This webinar is part of the School of Science summer seminar series and serves as a follow-up to the recently concluded *Inclusive Cities Conference 2025*, themed *Resilient Cities and Communities: Adapting to Climate Change and Beyond*. The conference highlighted the global importance of urban resilience, noting that infrastructure challenges in South Africa mirror those in Europe. It emphasized systems that transcend individual leadership and advocate for sustainable governance, while showcasing the role of urban innovation in responding to African urbanism and local realities promoting adaptable, co-produced knowledge and participatory governance.
Aligned with this year’s World Cities Day, which focuses on people-centered smart cities, the webinar will explore how data-driven decision-making, technology, and AI can enhance urban life and aid recovery from shocks and crises. The emphasis remains on promoting smart city initiatives that are centered on people’s needs.
The SARChI Chair for Inclusive Cities as a global research group at the University of KwaZulu-Natal underscores that people-centered smart cities must prioritize climate change responses and resilient urban development to meet sustainability goals for 21st-century communities. With a focus on equity, sustainability, and participatory governance, particularly within African urban climate contexts, the webinar is titled “Building Resilient Futures: People-Centred Smart Cities in the Age of Climate Change.”
The central aim is to reinforce the importance of prioritizing marginalized communities, fostering context-sensitive planning, and promoting co-production of knowledge among stakeholders through bottom-up governance and community-led data collection. While UN-Habitat advances the global dialogue on people-centered smart cities, the SARChI Chair’s focus is on building resilient futures through the adoption of such cities amid climate challenges.
This event features a panel of five experts with nearly four decades of combined experience in local projects and successful case studies across Europe, Africa, Australia, and America. The discussion will contribute to shaping strategies for creating resilient, inclusive, and climate-responsive urban futures.
