We are proud to share that Tanzila Ahmed’s Master’s thesis ‘Women-led Upgrading Processes in Informal Settlements’ has been selected for the Equitable Spaces Awards by the faculty of architecture and urban planning at the University of Stuttgart. Tanzila completed her master thesis in 2024 in the IUSD MSc programme and is part of the SDGs GoGlocal! Master Thesis Research Group.
Her research looks into the women driven process of upgrading the Freedom Square settlement in Gobabis, Namibia. It explores the experiences of the women involved, highlighting both the challenges they faced and the immediate and long term impacts on their social and economic conditions. Evaluating this process through a gender lens contributes to the development of gender mainstreamed participatory approaches in urban development. With her work she makes women involved in upgrading processes visible, identifies implications and gaps and gives recommendations to strenghen women participation in the future.
As part of the Women in Architecture Festival 2025, the project was exhibited alongside six other awarded projects in the K1 building from June 23 to July 4, 2025.
