Co-producing urban knowledge: experimenting with alternatives to ‘best practice’ for Cape Town, South Africa

Patel, Z., Greyling, S., Parnell, S., & Pirie, G. (2015). Co-producing urban knowledge: experimenting with alternatives to “best practice” for Cape Town, South Africa. International Development Planning Review, 37(2), 187–203. doi:10.3828/idpr.2015.15

Platform
Cape Town
Publication type
Scientific article (peer-reviewed)
Projects
Knowledge Transfer Programme
DOI Title
Co-producing urban knowledge: experimenting with alternatives to ‘best practice’ for Cape Town, South Africa
Journal
International Development Planning Review
ISSN/ISBN
1474-6743 1478-3401
DOI
10.3828/idpr.2015.15
Author(s)
Zarina Patel Saskia Greyling Susan Parnell Gordon Pirie
Published year
Subject
Geography, Planning and Development Development
Tags
Knowledge co-production, tactical knowledge, knowledge networks, sustainable urban development, African Centre for Cities, City of Cape Town

 

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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.

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