Anders Ese grew up in Kenya and Zambia. He holds a PhD on mapping, data collection, and analysis of complex urban settings in Nairobi, Kenya. Ese specialises in urban development in the overlap between the fields of urbanism, social sciences, and historical research especially pertaining to East and Southern Africa, and has worked extensively on issues related to urbanisation, poverty, and identities and sustainability in the region through academic and consultancy work. He has established and run interdisciplinary practices in both Tanzania and Norway. His recent book The City Makers of Nairobi (Routledge, 2020) explores African urban identities in Nairobi during the colonial period, arguing that the city’s cosmopolitan African population had a far greater impact on urban developments than what is popularly believed.