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Global Urban Theory Lab: Extended and Displaced Urbanisation

Explore the latest trends in global urbanisation through the case of Johannesburg and the Gauteng City-Region in South Africa.

Aerial drone view of urban development at Bushbuckridge, showing sprawling suburban housing and adjacent open spaces of game reserves and mountains

Global Urban Theory Lab: Extended and Displaced Urbanisation

  • 4 weeks

  • 3 hours per week

  • Digital certificate when eligible

  • Intermediate level

Find out more about how to join this course

  • Duration

    4 weeks
  • Weekly study

    3 hours
  • 100% online

    How it works
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    $244.99 for a whole yearLearn more

Explore global urbanisation, learning from African contexts

This course provides an opportunity to learn about and build insights from one of Africa’s most dynamic urban regions, the Gauteng City-region, comprising more than 15 million people. South Africa provides an excellent opportunity to contribute to theory-building about the processes of displaced and extended urbanisation.

Build your understanding of new urbanisation processes

Extended and displaced urbanisation leads to sprawling and fragmented urban regions, as well as new urban settlements emerging in remote regions around the world, often in response to extractive economic activities and infrastructure corridors. South Africa provides an excellent context for exploring these trends - apartheid-era legislation created urban settlements far from jobs and city centres; some are now arguably dynamic centres of autonomous urbanism, but still closely connected to metropolitan regions like Gauteng.

Develop your own insights and contribute to urban theory-building

Explore the case of Johannesburg through bespoke videos, expert interviews and guided reading of academic and policy texts, and draw on your own knowledge and experience of other contexts, to interpret processes of extended and displaced urbanisation. Join in a directed process of developing your own conceptualisations of these new aspects of global urbanisation.

Address governance challenges of displaced urbanisation

Confront the governance hurdles of managing extended urban regions and displaced urbanisation. Explore emergent governance models and planning challenges of displaced and extended urbanisation in the Gauteng region, reflecting on strategies for services and infrastructure management in rapidly expanding urban landscapes.

Syllabus

  • Week 1

    What and Where is Urban?

    • Photograph of a row of shops in Moloto. Lingxi Chen

      Welcome

      Welcome to the first week of your collaborative online course

    • A birds eye view of Johannesburg inner city edited in striking colours showing tall buildings and traffic.

      Course tools

      In this Activity, we want to familiarize you with some tools we'll be using in this course: the Discussion Forum and Padlet.

    • Aerial photograph of a developing urban territory

      Vocabularies of Urban Territories

      We will be taking a look at a short reading, and start to engage with some of the key debates and concepts we will be exploring in this course. You will also consider how to approach complex academic texts.

    • Aerial photograph of Johannesburg

      Learning from Africa: the case of Johannesburg

      In this Activity, we introduce the city of Johannesburg, and consider some of the key themes which we will be exploring in more detail in the next few weeks.

    • Pile of books with a laptop computer resting against them, on a table.

      Enrichment Activities and Further Reading

      If you have more time, you might like to explore the following enrichment activities.

  • Week 2

    Urban territories: Stretching, shrinking, displaced Johannesburg

    • Jennifer Robinson speaking at a UCL Urban Laboratory conference

      Welcome to week 2

      A short introduction to week 2

    • Image of a high concrete wall with graffiti. Huitong Liu

      Apartheid urban territories

      In this Activity, we explore the continuing implications of apartheid in Johannesburg.

    • View of northern Johannesburg suburbs at sunset with crane and construction site in the foreground.

      Post-apartheid urban territories

      In this Activity, we look at the transformation of the Gauteng city-region since the end of apartheid.

    • Drone image of shopping centre and sprawling urbanisation at Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga, South Africa (Graeme Gotz).

      Displaced urbanisation

      In this Activity, we explore the idea of ‘displaced urbanisation’ as a kind of urban form.

    • Christian Schmid (ETH Zurich) and Jacob Fairless Nicholson (film-maker and Lecturer at UCL).

      Displaced urbanisation in other settings

      In this Activity, we consider whether displaced urbanisation/urbanism can be seen in other cities.

    • Pile of books with a laptop computer resting against them, on a table.

      Enrichment Activities and Further Reading

      Explore these additional readings if you have time.

  • Week 3

    Conceptualising urbanisation processes

    • Graeme Gotz (GCRO) addressing a group of UCL-Wits students at GCRO as part of the wider UCL -Wits teaching programme linked to this course.

