Dr Simon Meienberg, a former Master’s graduate of the Köln International School of Design (KISD), presents ‘Urbane Mobilität in Dakar: Stadtentwicklung zwischen Ausgrenzung und Teilhabe’, a well-researched study at the intersection of design theory and research, art and architectural history, ethnology and urban studies.
Dr Simon Meienberg is a design ethnographer whose research focuses on postcolonial urban development, participatory processes and social transformation. He completed his dissertation at the German Research Foundation (DFG) Research Training Group (RTG) ‘Connecting – Excluding: Cultural Dynamics Beyond Globalised Networks’, a collaborative venture between the University of Cologne, the Academy of Media Arts Cologne and TH Köln –University of Technology, Arts, Sciences. The RTG is dedicated to researching practices of participation and exclusion within global cultural and social networks, focusing on the dynamic forces that either partially or entirely resist these networks’ systems and logic.
Meienberg’s dissertation culminated in the recently published book, Urbane Mobilität in Dakar: Stadtentwicklung zwischen Ausgrenzung und Teilhabe (Urban Mobility in Dakar: City Development between Exclusion and Participation). It was supervised by Prof. Dr. Carolin Höfler (Design Theory and Research, KISD/TH Köln), Prof. Dr. Martin Zillinger (Ethnology, University of Cologne) and Prof. Dr. Gabriella Cianciolo Cosentino (History of Architecture, University of Cologne).
We warmly congratulate Simon Meienberg on successfully completing his summa cum laude dissertation and his outstanding publication.
Publication
Simon Meienberg: Urbane Mobilität in Dakar. Stadtentwicklung zwischen Ausgrenzung und Teilhabe, Bielefeld: Transcript (’Urban Studies’ series) 2026, 282 pages. ISBN: 978-3-8376-8361-5. DOI: 10.14361/9783839418673 [Open Access & Print]
Abstract
Urban mobility in Dakar, the capital of Senegal, is characterised by both participation and exclusion. Using the Train Express Régional as an example, Meienberg demonstrates how selective, colonially shaped spatial logics continue to influence transport policies and urban development projects in West Africa, restricting the access of marginalised residents to the city. In particular, the participatory and artistic intervention practices of the forum theatre group ‘Kaddu Yaraax’ are examined in particular, as they use public street theatre performances to highlight these forms of exclusion and explore alternative, more inclusive forms of urban participation with the people affected.
