Makakavhule, KundaniHill, Danielle2023-08-242023-08-242022Kundani Makakavhule & Danielle Hill (2022) The role of planners in public open space production in contemporary African cities: a reinjection of the social agenda in planning practice, Journal of Urban Design, 27:4, 421-440, DOI: 10.1080/13574809.2021.2014308.1357-4809 (print)1469-9664 (online)10.1080/13574809.2021.2014308http://hdl.handle.net/2263/92031African cities face challenges of delivering quality public open spaces within set time frames, under constrained budgets, varying levels of political will and professional capacity. These challenges in conjunction with the ‘emotional’ conundrum faced by planners, continue to define the roles of planners and prohibit them from confronting the status quo. This paper argues that the planning profession needs to acknowledge that; to respond to the challenges of contemporary African public open space, an intentional deliberate paradigm is required. This paradigm requires a spatial imagination to reconcile the disjuncture between the static place of planners and the active space of citizens.en© 2021 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an electronic version of an article published in Journal of Urban Design, vol. 27, no. 4, pp. 421-440, 2022, doi : 10.1080/13574809.2021.2014308. Journal of Urban Design is available online at : https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/cjud20.PlannerEmotionDeliberative planning practiceContemporary African public open spaceActive citizenshipEngineering, built environment and information technology articles SDG-03SDG-03: Good health and well-beingEngineering, built environment and information technology articles SDG-10SDG-10: Reduced inequalitiesEngineering, built environment and information technology articles SDG-11SDG-11: Sustainable cities and communitiesPostprint Article