Lochner Marais is a Professor of Development Studies at the Centre for Development Support at the University of the Free State (UFS). He is also an honorary professor at the Sustainable Minerals Institute (University of Queensland, Australia). He serves on the editorial board of Habitat International and serves on the advisory boards for Housing Studies, International Journal of Housing Policy and Housing and the Built Environment. His research interests include housing policy, small cities and towns (mining and renewable towns and cities) and public health focusing on children. In addition to concentrating on these themes separately, he focuses on integrating them. He has also co-edited nine books and his monograph "The social impacts of mine closure in South Africa" (published by Routledge) has appeared in 2023. He is also the executive editor of the newly established journal of Cambridge University Press: Research Directions: Mine Closure and Transitions. Over the past ten years, he has been a collaborator, principal investigator or co-principal investigator for international research grants of approximately R40 million. He is passionate about creating and managing interdisciplinary projects and prefers research focusing on real-world problems in housing policy, mine-community relations, mine closure and urban health. The main contribution of his work has been to improve the understanding of the social consequences of mine closure, mining’s role in creating place attachment and the relationship between mine closure and social disruption. He has also been the first researcher to link mine closure and social disruption.

GOOGLE SCHOLAR PROFILE: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=WL9d-lIAAAAJ&hl=en

RESEARCHGATE PROFILE: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Lochner-Marais

LOOP PROFILE: https://loop.frontiersin.org/people/1256713/overview

Books

Matebesi, S., Marais, L. and Nel, V. (Eds), 2024. Local Responses to Mine Closure in South Africa: Dependencies and Social Disruption. London: Routledge.

Van Assche, K., Gruesmacher, M., Marais, L., Perez Sindin-Lopez, Z., 2024 (in production). Resource Communities: Past legacies and Future Pathways. London: Routledge.

Marais, L., 2023. The Social Impacts of Mine Closure in South Africa: Housing Policy and Place Attachment. London: Routledge.

Marais, L., Burger, P., Campbell, M., Denoon-Stevens, S., and Van Rooyen, D. (Eds), 2022. Coal and Energy in South Africa. Considering a Just Transition. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

Sharp, C., and Marais, L. (Eds), 2022. Growing up Resilient: The Mediational Intervention for Sensitizing Caregivers. London: Routledge.

Marais, L., Campbell, M., Denoon-Stevens, S. and Van Rooyen, D. (Eds), 2021. Mining and Community in the South African Platinum Belt: A Decade after Marikana. New York: Nova Science Publishers.

Marais, L., and Nel, V. (Eds)., 2019. Space and Planning in Secondary Cities: Reflections from South Africa. Stellenbosch: African Sun Media.

Marais, L., Burger, P., and van Rooyen, D. (Eds)., 2018. Community and Mining in South Africa: from Small Town to Iron Town. London: Routledge.

Marais, L., Nel, E., and Donaldson, R. (Eds)., 2016. Secondary Cities and Development. London: Routledge.

Donaldson, R., and Marais, L. (Eds)., 2012. Small Town Geographies in Africa: Experiences from South Africa and Elsewhere. New York: Nova Publishers.

Marais, L., and Visser, G. (Eds)., 2008. Spatialities of Urban Change. Selected Themes from Bloemfontein at the beginning of the 21st century. Stellenbosch: Sun Press.

Donaldson, R., and Marais, L. (Eds)., 2002. Transforming Rural and Urban Spaces in South Africa during the 1990s: Reform, Restitution and Restructuring. Pretoria: Africa Institute

Peer-reviewed articles

 Papers are categorised into two categories: (1) Mining and urban studies. (2) Children and health

2025

Mining and urban studies

Marais, L., 2025. Planning for post-mining economies: misconceptions and opportunities. Journal of the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (accepted).

Mokoena, M., Marais, L., Masithela, N., Venter, A., 2025. Governing housing megaprojects in a South African metropolitan area: The case of Mangaung. Area Development and Policy (accepted).

Nako, E., Marais, L., Engelbrecht, M., 2025. Lesotho migrant miners’ access to anti-retroviral therapy: conversion factors during mobility. Development Southern Africa, 41(1), 176-188.

Masiloane, M., and Marais, L., 2025. The Covid-19 border closure and local economic development in a South African Border Town. Journal of Asian and African Studies (accepted)

Children and urban health

Andres, L., Kraftl, P., Denoon-Stevens, S., Marais, L., Matamanda, A., Bizotto, L., Giatti, L., 2025. Children and young people’s access to food, education, play and leisure in times of crisis: An international, integrative review of policy responses, impacts and adaptations during the COVID- 19 pandemic. Children & Society (accepted

2024

Mining and urban studies

Mabele, B., Marais, L, Ozkan, N., Mirzania, P., Mbobo, B., Van der Watt, P., Venter, A., Cloete, J. 2024. Renewable energy, social disruption and a social licence to operate in South Africa. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 31, 331-343. .

