Thulisile Ncamsile Mphambukeli
Thulisile Ncamsile Mphambukeli is an Associate Professor and currently serves as the Head of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, at the University of Johannesburg.
Recognised as a distinguished international scholar by the National Research Foundation (NRF), she holds a Ph.D. in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of the Free State (UFS). Prof Mphambukeli earned her bachelor's degree in Community and Development Studies and a master's in Town and Regional Planning from the University of KwaZulu-Natal. She furthered her academic pursuits with a bachelor’s degree in theology from Faith Bible College.
As a Fellow of the World Academy of Sciences in Italy (hosted at the University of Konstanz, Germany) and an alumna of the Brown International Advanced Research Institute (BIARI) at Brown University, United States of America. Her academic journey also includes affiliations with the Public Affairs Research Institute (PARI) at the University of Witwatersrand and the University of the Free State Rector’s Prestige Scholar programme. Prof Mphambukeli received numerous research grants and awards, including the BRICS Think Tank Academic Forum Grant, the NRF Knowledge Interchange and Collaboration (KIC) Individual Travel Grant, and the African Peacebuilding Network (APN) Individual Research Grantee. She is a member of the South African BRICS Think Tank and has presented her work at various national and international conferences.
Her extensive publication record includes articles in both local and international journals, covering diverse topics such as social justice in planning, climate change and agricultural land, coloniality and informality, human security and humanitarian response, integrated transport planning, spatialization of blackness, and urban anthropology. Prof Mphambukeli serves as a review editor for Governance and Cities at the Frontiers in Sustainable Cities Journal and is a co-editor of the Journal of BRICS Studies. She holds editorial positions on various boards in South Africa and internationally.
Her recent research publications delve into 4IR technological pathways to shaping smart and sustainable cities, intelligent transport systems, urban insecurity, and social justice in post-colonial contexts, financing regenerative agricultural practices, planning for sustainable quality infrastructure, applied systems analysis, planning for effective sustainable water access through the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
Recent publications
Domingo, T., Gumbo, T., Mphambukeli, T. N., & Mbatha, S. G. (2024). Rethinking the corridor of freedom: Networked transit-oriented development and the polycentric future of the city of Johannesburg. In Development and investment in infrastructure in developing countries.
Ncube, S., & Mphambukeli, T. N. (2024). Exploring community participation in sustainable infrastructure development: Lessons from Hlalani Kuhle, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. In Development and investment in infrastructure in developing countries.
Dube, N., & Mphambukeli, T. N. (2024). Navigating electricity challenges: Spatial and energy planning for sustainable supply in Bolani Road, Soweto Townships. In Development and investment in infrastructure in developing countries.
Mathonsi, M. V., Mphambukeli, T. N., & Mufungizi, A. A. (2024). Planning for quality and sustainable infrastructure post-apartheid South Africa: Insights from Cosmo City Extension 6. In Development and investment in infrastructure in developing countries.
Masilo, R. R., Mphambukeli, T. N., & Magande, T. (2024). Climate change and disaster resilience: A case study of the April 2022 floods in Deelpan, North-West Province – South Africa. In Development and investment in infrastructure in developing countries.