Karen Lévy is an architect and urban planner specializing in developing cities. After more than twelve years of experience in designing, coordinating, and managing urban projects in France, she has spent over ten years expanding her expertise by focusing on urban transformations in major cities of the Global South. A graduate of the University of Paris Nanterre, where she defended her thesis in 2018, Karen has worked on understanding how stakeholders involved in real estate production operate in Southern cities, particularly in Johannesburg and Delhi. She has hands-on experience in managing complex projects and has developed expertise in analyzing urban dynamics in emerging cities. Her strong architectural and environmental awareness enables her to design sustainable projects that are well integrated into their territories. Through the management of multidisciplinary studies, she actively contributes to a co-construction process and a collaborative design approach. Karen has successfully built bridges between different audiences and disciplines. Recently, from 2022 to 2024, she contributed to the development of urban planning documents for five cities in Benin, incorporating climate change adaptation, coordinating operational policies with local communities, and strengthening institutional capacities. Her research combines the analysis of governance systems and urban development in peripheral areas. She is an associate researcher at the French Institute of South Africa – Research. Karen has authored several articles on the specificities of development programs for middle-class populations in Johannesburg and Delhi and has co-organized numerous academic conferences and events.