GCRO’s Dr Mamokete Modiba joins global cohort of Urban Studies Foundation International Fellows
The GCRO congratulates Dr Mamokete Modiba, Senior Researcher and Inclusive Economies theme lead, on her selection as a 2026–2027 Urban Studies Foundation (USF) International Fellow. The prestigious fellowship provides an opportunity to strengthen international research collaborations while bringing perspectives from the Global South into contemporary debates on inclusive urban development and governance.
Through the fellowship, Dr Modiba will be hosted for three months by the University of Naples L’Orientale in Italy, at its Centre for Contemporary African Studies. She will work under the mentorship of Professor Antonio Pezzano, building on an established scholarly relationship and shared research interests in urban informality, international migrants and the governance of urban economies.
Taking research on urban informality to the international stage
A central focus of Dr Modiba’s fellowship will be translating empirical research undertaken through GCRO’s International migrants in the informal economy project into theoretically informed scholarly publications. The project, which generated empirical data between December 2024 and May 2026, examines the regulatory compliance, business practice, food safety risks and business support of spaza shop operators amid the outbreak of foodborne illnesses in late 2024.
The fellowship will provide dedicated time and an international scholarly environment in which to deepen the theoretical contributions of this research, particularly its relevance to debates about the governance of urban informality during periods of crises. It will also create opportunities to engage with international scholars working on related questions, bringing comparative perspectives to research grounded in the South African urban experience. An important dimension of this work is moving beyond conventional understandings of informality as simply an economic activity outside formal regulatory systems. Instead, it considers how informal economic actors navigate complex governance arrangements, negotiate access to urban spaces and resources, and develop strategies to sustain their livelihoods in contexts often characterised by uncertainty, exclusion and institutional complexity.
The USF International Fellowship offers more than an opportunity for individual academic development. It creates space for international scholarly exchange, collaboration and the development of research networks that can support future comparative work across different urban contexts. For GCRO, Dr Modiba’s selection is an important recognition of the organisation’s contribution to urban research and its role in generating evidence that informs policy and practice in the Gauteng City-Region. It also provides an opportunity to bring research emerging from South African cities into wider international conversations, particularly at a time when questions of migration, inequality, informality and inclusive urban development are increasingly central to debates about the future of cities.