Shows
The Century of CitiesGeci Karuri-Sebina: Frugal Futures and the Power of Local InnovationIn this episode of The Century of Cities, we're joined by Geci Karuri-Sebina, scholar-practitioner and Associate Professor at the University of the Witwatersrand School of Governance, who explores how cities across Africa are redefining progress on their own terms. From Nairobi's post-colonial euphoria of the 1980s to today's era of innovation and shifting power, Geci traces the evolving story of African urbanism, one shaped by frugal creativity, civic technology, and renewed confidence in indigenous knowledge. She envisions cities built not on Western blueprints but on local strength, shared agency, and radical participation, inviting us to rethink who g...
2025-10-0729 min
The Angle PodcastEP7 | Exploring Civic Tech | Urban Innovation | Insights from Geci Karuri-SebinaDive into the world of civic tech and urban innovation in Johannesburg with Dr. Geci Karuri-Sebina, a leader in digital governance and coordinator at the Civic Tech Innovation Network. In this episode of The Angle podcast, Dr. Karuri-Sebina discusses how civic technology is empowering communities, transforming public services, and advancing urban resilience across Africa. Get an inside look at the Civic Tech Innovation Forum 2024, where experts are exploring data sovereignty, AI in policy, and much more. Tune in for insights on how technology is reshaping Johannesburg and the continent.
Credits:
Hosts: Scott Peter Smith and Stanley Moloto
2024-10-2948 min
FLATLINE RADIOFLATLINE RADIO - Conscious Conversations VIt's that time again, when we sit down and have a conversation with Mmabatho Montse and have a conversation, about healing and rediscovering ourselves, this show is so relevant for Africa, so relevant for the world at large, this episode features Professor Geci Karuri-Sebina and they are talking, settler coloniality, decolonising space and imagining new futures
2024-05-231h 25
STEMPositiveDisruptor - MIA conversation withSTEM Positive Disruptor - MIA conversation with special guest, Associate Professor Karuri-Sebina PhD, Wits School of GovernanceThis is another STEM Positive Disruptor - MIA conversation
with special guest, Associate Professor Karuri-Sebina PhD, Wits School of
Governance (The University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa).
She describes herself as a thinker, researcher and sometimes
a doer, you need to listen to our conversation and she works in the
intersection between people, place and technological change, an expert in
futures and foresight. Based in South Africa, with a background in computer
science, architecture, sociology, and urban planning. Geci has a background in
using tech and innovation to work with communities on a wide range of local
...
2024-01-1630 min
Cities 1.5How Cities Can Strive for Climate Justice and ResilienceStriving for Climate Justice and Resilience is one of the most important goals at the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy and C40 Cities. The forthcoming Volume 2.3 of the journal will be dedicated specifically to climate justice and resilience because the people and places least responsible for the problem are the ones who often bear the largest burden, and cities need to be doing their part to make resilience more equitable. Featured guests:Geci Karuri-Sebina is an Associate Professor at the Wits School of Governance at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. Her main area...
2023-10-0351 min
RemakeGeci Karuri-Sebina: Our Urban Future TODAY'S GUEST Dr. Geci Karuri-Sebina is a futurist, urban planning thinker, and the author of Innovation Africa: Emerging Hubs of Excellence. She's a faculty member at Singularity University South Africa with a focus on urban futures, including smart cities, networks, urban planning, governance and development, and innovation systems. She's an associate of The South African Cities Network and had worked with The National Treasury, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, the Human Sciences Research Council of South Africa, and the University of California, Los Angeles Advanced Policy Institute. EPISODE SUMMARY ...
2023-07-1353 min
Race Beyond BordersPrequel: The Future of Blackness In this prequel, Nigel Richard has conversations with two exceptional thought leaders about the future of Global Blackness. Our guest, Geci Karuri-Sebina, an urban-policy maker and Associate Professor at the Wits School of Governance, reveals tools that can assist us in planning and contemplating the future. Also joining the conversation is Rasheedah Phillips, director of The Housing Policy Link and Sci-fi author. She is the founder of The Afrofuturist Affair and Black Quantum Futurism Collective. She shares how to leverage time to empower communities. Together, they ignite a season-long exploration of racial imagination in the context of time and space. Hosted...
2023-04-0452 min
The Femme Futurists Society PodcastIntelligent Cities Rather Than Smart Cities (ft. Geci Karuri-Sebina)Geci Karuri-Sebina and Nancy Giordano discuss the importance of intelligent cities rather than smart cities...
In our Femme Futurist Video Podcast with extraordinary women, we discuss intelligent cities not just smart cities with Geci Karuri-Sebina. GECI KARURI-SEBINA is a Johannesburg-based scholar-practitioner who works on urban planning and governance issues to ensure we don’t just have smart cities but intelligent cities that foster distributed communities, self-reliance, interconnectivity, and a unique sense of identity.
Learn more at femmefuturists.com
Learn more about Nancy at nancygiordano.com
Learn more about our guest Geci at foresightfordevelopment.or...
