Globalisation and the urban studio: Evaluating an inter-university studio collaboration in Nairobi

This paper explores some implications of globalisation for planning education and presents faculty and student reflections on an international urban studio and three policy workshops in the Municipality of Ruiru, located outside of Nairobi, Kenya. This learning was embedded in a long-term partnership between the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Nairobi and Columbia University. We argue that carefully structured international studios and workshops are rich learning experiences that can help teach respect for local learning and knowledge. Our findings also suggest the importance of transformational and 'authentic' partnerships between universities, faculty and local urban players. These are partnerships characterised by equality in the way of working with all partners changing and learning in a reciprocal manner as they work together. We also underscore the importance of more explicit theorisation and evaluation of the growing number of international partnerships in urban planning.