Urbanization – and, with it, urban poverty – is growing rapidly in many developing countries.  We have conducted research on urban livelihoods and the role of urban agriculture, and on the planning processes that influence urban water and land use in southern Africa.

In collaboration with other research and development organizations, we are currently involved in SWITCH, an EU-funded project that is operating in 10 cities in Europe, Latin America, Africa and China, and is aimed at the development of sustainable integrated approaches to urban water management.  We are helping to develop institutional frameworks for these integrated approaches, focusing on issues of social inclusion and the monitoring of institutional learning in order to achieve improved planning and implementation of water management that will meet the needs of people, especially the poor and women.