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Government institution · Cape Town · South Africa

City of Cape Town

In research, City of Cape Town stands highest in Social Sciences (#5,037 of 16,945 worldwide), Social Sciences (#3,284 of 10,206 worldwide) and Health Sciences (#10,949 of 20,462 worldwide), over all time.

capetown.gov.za/en/Pages/default.aspxROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#15,733
of 28,054 · #15,294 all time
Rank in South Africa
#54
of 87
Research works
743
▼ 10% vs 2013–17
Citations
13k
17.9 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
24.5%
record average 16.5%
Open access
39%
world 28%

What is City of Cape Town known for in research?

The fields where it stands highest, over all time, ranked among every institution above the floor in each field.

FieldWorld rankWhere that sitsTop-10% rateWorks
Social SciencesDomain #5,037 of 16,945 23.1%275
Social SciencesField #3,284 of 10,206 26.0%160
Health SciencesDomain #10,949 of 20,462 19.0%173
MedicineField #9,892 of 17,978 17.6%139
Physical SciencesDomain #15,598 of 21,541 17.3%239

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where City of Cape Town sits in it, in the colour of the band that rank falls in. The track under the rate is the rate itself: it carries no world mark, because the world rate differs by field (from about 6% to 21% in this record).

Field profile

Location quotient across every field it publishes in: outside the ring is more than an institution of this size would be expected to publish, inside it is less.

Agricultural and Biological Sciences: 0.99× its world share, 5 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.37× its world share, 2 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 0.73× its world share, 1 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.30× its world share, 1 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.64× its world share, 0 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemistry: 0.33× its world share, 1 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.55× its world share, 5 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 1.67× its world share, 3 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.45× its world share, 0 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.39× its world share, 7 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 2.30× its world share, 13 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.07× its world share, 0 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.25× its world share, 0 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 0.99× its world share, 2 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.51× its world share, 0 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 1.76× its world share, 5 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 1.06× its world share, 23 worksMedicineNursing: 0.09× its world share, 0 worksNursingVeterinary: 1.36× its world share, 0 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 0.35× its world share, 1 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 2.58× its world share, 9 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.88× its world share, 2 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 2.74× its world share, 6 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 0.54× its world share, 2 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 1.57× its world share, 22 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Economics, Econometrics and Finance, 2.7×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at City of Cape Town?

Ranked on the composite score, J. A. Thornton, Munyaradzi Makoni and Samuel M. Zwemer lead among researchers whose main affiliation is City of Cape Town.

  1. 1 J. A. Thornton South Africa · #282,363 worldwide 46 citations · 29 works
  2. 2 Munyaradzi Makoni South Africa · #537,938 worldwide 28 citations · 23 works
  3. 3 Samuel M. Zwemer South Africa · #539,100 worldwide 6 citations · 32 works
  4. 4 Andrew Quick South Africa · #1,097,244 worldwide 19 citations · 24 works
All ranked researchers at City of Cape Town

Which keywords describe research at City of Cape Town?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Sustainable Development, Epidemiology, Urbanization, Climate Change, Health Equity, Community Participation, Social Capital and Land Tenure.

▲ more of its work than of the world’s◆ about the world’s share▼ less than the world’s

Size is fractional works in 2022–2025 in the topics tagged with each word; colour is the word's share of this institution's work against its share of the world's. The 40 words are chosen for being large and distinctive. Each links to the topic it comes from most.

