Stephanie Briers


Last Name

Briers

First Name

Stephanie

ORCID

0000-0002-0361-189X

Organisational unit

02351 - TdLab / TdLab

Filters

2019 - 201912020 - 20266
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Publications1 - 7 of 7
  • Improving Cape Town's public lighting policy for informal settlements
    Item type: Report
    Briers, Stephanie (2019)
    ISTP Policy Brief
    Unequal access to public lighting in Cape Town is an increasing focus for the public and city government but existing policies prevent the situation from improving in the most underserviced areas – informal settlements.
  • CoCT RFI response for innovative public lighting solutions for informal settlements with no grid access
    Item type: Report
    Briers, Stephanie; Borofsky, Yael; Du Toit, Keyaam; et al. (2021)
  • Infrastructures of Freedom
    Item type: Monograph
    Briers, Stephanie (2023)
    Infrastructures of Freedom sheds light on the impact of inadequate public lighting in self-built communities in Cape Town. In democratic South Africa, where infrastructure provision still reflects deeply embedded notions of citizenship, informal neighborhoods with minimal infrastructure provision face challenges beyond access to basic services and opportunities. Fear, the feeling of being forgotten, and living in undignified conditions are among the powerful experiences darkness brings about in these neighborhoods. The book not only reveals these experiences of everynight life, but takes a step further: it considers how the co-production of a solar public lighting project within a community improved everynight life and suggests ways for infrastructure to more successfully articulate citizenship. With a foreword by Christian Schmid and Sophie Oldfield
  • Infrastructures of Freedom: Public light and everynight life in 'Informal Settlements'
    Item type: Doctoral Thesis
    Briers, Stephanie (2021)
  • An Empirical Test of Pedestrian Activity Theories Within Informal Settlements
    Item type: Journal Article
    Borofsky, Yael; Briers, Stephanie; Günther, Isabel (2024)
    Urban Planning ~ Urban Borderlands: Difference, Inequality, and Spatio-Temporal In-Betweenness in Cities
    Pedestrian activity is often measured in the formal parts of cities, yet it has rarely been studied in informal settlements, although they are typically adjacent to formal areas and residents participate in formal urban life. Route optimization and space syntax are two pedestrian activity theories that can be applied to predict path usage in urban areas. These theories have been tested in formal cities, but are they applicable in understudied informal settings? Using motion sensors, we measure pedestrian activity in a Cape Town informal settlement in the early morning and evening hours and test which theory best explains the sensor measurements. Route optimization is weakly correlated with average pedestrian activity, while space syntax performs even more poorly in predicting pedestrian activity. The predictive power of both theoretical calculations further varies by time of day. We find that both theories perform worst at the entrances/exits of the informal settlement-that is, the border between informal and formal. These results indicate that daily movement patterns in informal settlements may differ from formal areas and that the connection between the formal and informal city requires further study to better understand how pedestrian activity links these two types of areas. A new theory of route selection based on such an understanding, which also better incorporates the specific characteristics of informal urban settlements-such as high density, narrow, and constantly changing streets primarily used by residents-may be necessary to understand the needs of pedestrians within informal settlements as compared to formal areas.
  • D2.4 Stakeholder-informed research questions
    Item type: Report
    Briers, Stephanie; Vienni Baptista, Bianca (2024)
    The DIAMOND project undertakes a transdisciplinary (TD) approach to update, expand, open, and develop scenarios for six Integrated Assessment Models, with the aim of addressing net zero emissions and sustainable development. WP2: Codesign leads this TD approach, which is broken down into three multi-stage phases: i) mutual understanding; ii) knowledge co-production; and iii) model co-ownership. Deliverable D2.4 presents the results of the first two out of three stages in “Phase 1: Toward Mutual Understanding”, which is based on the concept of “joint-problem framing” indicated by the TD scientific literature as the initial step within a fruitful stakeholder engagement plan. The aim and output of this phase is a set of stakeholder-informed research questions, which are co-created in three stages. Stage 1 is a familiarisation stage, aiming to find common ground among DIAMOND partners and their work. Stage 2 focuses on reaching mutual understanding of the goals and aims of the transdisciplinary approach to be implemented by DIAMOND partners. This Deliverable, D2.4, presents these two stages and concludes in actions falling under three themes. These themes include: (a) strengthening internal and external communities of practice, (b) focusing codesign activities, and (c) improving the effectiveness of stakeholder engagement. These outcomes will be picked up on in Stage 3, which commenced in January 2024 and will conclude Phase 1 of DIAMOND’s codesign process with the output of a final set of stakeholder-informed research questions, to be presented in Deliverable D2.5 (update of this deliverable).
  • From consultation to inclusive engagement: Advancing participatory modeling for net-zero sustainable development
    Item type: Journal Article
    Herbig, Victoria; Briers, Stephanie; Vienni Baptista, Bianca (2026)
    Environmental Science & Policy
    Traditional modeling approaches for net-zero, sustainable development often prioritize technical and expert-driven inputs, producing outputs that overlook critical institutional and behavioral considerations. Although there has been growing interest in participatory approaches and transdisciplinary research in modeling, most processes currently stop at consultation, missing opportunities for deeper stakeholder integration. This paper introduces a structured framework for embedding inclusivity into participatory modeling for Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs). Drawing on a mixed-methods study, including a systematic literature review, an online stakeholder survey, and semi-structured interviews with modelers and members of a EU-funded project, we identify three interlinked pillars for an inclusive modeling environment: i) stakeholder representation, ii) engagement dynamics, and iii) collective decision-making. We argue that inclusive participatory modeling is not merely a procedural improvement but a strategic necessity for building models - and informing policies - that are credible, resilient, and socially relevant.
Publications1 - 7 of 7