Marais, L., Matebesi, S., Van der Watt, P., 2024. Social licensing and dependencies: implications for mine closure in South Africa. Resources Policy, 95, 105120.

Marais, L., Kemp, D., Van der Watt, P., Matebesi, Z., Cloete, J., Harris, J, and Owen, J., 2024. The catastrophic failure of the Jagersfontein tailings dam: an industrial disaster 150 years in the making. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 109, 104585.

Ndaguba, E., and Marais, L., 2025. A scientometric analysis of mine closure research. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 26, 27787-27803.

Owen, J., Kemp, D., van der Watt, P., Harris, J., Em, M., Marais, L., 2024. Disaster scenes as a foundation for emergency response planning. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 113, 104795.

Children and urban health

Amanda, V., Song, H., Serekoane, M., Pienaar, M., Lenka, M., Marais, L., Marais, K., Cloete, J., Sharp, C. 2024. In their own words: a linguistic analysis of interviews with Sesotho mothers on their child’s first thousand days. Vulnerable Children and Youth Studies, 19(2), 273-287.

Marais, L., Matamanda, A., Gbadegesin^, F., Ntema,^, J., Mgwele,^, A., Dunn,^, M., Nel,^, V., Lehobo, T., Andres^, L., Denoon-Stevens, S., 2025. The COVID-19 restrictions, child services and the well-being of children in South Africa. International Journal of Child Care and Education Policy,18, 12.

 Marais, L., Pool, A., Gbadegesin, F., Cloete, J., and Pienaar, M. 2024. Child stunting in South Africa: urban premium or penalty? Journal of Urban Affairs, 46(7), 1350–1370. .

Twitty, D., Hitch, A., Marais, L., Sales, J., Sharp, C., Cloete, J., Lenka, M., Rani, K., Gause, N., Brown, J., 2024. Pregnancy and STI/HIV prevention intervention preferences of South African adolescent girls: Findings from a cultural consensus modelling qualitative study. Culture, Health and Sexuality, 26(2), 191-207

2023

Mining and urban studies

Mirzania, P., Gordon, J., Ozkan, N., Sayan, R., and Marais, L., 2023. Barriers to powering past coal: Implications for a just energy transition in South Africa. Energy Research & Social Science 101, 103122.

Nel, E., Marais, L. and Mqotyana, Z., 2023. The regional implications of a just transition in the world’s

most coal-dependent economy: The case of Mpumalanga, South Africa. Frontiers in Sustainable Cities, 4, 1059312.

Ntema, L., Marais, L., Cloete, J. and Lenka, M., 2023. Mine closure in Matjhabeng in the Free State Goldfields, South Africa: implications for households. Extractive Industries and Society, 14, 101257.

Sesele, K. and Marais, L., 2023. Mine closure, women and crime in Matjhabeng, South Africa. Geographical Research, 61, 18-31.

Tanyanyiwa, V., Marais, L., Du Plessis, L., 2024. Informal sector counterpower in Harare, Zimbabwe. GeoJournal, 88, 5931-5941.

Children and urban health

Allman, M., Kulesz, P., Marais, L., & Sharp, C. 2023. Impact of the Mediational Intervention for Sensitizing Caregivers on Mentalizing in Orphans and Vulnerable Children in South Africa. Journal of Infant, Child, and Adolescent Psychotherapy, 22(4), 386-398.

Allman, M., Penner, F., Hernandez Ortis, J., Marais, L., Rani, K., Lenka, M., Cloete, J., and Sharp, C., 2023. Hope and mental health problems among orphans and vulnerable children in South Africa. AIDS Care, 32(5), 198-204.

Palmer, E., Marais, L. & Engelbrecht, M. Black women’s perceptions towards infant and child male circumcision. Maternal and Child Health Journal.  27, 1370–1381. 

Pienaar, M., Marais, L., Serekoane, M, Marais, K., Cloete, J., Lenka, M. and Sharp, C. 2022. “Being a mother is not child’s-play”: The capabilities of mothers in a low-resource setting in South Africa. Health Expectations.99 26, 651–661.

2022

Mining and urban studies

Du Toit, J., Napier, M., Marais, L., Cloete, J., and Crankshaw, B., 2023. A typology of designs for housing research: Improving methodological coherence of paradigm, approach and design. Quality & Quantity, 56, 3875-3891. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-021-01292-7.

Gbadegesin, J., Marais, L., Von Maltitz, M., Cloete, J., Lenka, M., Rani, K., Campbell, M., Denoon-Stevens, S., Venter, A., Koetaan, Q. and Pretorius, W., 2023. Student housing satisfaction at a South African University. Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, 59(5), 559-579.