All 40 words, with their numbers
  1. Sustainable Development9▲ 4.9×15 topics
  2. Epidemiology8▲ 1.74×43 topics
  3. Climate Change6▲ 1.99×36 topics
  4. Sustainability4▲ 1.65×18 topics
  5. Public Health4▲ 2.3×15 topics
  6. Globalization3▲ 1.52×10 topics
  7. Social Capital3▲ 5.6×7 topics
  8. Urbanization3▲ 7.0×4 topics
  9. Supply Chain Management3▲ 3.0×7 topics
  10. Community Participation3▲ 7.2×2 topics
  11. Diagnosis3▲ 2.9×14 topics
  12. Health Equity3▲ 9.4×2 topics
  13. Human Rights3▲ 2.5×11 topics
  14. Treatment3▲ 2.1×13 topics
  15. Land Tenure3▲ 56×2 topics
  16. Entrepreneurship2▲ 5.8×7 topics
  17. Poverty Alleviation2▲ 23×2 topics
  18. Slum Upgrading2▲ 76×1 topic
  19. South Africa2▲ 84×2 topics
  20. Urban Poverty2▲ 49×1 topic
  21. Policy2▲ 9.7×4 topics
  22. Immune Response2▲ 3.6×7 topics
  23. Clinical Trials2▲ 3.0×9 topics
  24. Vaccine2▲ 4.4×6 topics
  25. Conservation2▲ 3.9×10 topics
  26. Employment2▲ 52×2 topics
  27. Environmental Governance2▲ 26×2 topics
  28. Invasive Species2▲ 4.0×12 topics
  29. Ethical Considerations2▲ 4.8×7 topics
  30. local economic development2▲ 278×1 topic
  31. regional2▲ 278×1 topic
  32. Antiretroviral Therapy2▲ 9.2×6 topics
  33. Astrobiology2▲ 52×1 topic
  34. Extraterrestrial Life2▲ 71×1 topic
  35. Monetary Policy2▲ 5.9×4 topics
  36. Weight Loss2▲ 8.7×3 topics
  37. Public Participation2▲ 61×2 topics
  38. Constitutionalism1▲ 14×1 topic
  39. Developmental Local Government1▲ 118×1 topic
  40. Viral Load1▲ 16×2 topics

Which research topics does City of Cape Town publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Urban and Rural Development Challenges, Local Economic Development and Planning, Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life and Legal Issues in South Africa.

Urban and Rural Developm…2Urban and Rural Development Challenges: 2 fractional worksLocal Economic Developme…2Local Economic Development and Planning: 2 fractional worksSpace Science and Extrat…2Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life: 2 fractional worksLegal Issues in South Af…1Legal Issues in South Africa: 1 fractional worksBig Data and Business Intelligence: 1 fractional worksEconomic, financial, and policy analysis: 1 fractional worksFinTech, Crowdfunding, D…1FinTech, Crowdfunding, Digital Finance: 1 fractional worksHIV/AIDS Research and Interventions: 1 fractional worksTuberculosis Research and Epidemiology: 1 fractional worksUrban Design and Spatial…1Urban Design and Spatial Analysis: 1 fractional works
Urban StudiesPolitical Science and International RelationsAstronomy and AstrophysicsLaw4 others

Area is fractional works; colour is the subfield each topic belongs to.

  1. 1 Urban and Rural Development Challenges Urban Studies 2 works
  2. 2 Local Economic Development and Planning Political Science and International Relations 2 works
  3. 3 Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life Astronomy and Astrophysics 2 works
  4. 4 Legal Issues in South Africa Law 1 works
  5. 5 Big Data and Business Intelligence Management Information Systems 1 works
  6. 6 Economic, financial, and policy analysis General Economics, Econometrics and Finance 1 works
  7. 7 FinTech, Crowdfunding, Digital Finance Management Information Systems 1 works
  8. 8 HIV/AIDS Research and Interventions Infectious Diseases 1 works
  9. 9 Tuberculosis Research and Epidemiology Infectious Diseases 1 works
  10. 10 Urban Design and Spatial Analysis Building and Construction 1 works

How open and international is its research?

Against the world’s own shares — the tick on each track. Both are shares of its output, so they sit on one scale and can be read against each other as well as against the world.

openly available39.0%not open61.0%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors22.7%domestic only77.3%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has City of Cape Town's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 10% lower than in 2013–2017.

1990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Other research institutions in Cape Town

All research institutions in Cape Town

Research measures only: rankings here say nothing about teaching, admissions or student experience. Comparable institutions and collaboration partners are in the interactive view on the map.