Urban planning today appears to be at a crossroads: To achieve the deep transformations in urban systems needed in order to enable sustainable development at local to global scales, planning is challenged to radically change. Virtually all characteristics of planning including its aims, processes, methods and instruments demand reorientation in the light of conditions for system innovation. However, at the same time planning as a firmly institutionalized form of state intervention for steering urban and societal development is closely tied up with the system configurations of the past, creating strong path dependencies. Thus, the resulting paradox of contemporary planning is that it strives to achieve transformation while continuously serving to reinforce the status quo.
Against this backdrop, this paper explores the leeway available for achieving a transformative turn in urban planning. It does so by first reviewing key requirements for planning to become transformative, drawing on insights from various strands of sustainability science. Second, it accounts for recent trends and shifts in urban planning as identified and discussed in the field of urban studies, e.g. regarding the role of novel discourses, governance modes and experimentation, among others. Third, it reports on the findings of a global survey currently conducted in 15 countries (75+ cities) regarding characteristics of urban plans devised to address key sustainability challenges.
As a result it appears that, without necessarily naming it, transformation has indeed become a core concern of urban planning. This has increasingly implied the adoption of new approaches and/or methods that effectively attend certain requirements for achieving transformative urban change. Critically, however, this remains a rather selective process in which key features for ensuring that especially social justice and long-term ecosystem health become integral aspects of urban transformations, are left behind. In conclusion, the paper recognizes that strong efforts are needed to avoid that planning enhances the speed and depth of urban change - but in the wrong direction. It suggests that especially transdisciplinarity, multi-scalarity, community empowerment, participatory foresight and social learning are features that demand much more dedicated support and attention than obtained so far in order to shape a transformative turn in planning that effectively supports sustainability.
Keywords: Planning, Transformation, Sustainability, Urban Systems, Path Dependency
6a. Land use and planning