2023-04-031h 04The Femme Futurists Society PodcastThe Adaptation Advantage (ft. Heather McGowan)Heather McGowan and Nancy Giordano discuss the adaptation advantage in "the new normal"...
In our Femme Futurist Video Podcast with extraordinary women, we discuss intelligent cities not just smart cities with Geci Karuri-Sebina. GECI KARURI-SEBINA is a Johannesburg-based scholar-practitioner who works on urban planning and governance issues to ensure we don’t just have smart cities but intelligent cities that foster distributed communities, self-reliance, interconnectivity, and a unique sense of identity.
Learn more at femmefuturists.com
Learn more about Nancy at nancygiordano.com
Learn more about our guest Heather at heathermcgowan.com
2023-04-0350 min
Open Chats with The Open InstituteEpisode 4 with Geci Karuri-Sebina | Mentorship and Innovation to solve OUR problems"I happily make time for young people because I remember being young with full of hopes and dreams and not always having the audience support or people to believe in me. That is a stage where people have energy and faith that they can do something greater." In this episode, Prof. Geci Karuri-Sebina talks about her passions for innovation and civic tech and how we use these to solve the problems we have in our context. She also discusses the opportunities and challenges of mentoring young people. New OpenChats episodes are released we...
2023-03-1026 min
RemakeGeci Karuri-Sebina: Our Urban Future TODAY'S GUEST Dr. Geci Karuri-Sebina is a futurist, urban planning thinker, and the author of Innovation Africa: Emerging Hubs of Excellence. She's a faculty member at Singularity University South Africa with a focus on urban futures, including smart cities, networks, urban planning, governance and development, and innovation systems. She's an associate of The South African Cities Network and had worked with The National Treasury, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, the Human Sciences Research Council of South Africa, and the University of California, Los Angeles Advanced Policy Institute. EPISODE SUMMARY ...
2022-09-2253 min
Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) seminarsCities in a post-covid world - HSRC SeminarOnline seminar
15 April 2021
The coronavirus pandemic has had far-reaching effects on urban lives and livelihoods. Some of these are likely to prove temporary as the vaccine is rolled out and the recovery gathers momentum. However, there are bound to be more profound changes too, depending on the shape and speed of the recovery. In the future, will dense economic nodes and large cities struggle to compete against outlying centres and more dispersed urban regions? Will digital technologies reinforce many of the existing urban divides? Or can opportunities be created to rethink and reinvent our cities...
2021-05-261h 28
Brave New WorkforceEpisode 29: Dr. Geci Karuri-Sebina — The Future of Cities and How We Work and Live from an Urban ScholarDr. Geci Karuri-Sebina is part of the SingularityU South Africa faculty and has a focus on urban futures, which includes smart cities, networks, urban planning, governance, and development, as well as innovation systems. She has a Master’s degree in Architecture, Urban Design, and Urban Planning as well as a Ph.D. in Planning and Innovation Studies. Dr. Geci shares with us the development of cities, where it’s all headed, and how we need to be thinking differently when it comes to urban planning and the environment that we live in.Key TakeawaysA little bit about Dr...
2021-01-2141 min
In Conversation WithIn Conversation With: Paul Currie on Sustainable CitiesIn Episode 8 of the series Vanessa chats to Paul Currie, co-convenor of the Sustainable Cities module at the SI and manager of the Urban Systems Unit at ICLEI Africa. He is a researcher of African urban resource and service systems, with interest in connecting quantitative analysis with storytelling and visual elicitation. His research and facilitation aim to further understand urban metabolism and circular development in African contexts. Vanessa and Paul chat about what some of the biggest challenges are that urbanisation presents, what exactly a Smart City is, and what Paul's experiences are of working in this fascinating space.
Authors m...
2020-12-0937 min
Talking TransformationEpisode 5: #DreamingOfWakanda: (A "New" SA City) Noble Aspiration or Pure Folly?A month ago State President Ramaphosa announced his ambition of a new city, connected to other cities by a bullet train and led, by the 4th industrial, tech revolution. Following this announcement via his state of nation address, commentators have applauded and scorned the ambition in equal measure. This week I invited Dr Geci Karuri-Sebina to air her views on the matter. Geci is one of the pre-eminent commentators and observers on South African towns and cities having worked for many years as an associate at the South African Cities Network and researcher with, amongst others, the CSIR and H...
2019-07-2642 min
Catching StoriesCatching Stories, Episode 8, Geci Karuri-SebinaIf you ask Dr Geci Karuri-Sebina about her academic qualifications and interests, she explains that she is an architect, a town planner, a computer scientist, a sociologist and that her particular field of interest is innovation. But innovation does not mean only looking forward. We badly need to look back, like the Sankofa bird, and bring both indigenous knowledge and practice, and common sense, into the way we plan and heal our cities. We need to listen more, and fix less. In particular, we need to listen to our elders : “What is so profound about what my elders say is...
2018-07-231h 06