STEPHEN NARSOO

Stephen Narsoo holds a Masters Degree in Urban Planning from the University California Los Angeles
(UCLA). He is a Ford Foundation Fellow and recipient of the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI),
Summer School Award. He has lived in South Africa and the US and has contributed to books, published
reports and has written a number of articles across a broad range of urban planning areas. He has diverse
work experience in; informal settlement upgrading, urban design, urban regeneration, housing and
regional economic development. He has consulted to the South African government and international
donor organizations. A creative thinker he has in addition turned his business, intellectual and professional
attention to the study of creative industries, the creative economy and creative entrepreneurialism.

Education
University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles
2006 to 2008 Masters (MA) Urban Planning

University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg

1997 to 2001 BSc City & Regional Planning

Skills Set
• Nine years experience in the urban development sector
• Advanced capability in policy analysis and strategic planning/coordination
• Excellent writing skills
• Sound ability to develop project, programme and product concepts
• Excellent project & programme design skills
• Advanced ability to analyze complex urban problems & ‘problem solve’
• Sound ability in project team design, assembly and procurement
• Excellent grant and proposal writing skills
• Competent ability to develop business plans for large scale regional & urban economic
regeneration projects
• Excellent statistical data analysis, research design, methodology skills
• Able to develop monitoring and evaluation indicators for urban strategies/projects & programmes
• Able to translate research and data analysis into viable operation plans and products
• Expert ability to adopt a systems approach when analyzing urban institutional, economic and legal
systems
• Strong critical and creative thinking skills
• Excellent team mentor and motivator

International Travel
United States, Israel, Mexico, Brazil, Canada, Netherlands, Spain, Britain, Scotland, Ghana and
Mozambique.
Project Portfolio
• Aug 08 to Sept09: Local Madibeng Municipality Capacity & Support Program for International
Finance Corporation (IFC)
• Jan09 to Oct09: UrbanWiki Business Plan (online collaborative portal for urban development
practitioners) for Urban Land Mark & World Bank
• Sept to Dec 2007: Housing Element Compliance and Building Permit Issuance Report Private for
Southern Californian Association of Governments (SCAG) Los Angeles.
• April to May06: FIFA World Cup 2010 Comparative International Sports Urban Regeneration
Benchmark Report (Nasrec Sports Precinct Upgrade) for Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA)
• Jan to Mar06: International Comparative Report of Resilient Mining Cities for Rustenburg Local
Municipality
• June to Dec05: Hillbrow/Berea Sectional Title Turnaround Concept Report for Economic
Development Unit, City of Johannesburg
• Jan04 to June05: Gauteng Global City Region Strategy for Gauteng Office of the Premier, Gauteng
Provincial Government
• Jan04: Johannesburg Medical Quarter Business Plan for JDA
• Feb04: Vilakazi Street, Soweto Business Plan for the JDA
• June to Dec03: Evaluation Report of South African National Land Reform Programme for Dept. of
Land Affairs
• April to May03: Ellis Park Urban Design Framework for Albonico and Sack
• April to May03: Braamfontein Regeneration Urban Design Framework for Albonico and Sack
• Jan to Mar03: Johannesburg Urban Poverty Report for City of Johannesburg
• Feb03: National Qualifications Framework Impact Study for South African Qualifications Authority
(SAQA)
• May03: International Benchmark Study Urban Regeneration Projects for South African Cities
Network (SACN)
• 2002: Alexandra Renewal Project for ARP
• June01 to Aug01: Palmridge Informal Settlement Upgrade for Gauteng Department of Housing

Professional Affiliations
• African American Institute South Africa
• Ford Foundation Alumni Association South Africa

Publications
For complete list of publications please refer to my Curriculum Vitae