      Welcome to week 3

      An introduction to week 3.

    • Photograph from China Mall in Johannesburg

      Migration shaping urban territories in Johannesburg

      In this Activity, we explore how Gauteng has been shaped by different kinds of migration.

    • Trader in small shop in central Johannesburg (Tanya Zack)

      Explore an urban territory shaped by mobility: “enclave entrepôt”

      In this Activity, we will look at the idea of the “enclave entrepôt”.

    • View of central Johannesburg showing train lines and high rise buildings which host the cross border trading enclave entrepôt.

      Building Urban Concepts: What is an Urbanisation Process?

      In this Activity, we build on the reading we’ve done so far to develop our own urban concepts.

    • Pile of books with a laptop computer resting against them, on a table.

      Enrichment Activities and Further Reading

      Explore these further readings if you have time.

  • Week 4

    Governing Extended Urbanisation

    • Small structures housing social services offices of traditional authorities in KwaMhlanga area.

      Welcome to week 4

      Professor Jennifer Robinson introduces the final week of this course.

    • KwaMhlanga, Moloto Corridor, road with minibus taxis and bustling activity.

      Governing extended urbanisation: Collaboration or Competition in the extended urban region?

      In this Activity, we explore possible ways of governing the extended city region.

    • Trader in KwaMhlanga, Moloto Corridor (Lingxi Chen)

      Governing Displaced Urbanisation

      In this Activity, we consider how ideas of displaced urbanisation and displaced urbanism might inform governance strategies

    • Night-time view of China Mall, Johannesburg, with many signs and billboards (Huitong Liu).

      Governing the entrepôt enclave

      In this Activity, we explore the idea of urban governance and relate it to the work we have already done on the “entrepôt enclave”.

    • Students welcomed by Wits Professor Namdi Elleh in Library looking at large painting depicting colonial conquest.

      Enrichment Activities and Further Reading

      Explore some further readings which develop the ideas we’ve discussed this week.

When would you like to start?

Start straight away and join a global classroom of learners. If the course hasn’t started yet you’ll see the future date listed below.

  • Available now

Learning on this course

On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

  • Develop insights and understanding of contemporary global processes of extended urbanization.
  • Explore the urbanizing region of Johannesburg, South Africa, focusing on the history, transformation and present challenges of the Gauteng city-region of which Johannesburg is a part.
  • Interpret the global phenomenon of extended and dispersed urbanization, through detailed assessment of evidence relating to the South African example of displaced urbanisation.
  • Critique complex and theoretical academic texts, and have opportunities to practice application of skills of reading and analysis.
  • Create conceptual insights on urbanization processes relevant to the diversity of urban contexts across the globe, with a particular emphasis on African urban experiences.
  • Evaluate information and data on urban processes, and their value in informing public policy and decision-making.

Who is the course for?

This course is designed for urban studies students, professionals in urban governance, and anyone interested in urbanisation, particularly in the African context.

It’s ideal for those aiming to understand trends in global urbanisation and urban governance.

Who will you learn with?

Who developed the course?

UCL logo

UCL (University College London)

UCL was founded in 1826. It was the first English university established after Oxford and Cambridge, and the first to open up university education to those previously excluded from it.

University of Witwatersrand logo

University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg

University of the Witwatersrand is a leading University in Johannesburg, South Africa. It is internationally distinguished for research, high academic standards and commitment to social justice in Africa and beyond.

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Ways to learn

Choose the best way to learn for you!

Subscribe & save

$244.99 for a whole year

Automatically renews

Develop skills to further your career

  • Access to this course
  • Access to 1,000+ courses
  • Learn at your own pace
  • Discuss your learning in comments
  • Digital certificate when you're eligible

Cancel for free anytime

Buy this course

$134/one-off payment

Fulfill your current learning need

  • Access to this course
  • Learn at your own pace
  • Discuss your learning in comments
  • Printed and digital certificate when you’re eligible

Limited access

Free

Sample the course materials

  • Access expires 6 Mar 2025

Find out more about certificates, Unlimited or buying a course (Upgrades)

Sale price available until 3 March 2025 at 23:59 (UTC). T&Cs apply.

Find out more about certificates, Unlimited or buying a course (Upgrades)

Sale price available until 3 March 2025 at 23:59 (UTC). T&Cs apply.

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