The Urban Knowledge Exchange has initiated a series of webinars to showcase evidence-based knowledge platforms and initiatives. In this second webinar, two multi-partner platforms that process large datasets and provide tools to support decision-making in complex, dynamic urban and regional environments were explored and discussed. What outcomes and impacts are the projects trying to achieve? What supplementary activities go alongside the initiatives to enhance the uptake of the information available on the platforms? Project leaders from HSRC and CSIR presented and discussed their platforms, followed by a panel discussion and questions from the floor.
The panel comprised:
- Amy Pieterse: Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) who spoke about the Green Book platform
- See presentation (PDF, 1.97MB)
- Justin Visagie: Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) who spoke about the Spatial Economic Activity Data: South Africa (SEAD-SA) platform
- See presentation (PDF, 1.41MB)
Access the event recording here.
Speaker bios
Dr Justin Visagie is a Senior Research Specialist at the Human Sciences Research Council with a focus on urban economics, development economics, and applied microeconomic research. He is also a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Economics and Finance at the University of Free State supporting the NRF Chair in City-region Economies. He was previously Director of Economic Planning, Policy, and Research in the Department of Economic Development, Environmental Affairs, and Tourism in the Eastern Cape. He completed his PhD at the University of KwaZulu-Natal where he won the prestigious Founders' Medal from the Economic Society of South Africa for his thesis on the development of the middle class in South Africa. Dr. Visagie has expertise in microeconomic data analysis and has worked on a wide array of cross-sectional and longitudinal datasets. He has published more than 20 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters whilst regularly producing numerous reports for local and international organisations such as the World Bank, International Science Council, UNU-WIDER, and National Treasury. His recent research projects have involved spatial administrative data mining, regional industrial policy, city-region economies, tradable services, spatial inequality, social mobility, urbanization, housing, and migration.
Ms Amy Pieterse is an urban planner and senior researcher at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research in South Africa. Her expertise includes climate change adaptation planning, mainstreaming, policy analysis, and local government planning. She has a specific research interest in how local governments use research and evidence in planning and policy, with a focus on adaptation. Amy is an innovator, developer, and manager of the GreenBook (greenbook.co.za), a practical online planning support system for the development of climate-resilient South African cities and towns.
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