Value of higher education in practising towards urban change: reflections from South African practitioners

Purpose The need for capable urban practitioners to drive equitable and sustainable development in the Global South has resulted in renewed attention to higher education reform. As curricula and pedagogies are being reviewed and revised to make them relevant to practice in Southern contexts, this paper examines a fundamental question: what is the perceived value of higher education in urban development practice? Design/methodology/approach The paper turns the lens towards practitioners in South African cities, making visible the value of their higher education experiences from the vantage point of their practice. It draws on biographical-narrative interviews with 21 urban practitioners from diverse disciplinary backgrounds, working across the public sector, consulting and non-profit organisations. Findings Practitioners' narratives reinforced the role of higher education in laying a foundation for their normative and analytical thinking. They also reported variable confidence in operational elements of practice, depending on what, where and how they were taught. The gap between higher education and urban practice is articulated not simply as missing technical knowledge and skills, but as lacking the relational abilities required to navigate and negotiate real-world complexities and to work with a diverse set of people. Originality/value This paper applies a dispositional lens to interrogate the value of higher education in interdisciplinary urban practice. Drawing on practitioners' perspectives across diverse disciplines and institutions, it offers evidence-based insights for reforming curricula and pedagogies across the Global South and calls for balancing the rationality of academic training with exposure to the relational, negotiated realities of urban practice.