{"id":4754,"date":"2025-10-16T03:24:38","date_gmt":"2025-10-16T03:24:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.itu.int\/cities\/?page_id=4754"},"modified":"2025-10-16T03:24:38","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T03:24:38","slug":"sarah-watson","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.itu.int\/cities\/sarah-watson\/","title":{"rendered":"Sarah Watson"},"content":{"rendered":"    <div class=\"ituContainer grid\">\n        <div data-span=\"12\">\n                            <div class=\"ituContainer\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns has-white-background-color has-background is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-8f761849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\"><div class=\"ituContainer\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">    <section>\n        <div class=\"ituContainer grid\">\n                                                <div data-span=\"3\">\n                    <div class=\"ituContainer\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-style-rounded\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1756\" height=\"1757\" src=\"https:\/\/www.itu.int\/cities\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Sarah.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4756\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.itu.int\/cities\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Sarah.jpg 1756w, https:\/\/www.itu.int\/cities\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Sarah-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.itu.int\/cities\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Sarah-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.itu.int\/cities\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Sarah-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.itu.int\/cities\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Sarah-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.itu.int\/cities\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Sarah-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.itu.int\/cities\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Sarah-600x600.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1756px) 100vw, 1756px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><strong>Sarah Watson<\/strong><br>Project Coordinator, Human Settlements Unit of eThekwini Municipality, South Africa<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>            <\/div>\n                                                <div data-span=\"6\">\n                    <div class=\"ituContainer\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-style-plain is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><div class=\"ituContainer\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sarah Watson is an urban development practitioner with over two decades of experience in public sector strategy, stakeholder engagement, land reform and sustainable city planning. Currently serving as a Project Coordinator in the Human Settlements Unit at eThekwini Municipality, Sarah has led transformative initiatives in informal settlement upgrading, policy development, and community-driven urban innovation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"ituContainer\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Her work has earned international recognition, including being named one of the \u201c15 Faces of Urban Innovation\u201d by Metropolis and presenting at multiple World Urban Forums. She spearheaded the <em>iQhaza Lethu<\/em> incremental informal settlement upgrading pilot programme, and contributed to the adoption of the eThekwini Incremental Informal Settlement Upgrading Strategy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"ituContainer\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sarah holds a Master\u2019s degree in Sustainable Urban Practice from the University of Cape Town, and has additional qualifications in housing policy, public relations, and social accountability. Her interdisciplinary expertise spans data analysis, risk management, and transversal coordination.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>            <\/div>\n                                                <div data-span=\"1\">\n                    <div class=\"ituContainer\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-8f761849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\"><div class=\"ituContainer\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><div class=\"wp-block-image\"><div class=\"ituContainer\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"96\" height=\"96\" src=\"https:\/\/www.itu.int\/cities\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/organization-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1460\" style=\"width:74px;height:74px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><strong>Affiliation<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>                    <div class=\"ituContainer\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-8f761849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\"><div class=\"ituContainer\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><div class=\"wp-block-image\"><div class=\"ituContainer\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"96\" height=\"96\" src=\"https:\/\/www.itu.int\/cities\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Affliation-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1459\" style=\"width:72px;height:72px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><strong>Profession<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>            <\/div>\n                                                <div data-span=\"2\">\n                    <div class=\"ituContainer\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-8f761849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\"><div class=\"ituContainer\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><div class=\"ituContainer\">\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"ituContainer\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Human Settlements Unit of eThekwini Municipality<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>                    <div class=\"ituContainer\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-8f761849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\"><div class=\"ituContainer\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><div class=\"ituContainer\">\n<div style=\"height:55px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"ituContainer\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Project Coordinator<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>            <\/div>\n                    <\/div>\n    <\/section>\n\n\n<div class=\"ituContainer\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.itu.int\/cities\/?page_id=1462\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"standards4dt\"><strong>See all speakers &gt;<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>                    <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4754","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itu.int\/cities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itu.int\/cities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itu.int\/cities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itu.int\/cities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itu.int\/cities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4754"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.itu.int\/cities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4754\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itu.int\/cities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}