Research · Publications · Ideas
Understanding complex
worlds. Creating
meaningful insight.
Abel Mavura's research explores migration, cities, systems and society through interdisciplinary inquiry and practical engagement.
Research & Publications
Research that explores
systems, people
and change.
Exploring migration, cities, systems and society through research, writing and ideas that connect academic inquiry with real-world impact.
Systems Thinking
What Is Systems Thinking? Why Everything Is Connected
A visual exploration of systems thinking and the interconnected forces that shape the world around us.
Research archive
The full archive, filtered.
Migration · Urban Studies
Structured Transience: Migrant Self-Governance and the Production of Urban Order
An exploration of how migrant communities in Paris create systems of governance, care and collective organisation under conditions of uncertainty.
Book Chapter · Routledge · 2025
Media · Governance · Digital Society
Information Bill an Opportunity to Curb Misinformation & False News
An examination of the changing media landscape and the challenge of misinformation and false news in the digital age.
Commentary · 22 February 2022
Systems Thinking
What Is Systems Thinking? Why Everything Is Connected
A visual exploration of systems thinking and the interconnected forces that shape the world around us.
Video · Systems Thinking
Timeline
A chronology of published work.
Additional verified publications will be added as they are published.
Research areas
Migration & Mobility
How people move, why they move, and how institutions respond across borders.
Cities & Urban Order
Housing, informality, services — and the arrangements that hold urban life together.
Systems Thinking
Reading social challenges as interconnected systems rather than isolated problems.
Governance & Policy
Translating evidence into policy conversations that hold up in practice.
Media & Digital Society
Journalism, misinformation and the public conversation in a digital information economy.
Community & Collective Organisation
Care, mutual support and self-governance within communities under pressure.