Edgar Pieterse
1968
South African urbanist who directs the African Centre for Cities and thinks African urbanisation through its own categories.
Pieterse starts from a fact: Africa is the fastest-urbanising region on the planet, and it is doing so without the industrial growth that accompanied Europe or East Asia. Applying imported recipes — or expecting it to repeat stages — produces wrong diagnoses and policies that do not work.
His proposal is «radical incrementalism»: small, cumulative interventions negotiated with those already building the city, rather than grand master plans that ignore eighty per cent of the existing fabric. Ambitious in its aim, modest at every step.
On Edgar Pieterse in this archive
- Urban geopolitics
Edgar Pieterse: Spatial Justice and Sustainable Urban Development
Edgar Pieterse explores spatial justice and sustainable urban development in African cities. His work emphasizes…
Edgar Pieterse 2 min read - Urban geopolitics
Production of Space in the Global South: Urban Challenges and Opportunities
The **production of space in the Global South** has become a topic of growing interest among urban planners and…
Jennifer Robinson 3 min read - Urban geopolitics
Urbanization in the Global South: Challenges and Opportunities
Urbanization in the Global South has followed patterns that differ from those observed in more developed countries
AbdouMaliq Simone 3 min read
