Safa Charafi, Founder and CEO of Urban Inclusion, challenges Eurocentric and colonial approaches to urban planning, arguing for cities shaped by local knowledge, lived experience, and fairer power structures. The conversation explores how dominant Western models have erased indigenous practices — and why true decolonisation remains limited under extractive economic systems.

A central theme is feminist refusal: the right to say no to harmful or tokenistic development projects. Safa shares personal experiences of walking away from work that ignored community needs, framing refusal as an act of integrity, sovereignty, and care.

The episode also highlights Safa’s journey as a migrant urbanist, her work on gender inclusion, climate adaptation, and migrant integration with partners like UNHCR, and her advice to future practitioners: trust lived experience, share power, build community, and design cities with empathy and justice at the core.

Urban Inclusion

https://urban-inclusion.com/

Safaa on LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/in/safaa-charafi/

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Keep Up the Good Work. Keep Loving Cities ❤️️

All opinions expressed in each episode are personal to the guest and do not represent the Host of Urbanistica Podcast unless otherwise stated.

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