Imposed social and spatial norms are challenging us to reflect on the architecture of our cities. We need to design for the re-appropriation of buildings, look to new spatial typologies and explore mixes of use. 

 

Globally, we’ve seen a shift in work patterns from centralized to decentralized offices, leaving vast city blocks vacant and in need of re-imagination. 

 

Locally, in South Africa, the impact of decentralized workforces have a much greater effect on our city centers, where informal economies currently thrive off of the energy of vibrant centralized workforces.  In order to respond to accelerated change, we need to shift from siloed urban planning systems to enable a more circular approach to the design of our cities, where purpose driven initiatives are tackled in partnership with community, developers, local business, institutions and policy makers.