The Emergence of Private Cities in Africa

Bronwyn Williams is an Economist, Futurist, Trend Analyst, and Partner at Flux Trends. They recently published 21 trends for 2021 and a critical trend that stood out for us was: Private Cities. In this episode, we dive deep into the emergence of Private Cities in Africa and what the not-so-distant future may hold.

This episode answers:

• What is a Private City and how is it different from the cities we are used to?
• What a Private City looks like in the African context.
• Real-world examples of Private Cities.
• Private Cities and the issue around inclusion.
• The double-edged sword of Private Cities.
• How government might react to Private Cities.
• How can this go horribly wrong in Africa?
• What will go extinct in our cities over the next 5 years? Spoiler: Some actual cities…
• 1 book that will prepare you for what may lie ahead over the next 5 years. Spoiler: The Death and Life of Great American Cities, by Jane Jacobs.

About Bronwyn Williams
Bronwyn Williams is a Futurist, Economist, and Business Trends Analyst.

Bronwyn has over a decade’s experience in strategic management, trend research, and foresight; consulting to clients in the public and private sector across the African continent. Her educational credentials include tertiary qualifications in Marketing Management (University of Johannesburg), Economics (University of London), Foresight (University of Manchester), and Future Studies (University of Stellenbosch). She is currently completing a Masters in Applied Economics from the University of Bath.

Today, as a partner at Flux Trends, Bronwyn’s research focuses on how macro socio-economic trends and emerging technologies will impact businesses, industries, and nations in the near and long term future. Part economist, part strategist, Bronwyn’s particular areas of expertise include fintech trends, alternative economic models, and sustainable future design.

Bronwyn’s clients include Top 40 JSE listed companies, The South African Reserve Bank, African government departments, and global business leaders. She also guests lectures for leading business schools, such as Duke, GIBS, UCT, and the University of Johannesburg. Bronwyn is also a published writer and a well-known media commentator on future trends and economic trajectories for network channels including CNBC Africa and ENCA News.

Below is a list of presentations that Bronwyn has given before:

Life after COVID-19
Virtual & Unreal Estate: The future of finding and creating value
Grand challenges and How to solve them
The Fragmented Future of Finance
Transhumanism: How to train your cyborg to join your workforce (and visa versa)
The BlockChain Effect
Second Wave of Disruption – Middle Management – Junior Employee Tier
Now Hiring, But Differently – The Game of Change: New industries and the new skills required to drive these industries.

Visit: https://www.fluxtrends.com/about-bronwyn-williams/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bronwynwilliams/

About Flux Trends
Flux Trends helps to distill the barrage of information that is hurled at us in the 21st century. We identify and analyze macro trends (everything from politics, religion, youth culture, media, entertainment, and technology) that affect social dynamics and therefore our business interactions, and then package this information into digestible chunks, allowing small or corporate businesses to re-assess the business and social landscape and formulate new, forward-thinking, marketing or business strategies.

Visit: https://www.fluxtrends.com/