COMPLEX(c)ity is a specialised consultancy founded by four partners with a diverse scope of expertise that encompasses the complex tenets of urban development. Cities are complex human-made organisms. Stripped down, they are made up of myriad interwoven components: people, spaces and infrastructure; ecological, social, economical and technological layers; systems of values, knowledge, behaviours, and priorities. In every urban system in the world, these elements interact and interdepend closely — sometimes in synergy, other times in isolation, and at times in opposition. These spaces have the potential to promote human connection, diversity, holistic sustainability, and innovation — all reflecting various values of the local population as much as global imperatives. It is the comparative advantage of these elements coinciding and densifying that resulted in centuries of urbanisation. At the same time, it is their clashing that often causes friction within and between communities and systems themselves — a given of urban spaces, both present and pressing to cope with by those who inhabit and develop the same. When an attempt is made to address this friction, citizens, politicians, urban developers, social scientists, designers, architects, local and national institutions are met with challenges that are innately multifaceted and intertwined. These challenges cannot be navigated with overtly academic formulas; blueprints and cookbook recipes; homogeneous, one-size-fits-all thinking; or a perspective of superiority. They need to be met with approaches equally locally bespoke, participatory, and multifaceted.

It is with this unique way of thinking that our team is built.

We provide a 360-degree understanding of the complexity of urban systems and spaces and the challenges that arise within them. Our context-driven approach allows us to navigate these challenges with focused agility. Through this, we convene and facilitate processes to address urban issues and bring about dynamic and innovative urban development, from concept to implementation.