Dr Johannes Bhanye is an Urban Planner and Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the African Climate and Development Initiative (ACDI), University of Cape Town, where he is part of the ASCEND/BAOBAB synthesis team working on EIA4ClimateJustice. This project advances a climate justice-centred approach to Environmental Impact Assessment in rural Southern Africa, with particular attention to land tenure, environmental health, community voice, and the lived realities of people affected by development and climate-related change.
He is also currently conducting research on urban climate adaptation, exploring practices of adaptive governance for building urban water resilience in Cape Town, with a particular focus on flooding, informal settlements, community agency, and collaborative urban governance. His broader research sits at the intersection of climate justice, urban informality, spatial justice, migration, urban health, and resilience in African cities.
Dr Bhanye holds a PhD in Social Sciences (Migration and Land Settlement), an MSc in Social Ecology and a BSc Honours in Rural and Urban Planning from the University of Zimbabwe. His intellectual and practical interests are grounded in Southern and postcolonial urbanism, with a particular focus on spatial justice, urban informality, vulnerabilities in African cities, urban governance, complexity and systems thinking, climate risk, urban resilience, migration, and statelessness. He has conducted research in Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Lesotho, using participatory, qualitative, and ethnographic methodologies to understand the lived experiences of people surviving on the margins of African cities. Through his work, Dr Bhanye seeks to contribute to more just, inclusive, and climate-resilient urban futures in Southern Africa and beyond.