Petzer is a senior researcher in the housing and urban studies research group. She is a qualified and registered town and regional planner, with Bachelor and Master’s degrees from the University of Pretoria, and more than two decades’ experience in this space.

Petzer often works in the field of policy and guideline development for urban planning. She has been involved with writing national policy on infrastructure delivery through multiple agencies, integrated development planning for municipalities and smart city development at a municipal level, among others. She joined the CSIR in 2015 and has played a leading role in the revision and update of The Neighbourhood Planning and Design Guide (the Red Book). Petzer is also interested in municipal integrated development and spatial planning and has been involved in urban planning research for the South African Local Government Association, the Cities Support Programme in National Treasury and Anglo American, among others. Recently, her research focus moved to smart cities where she led several projects on the development of inclusive smart cities in the South African context.

Expertise: Urban planning