyson and Dr. Romila Verma share the origin story of the TransAfrica Pipeline (TAP) — a visionary infrastructure project that combines solar-powered desalination, salt recovery, and lightweight materials to deliver sustainable water access across the Sahel. From technical design to big-picture ambition, we dive into how TAP was engineered — and how it could change lives on a continental scale.

Acknowledgements:

This episode is co-supported by the Nurubian, the University of Toronto School of Cities and the Department of Geography and Planning. 

About Urban Limitrophe:

Please visit www.urbanlimitrophe.com for all episode show notes, references and guest details. 

To access social media, newsletter, and additional projects visit: https://linktr.ee/urbanlimitrophe

Please address any related communication to hello[at]urbanlimitrophe.com 

Credits: 

Music by Imany Lambropoulos

Podcast concept, development, and design by Alexandra Lambropoulos

What does it mean to rebuild with dignity after disaster strikes?

In this episode of Urban Limitrophe, we speak with architect Omar Degan, founder of DO Architecture and the Fragility Lab. Together, they explore how architecture can be a tool for healing, not just shelter — and how co-designing with communities leads to more just, resilient spaces in the aftermath of crisis.

Omar shares his journey designing in fragile contexts — from post-conflict housing in Somalia to consulting for the UN — and how his work challenges traditional top-down models of humanitarian aid. Instead of quick fixes, his approach centers culture, collaboration, and care.

You’ll learn how DO Architecture uses emergency design to center communities in fragile contexts, and why beauty, dignity, and belonging should never be seen as luxuries — even in disaster recovery.

Whether you're a planner, designer, changemaker, or curious listener, this conversation invites you to rethink how we rebuild, who we build for, and what’s possible when communities lead the way.

Guest: Omar Degan

Acknowledgements:

This episode is co-supported by the Nurubian, the University of Toronto School of Cities and the Department of Geography and Planning. 

About Urban Limitrophe:

Please visit www.urbanlimitrophe.com for all episode show notes, references and guest details. 

To access our newsletter visit: https://tinyurl.com/ULNewsletter

Please address any related communication to hello[at]urbanlimitrophe.com 

Credits: 

Music by Imany Lambropoulos

Podcast concept, development, and design by Alexandra Lambropoulos

What do you build when the systems around you fall short?

In Season 2 of Urban Limitrophe, we travel across continents, through cities, and into communities — from the innovation hubs of Botswana to the rural coastlines of Nova Scotia, the medinas of Tunisia to the farmlands of Togo, from Athens to Abidjan.

This season is about community, imagination, innovation, and the power of everyday people to shape the places they call home — in housing, culture, cycling, climate, and beyond.

We’ll hear from architects, artists, activists, and storytellers who are transforming how cities are designed, governed, remembered, and lived in — one idea, one connection, one act of care at a time.

Subscribe now. New episodes every month.

The built environment is a reflection of political decisions. The officials you elect shape the environment around you. So, what happens if people don’t participate in the voting process?

In this episode, we delve into the critical intersection of civic action and urban development with our insightful guest, Dafe Oputu. We’ll explore the urban landscapes of Accra, Ghana; Cotonou, Benin; and Lagos, Nigeria, examining how trust and accountability in municipal governance shape these cities.

We’ll discuss different cities' strategies to encourage public participation and civic action, and why voting is crucial for building better cities. Together we also unpack Africa's obsession with megacities, like Akon City and Eko Atlantic (and how to avoid creating ghost cities).

Guest: Dafe Oputu

Acknowledgements:

This episode is co-sponsored by the University of Toronto School of Cities and the Department of Geography and Planning. 

About Urban Limitrophe:

Please visit www.urbanlimitrophe.com for all episode show notes, references and guest details. 

To access social media, newsletter, and additional projects visit: https://linktr.ee/urbanlimitrophe

Please address any related communication to hello[at]urbanlimitrophe.com 

Credits: 

Music by Imany Lambropoulos

Podcast concept, development, and design by Alexandra Lambropoulos

What makes a city truly smart? Or just? The answer lies with the people.

In this episode, we explore the human-centric side of Smart Cities with our guest Titus Kaloki from the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Kenya office. Through their Just Cities Project, Titus is on a mission to make cities both smart and just, leveraging technology to put people at the center of urban planning.

Titus and his team have been leveraging an innovative software called Urban Collective Design Environment (U_CODE) to achieve an 85% participation rate in their Just Cities Project in Nakuru City, Kenya. This process brings together local government, urban planners, and citizens to co-design the future of the city using 3D modelling software.

Join us as we delve into how this approach results in community-informed plans that conform to urban guidelines and zoning while saving time, money, and reducing frustration for all parties involved.

Guest: Titus Kaloki

Acknowledgements:

This episode is co-sponsored by the University of Toronto School of Cities and the Department of Geography and Planning. 

About Urban Limitrophe:

• Please visit www.urbanlimitrophe.com for all episode show notes, references, and guest details. 
• To access social media, newsletter, and additional projects visit: https://linktr.ee/urbanlimitrophe
• Please address any related communication to hello[at]urbanlimitrophe.com 

Credits: 

• Music by Imany Lambropoulos
• Podcast concept, development, and design by Alexandra Lambropoulos