Co-producing urban knowledge: Experimenting with alternatives to 'best practice' for Cape Town, South Africa

Zarina Patel, Saskia Greyling, Susan Parnell, Gordon Pirie

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle (Academic Journal)peer-review

50 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

As an alternative to 'best practice', a City-University partnership in Cape Town has been influencing the development trajectory of the city through the co-production of knowledge by practitioners and academics. The partnership allows for sharing and a deepening of substantive knowledge about Cape Town and also acquisition of tactical knowledge about the regulatory decision-making process in the city. The new networks of knowledge generation transcend institutional boundaries. The impacts of the programme are not confined to the outcomes generated; value also derives from the varied modes and processes of the co-production of useful knowledge about the city. Co-produced interventions in cities are an alternative inspiration to off-the-shelf or best practice 'solutions' that are uncritically replicated between cities.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)187-203
Number of pages17
JournalInternational Development Planning Review
Volume37
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2015

Keywords

  • African Centre for Cities
  • City of Cape Town
  • Knowledge co-production
  • Knowledge networks
  • Sustainable urban development
  • Tactical knowledge

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Co-producing urban knowledge: Experimenting with alternatives to 'best practice' for Cape Town, South Africa'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this