For us, cities are not just about buildings and infrastructure. They are about embracing difference, celebrating culture, learning together openly, enabling more equitable access to resources, economic opportunity, mobility, and unhindered participation in decision-making processes at all levels. The urbanism we strive for is about nurturing local talent and ingenuity and re-making a global urban system badly in need of a fundamental reboot.
We bring together teams of researchers, designers, writers, activists, scientists, technologists, strategists, citizens and enthusiasts to reimagine urban life through curious, open, and experimental practice.
Our work spans research, live experiments, exhibitions, and publishing, all focused on the unique challenges and opportunities facing cities everywhere, from a Global South perspective. We aim to foster a deeper understanding of the dynamic urban contexts of the South while also developing creative solutions tailored to the local demand.
We believe that incremental,on-the-ground interventions are essential, and that lasting change can come from an accumulation of modest but meaningful improvements in how people inhabit and move through urban spaces. Our public-facing tools and programmes, rooted in this belief, empower experts and everyday citizens to become active shapers of their environments.
We work with our partners to create more just, resilient, and dynamic cities in the Global South and beyond by cultivating spaces for people to collectively rethink not just physical urban forms but the very systems and mindsets that produce and shape them.
Join us as we experiment with, learn from, and work to improve the diverse urban landscapes across the Global South. The possibilities are boundless when we build together.
We are CS.
Our team
Tau Tavengwa
Tau Tavengwa is a designer, editor and curator with a professional background that spans architecture, experience and exhibition design, co-running an art/design gallery, and art and architecture publishing. He is the founder of Cityscapes Magazine, a 2018 Harvard University Loeb Fellow, a 2020-22 Visiting Fellow at the London School of Economics’ LSE Cities, a 2022 curator of the Lisbon Architecture Triennale, and a 2023 Aspen Global Leadership Fellow. He was a jury member for the Venice Architecture Biennale 2023.
Edgar Pieterse
Edgar Pieterse is a professor in urban innovation and a writer and policy expert who, since 2007, has been the founding director of the African Centre for Cities – an urban research centre based at the University of Cape Town. He has been one of the key proponents of African urbanism, a topic he has extensively written and expounded extensively through multiple books, academic papers, popular media, public debates, and lectures. He held the South African Chair in Urban Policy from 2008 to 2022, and before that, was a co-founder of Isandla Institute and special policy advisor for the Premier of South Africa’s Western Cape province. Edgar regularly provides advisory services to international development agencies such as UN-Habitat, the African Development Bank, the Development Bank of South Africa, the SA National Planning Commission, OECD urban division and UNEP. He sits on multiple boards globally and is Provost of the Norman Foster Institute.
Arindam Jana
Trained in economics and applied mathematics, Arindam has worked primarily in academic and policy research settings, with a specialisation in urban and spatial economics. Arindam is currently based in Cape Town, where, in his academic role, he researches intra-city inequalities, with an emphasis in the spatiality of wealth accumulation, and labour markets within cities. In his consultant role, he works with various organisations on broadening their data pipelines and developing analytical frameworks for different problem classes. Outside of work, Arindam loves experimenting in the kitchen, woodworking, and solving puzzles.
Laura Malan
Laura Malan is a creative strategist and designer working between the UK and South Africa. With decades of experience spanning museum, exhibition, and event spaces; digital products and services; brands; publications; and communications. As an associate at the Design Council, she mentored teams in applying design as a strategic approach. She collaborates with and advises teams and organisations across local and national government departments, NGOs, startups, and charities, offering creative guidance to shape thoughtful outputs.
Blain van Rooyen
Blain van Rooyen is a Johannesburg-based illustrator and designer whose career spans graphics design, fashion, museum interpretation, and film. He has contributed work to projects that range from The Maropeng Cradle of Humankind Museum to the movie Black Panther 2. Blain has worked on Cityscapes since the launch of the publication in 2010.