By: Thomas Wabel & Stephan de Beer In cities worldwide, housing is precarious. Local socio-economic environments can exacerbate existing social differences and exclusions, but can also contribute to alleviate these differences, and to foster high levels of social inclusion. This article introduces a special collection of articles asking how theology should contribute theologically to address..
Read moreManaging the COVID-19 pandemic in poor urban neighborhood: The case of Accra and Johnnesburg
Without a vaccine, practicing social distancing and protective hygiene are the most effective measures to curb the spread of COVID-19. In order to understand how the urban poor mitigate their risk of infection, we conducted a survey with more than 1,400 poor households in two of the African cities with the most COVID-19 infections, Accra..
Read moreSize and the good life: Tiny houses, social housing and the role of social imaginaries
By:Thomas Wable Among the key figures of global housing inequality is the average living space per person. Thus, it comes as no surprise that during the past decade, tiny houses have become an attractive option for some who want to set an example in an affluent society of the global north: free-standing, two-storey building with..
Read moreThe garden city as a commons: Social-ethical perspectives on the new housing question
By: Torsten Meireis & Lukas Johrendt Europe faces a severe shortage in affordable housing. Even though the situation is less dire than in many cities of the Global South, rising rents and real estate prices affect the poorest hardest. Faith-based organisations, especially Christian churches, have monitored and tackled this problem for more than six decades.
Read morePractical Theology and Mission Studies: Understand, contemplate and do! South African Perspective
By Beukes, Jacques (editor) Practical Theology and Mission Studies: Understand, contemplate and do! South African Perspectives is an academic book that consists of theoretical contributions from lecturers and research associates of the Department of Practical Theology and Mission Studies at the Faculty of Theology and Religion, University of Pretoria (UP). Practical theology is multifaceted. It..
Read moreEnhancing socio-ecological interactions to achieve sustainable decentralised sanitation systems: Why people are not using technical solutions
By: Bestsie le Roux, Attie van Niekerk, Erna Kruger, Betty Maimel Apart from some obvious problems, such as safety risks (particularly for women and children) and environmental pollution to be considered in the design of a sanitation system, there are also more invisible problems, such as religious and cultural thought patterns that affect the use..
Read moreCity-making, Space and Spirituality- A Community-Based Urban Praxis with Reflections from South Africa
By Stephan de Beer This book is about the soul of the city, embodied in its spaces and people. It traces dynamics in inner city neighbourhoods of South Africa’s post-apartheid capital, Pretoria. Viewing the city through its most vulnerable people and places, it recognizes that urban space is never neutral and shaped by competing value..
Read more‘Housing’ as Christian Social Practice in African Cities: Centering the Urban Majority Theologically
Decent, affordable housing and secure housing tenure remain elusive for Africa’s urban majority. The urban majority is expected to live in self-help housing, reflected in the fact that 62% of African urban dwellers live in urban informal settlements. The inability to access safe, decent, and secure housing, and the reality that Africa’s urban majority is..
Read moreAfrican cities by 2063: Fostering
theologies of urban citizenship
Grounded in a postcolonial, liberationist urban vision, this article lamented the theological and political paralysis of urban denialism that fails African cities and African urban populations. Considering different possible urban trajectories towards 2063 – ranging from floundering to flourishing, implosion to explosion, and apocalyptic disaster to complete rebirth – it then proposed theologies of African..
Read more‘Pentecost of the city’
Towards an African urban migratory theology
Migration is a growing phenomenon affecting African cities. This article engages the current reality of migrants in the City of Cotonou, Benin, theologically. It re-imagines theological education for Cotonou to flourish by 2050, producing an African urban migratory theology that deeply engages the presence of migrants as contributors to socio-economic development. The central question is:..
Read more