Urban crisis in South African and Colombian cities: Understanding perspectives, improving responses

Cities across the world are increasingly affected by a range of financial, climate, health and political disruptions. Our research explores how local people in Colombia and South Africa experience and respond to different kinds of urban crisis.

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About the project

We want to understand how local communities experience different kinds of crises in cities, and how governments and other decision-makers can respond to them more effectively.

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Cities

South Africa and Colombia have very different histories. However, their cities have also confronted a range of overlapping crises in recent years. Working in four cities - Cape Town, Johannesburg, Cali and Buenaventura - allows cross-country learning and comparison.

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Storytelling

Our project used an innovative storytelling methodology alongside other methods to find out about these issues.

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Stories

Participants from four cities produced amazing stories which reveal how local people experience and respond to crises. Click here to read, listen to and view these stories.

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Our Partners

We are a team of researchers working across four universities in collaboration with a range of community organisations in Colombia and South Africa. The project is funded by the British Academy.

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