Translocal activism for housing and urban justice

Translocal activism for housing and urban justice

Date: Friday, 11 September 2026

Panel Talk: 5:00pm - 6:00pm

From social media campaigns to street protests and occupy movements, activists are fighting for housing and urban justice across the world. Following a special Australian premier screening of the film ‘ Mother City’, this panel of activists and scholars from Australia and South Africa discuss how local struggles – often shared through music, art, film, and media – build global solidarity. 

This panel discussion follows the special Australian premiere screening of Mother City.

Mother City (dir. Miki Redelinghuys & Pearlie Joubert, 2024) is an award winning documentary about the inequalities of housing and continuing spatial apartheid that exists in urban and housing planning in Cape Town and the campaign run by activists from local townships and the community occupying a public hospital in the city.

Chair

Justine Humphry, University of Sydney

Speakers include

Amanda Tattersall, Associate Professor of Practice in urban geography, The University of Sydney

Nkosikhona Swaartbooi, campaigner for justice and equality in South Africa

Andrew Sully, Director Master of Film and Screen Arts, Sydney College of the Arts, The University of Sydney

Clare Lewis, Creative Director, GoodChat

Sydney Festival 7-11 September 

National events September – October 2026

Translocality describes the interconnectedness between different places and people, beyond national boundaries. The circulation of people, goods, knowledge and capital, though an ancient process, is facilitated and impacted by new technologies, bringing new opportunities and challenges for cities and regions. Increasingly important, a translocal lens highlights these deep and intersecting relationships between people and places over time – from the legacies of colonisation and environmental change to contemporary patterns of migration and cultural diversity. Through panel discussions, debates, exhibitions, and tours, and featuring thought leaders from academia, the arts, industry, and civil society, the 2026 Festival of translocal Urbanism examines and celebrates the complex social, economic and environmental connections between local and global communities.