I grew up in South Africa and completed a Bachelors degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics in 2009 and a Honours degree in Social Anthropology in 2010 – both from the University of Cape Town. In 2011 I began a double degree Masters (funded by the European Union) in Urban Development and International Cooperation and have so far completed the first year of study in Darmstadt, Germany. My own research has focused on urban migration and the informal economy and I have published on day labour and xenophobia in South Africa. I also co-authored a background paper (with Prof Sue Parnell) on urban inclusion/exclusion for the latest UN State of the World Cities Report and have worked for Endeva, a Berlin-based institute, on a UNDP publication about the inclusive business landscape in Africa. I was very involved in an education-based NGO for 4 years in Cape Town and I have a keen interest in photography and film, recently shooting a documentary (dir. Sayalee Karkare) about reading culture in Mumbai, India. In the future, I would like to be involved in urban economic policy development in South Africa and in other countries of the Global South.