Futures literacy labs: co-designing inclusive urban transitions in Cape Town, South Africa

Source abstract

Urban development in Africa is marked by fragmented growth, socio-spatial inequalities, and contested governance; these challenges are epitomised along Cape Town’s Black River. To explore the socio-political complexity of the river, a Futures Literacy Lab (FLL) that mobilised speculative play, collective intelligence, and decolonial epistemologies to elicit future-oriented narratives about the Black River was undertaken. Reflecting on the FLL, the paper illustrates how FLLs can democratise practitioners' thinking on urban transitions by shifting anticipatory assumptions from technocratic fixes to inclusive visions of urban futures. Although these value-infused visions resonate with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11, they move beyond the SDG frameworks by showcasing how FLL methodologies can be harnessed to: (i) develop futures literacy capabilities for actors in African cities, and (ii) unveil decolonial pathways for urban transformation. The paper also extends the goals of SDG 4 (Quality Education) in promoting modes of learning that surpass mainstream practices of urbanism.