Sophie Oldfield

University of Cape Town and University of Basel Professor of Urban Studies
African Centre for Cities, University of Cape Town
Urban Studies, University of Basel

Sophie Oldfield co-designed and now teaches in two new innovative urban studies post-graduate programs. Her research explores informality and the politics of urban governance, paying close attention to political practice and everyday urban geographies and ways in which citizens and organized movements engage and contest the state. Built in varied forms of collaborative research practice, her research challenges how academics work in and between ‘university’ and ‘community’. Commitment to this collaborative approach lies at the heart of her research and writing on cities of the global south.