Marais, L., Cloete, J., Lenka, M., 2022. The plight of mining cities in South Africa: planning for growth and closure, Cities, 130, 103965.

Marais, L., Ndaguba, M., Mmbadi, E., Cloete, J. and Lenka, M., 2022. Mine closure, social disruption and crime in South Africa. Geographical Journal, 188(3), 383-400.

Subramanyam, N. and Marais, L., 2022. Making Mangaung Metro: The politics of metropolitan reform in a South African secondary city. Urban Studies, 59(14), 2893 – 2911.

Children and urban health

Chatindiara, K., Marais, L., and Cloete, J., 2022. Housing and child health in South Africa: the value of longitudinal research. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19, 2497.

Gbadegesin, F., Marais, L., Cloete, J., Lenka, M., Rani, K., Serekoane, M., Boivin, M., Shohet, C., Givon, D., Sharp, C., 2022. Housing, home and children’s socio-emotional health: conceptual ideas and empirical evidence from a South African pilot study. Housing, Theory and Society, 39(5), 555–572.

Marais, L., Brown, J., Sharp, C., Sales, J., Lenka, M., Cloete, J., Lenka, M., 2022. Youth-centred clinics: The voices of adolescent Sesotho-speaking girls from Mangaung, South Africa. Sage Open, 12(2), 1-7.

Palmer, E., Marais, L. and Engelbrecht, M., 2022. Parental decision-making in infant and child male circumcision: A case study of two townships in Gauteng. African Journal of AIDS Research, 21(1), 32-40.

Sharp, C., Kulesz, P., Marais, L., Shohet, C., Rani, K., Lenka, M, Cloete, J., Vanwoerden, S., Givon, D. and Boivin, M., 2022. Mediational Intervention for Sensitizing Caregivers to improve mental health outcomes in orphaned and vulnerable children. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 51(5), 764-779.

2021

Mining and urban studies

Arku, G. and Marais, L., 2021. Global South urbanisms and urban sustainability – challenges and the way forward. Frontiers in Sustainable Cities, 3, 692799.

Crous, C., Owen, J., Marais, L., Khanyile, S., and Kemp, D., 2021. Public disclosure of mine closures by listed South African mining companies. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 28(3), 1032-1042.

Gbadegesin, J., Marais, L., Denoon-Stevens, S., Cloete, J., Campbell, M., Khoetaan, Q., Lenka, M., Rani, K., and Venter, A., 2021. Studentification and governance in South Africa: dependencies and conflicts. Land Use Policy, 109, 105639.

Marais, L., and De Lange, A., 2021. Anticipating and planning for mine closure in South Africa. Futures, 125, 102669.

Marais, L. and Lenka, M., 2021. Urban Housing for rural peasants: farmworker housing in South Africa. Development Southern Africa, 38(3), 391-403.

Marais, L., Nel, V., Rani, K., Van Rooyen, D., Sesele, K., Van der Watt, P., Du Plessis, L., 2021. Economic transitions in South Africa’s secondary cities: governing mine closures. Politics and Governance, 9(2), 381-392.

Marais, L. and Twala, C., 2021. Bloemfontein: The rise and fall of South Africa’s judicial capital. African Geographical Review, 40(1), 49-62.

Marais, L., Owen, J., Kotze, T., Nel, P., Cloete, J., Lenka, M., 2021. Determinants of place attachment among mineworkers: Evidence from South Africa. The Extractive Industries and Society, 8(3), 100943.

Owen, J., Kemp, D., and Marais, L., 2021. The cost of mining benefits: localising the resource curse hypothesis. Resources Policy. 74, 102239.

Sesele, K., Marais, L., van Rooyen, D. and Cloete, J., 2021. Mine decline and women: reflections from the Free State Goldfields. The Extractive Industries and Society, 8(1), 211-219.

Sesele, K., Marais, L., van Rooyen, D., 2021. Women and mine closure: A case study of policy in South Africa. Resources Policy, 72, 102059.

Van der Watt, P. and Marais, L., 2021. Implementing social and labour plans in South Africa: reflections on collaborative planning in the mining industry. Resources Policy, 71, 101984.

Children and urban health

Marais, L., Toefy, Y., Thomsen, S, Divan, V., Skinner, D., Mofolo, N., Lenka, M., Cloete, J., 2021. Targeting for male medical circumcision: Profiles from two South African cities. Aids Care, 33(4), 448-452.

Serekoane, M., Marais, L., Pienaar, M., Cloete, M., Bloemerus, L. and Sharp, C., 2022. Fieldworkers’ reflections on using telephone voice call to conduct fieldwork amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. Anthropology Southern Africa, 44(4), 161-174.

Low-income housing policy

Mining, communities and mine closure

Urban Health

Children