In Episode 8 of the series Vanessa chats to Paul Currie, co-convenor of the Sustainable Cities module at the SI and manager of the Urban Systems Unit at ICLEI Africa. He is a researcher of African urban resource and service systems, with interest in connecting quantitative analysis with storytelling and visual elicitation. His research and facilitation aim to further understand urban metabolism and circular development in African contexts. Vanessa and Paul chat about what some of the biggest challenges are that urbanisation presents, what exactly a Smart City is, and what Paul's experiences are of working in this fascinating space. Authors mentioned by Paul:For further reading on Sustainable African Cities look up Mark Swilling and Edgar Pieterse, some of the most prominent voices in the field, as well as Geci Karuri-Sebina who is part of the South African Cities Network, African Centre for Cities and Wits University.  Paul has also  been enjoying sci-fi and fantasy fiction by African authors, particularly Nnedi Okorafor and Tomi Adayemi.