Humans of IHS is a mini-portrait series that features the people who make IHS a unique place. Many of the urban professionals with common roots at IHS, often describe it as a very welcoming, familiar space, where they not only acquired valuable knowledge for their career, but also formed solid ties and friendships with their peers. This is what drove us to create this mini-series: the wish to give others a glimpse of the amazing people that make IHS special.
Zinzi is currently doing the Infrastructure and Green Cities Master track at IHS, Erasmus University. She is an urban planner and has a small startup in urban planning practices focusing on community development in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Zinzi says she gained many great experiences while studying at IHS.
“I guess Netherlands and IHS got in my heart, I have met some of my closest friends here, and I have built wonderful relationships with professionals who I can work with. I think the Netherlands will see more of me in the future.”
She also emphasizes that students must work hard to excel at the Master programme. “We hang out a lot; the first time I came here, we used to have so many social activities, we were going out every Friday because we work so hard. I think that’s important because a lot of people who come to IHS don’t understand that you need to work hard and play hard even with colleagues and lecturers.”
She would love to tackle the problem of spatial justice in cities. “In South Africa, there is a lot of spatial fragmentation, and the impact of that is there are people who don’t have the same economic and social opportunities because of where they are born or how they look. I‘d love to make those gaps smaller, bring these people closer, have more compact cities and make sure everyone has the same rights.”