As part of the process of developing the new Institutional Operating Plan for the university, the Task Teams for Research and Infrastructure co-hosted an online panel discussion on the University as an anchor institution. Key questions for debate included the role of UWC in the Tygerberg district and greater Cape Town and the implications of this for the core work of the University and for physical planning. What are the research opportunities and challenges for UWC as an increasingly research-led institution, rooted in its immediate communities? 

 

The online discussion was framed by inputs from:

• Professor Ivan Turok,  DSI/NRF Research Chair in City-Region Economies at the University of the Free State - Universities as urban anchor institutions; their contributions to social, cultural and economic development.

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• Professor Johan Lagae, Ghent University Department of Architecture and Urban Planning.He is an expert on colonial and postcolonial architecture and planning in Africa and has been involved for over 10 years in supervising student work investigating spatial issues in Cape Town related to UWC's approach to public outreach.

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• Mr Larry Pokpas, Institutional Planner, UWC - The University of the Western Cape: Anchored in Space.