Urban sustainability responsibilities of the European planning profession in the next decades

Presently dominant urban planning strategies and discourses do not sufficiently address the crises of climate change, loss of nature and unjust inequality globally and nationally. The planning profession should interpret what it would imply for urban and regional development to effectively counteract these crises, reflect on possibilities and hindrances for meeting these challenges under current societal conditions, and try to raise a counter-discourse in opposition to mainstream planning approaches. Scenarios and alliance-building with stakeholders supporting sustainable transformation can be helpful for this purpose. Planning research should place stronger emphasis on investigating consequences of European urban and regional development for environmental sustainability and social justice not only locally but also at a wider geographical scale including the Global South. There is a need for strengthened regional planning across local administrative boundaries in urban regions, and for binding regulations promoting sustainability at a national, European, and global scale. Planners should, however, not be naïve about the possibilities for sustainability planning under present societal conditions. The profession should therefore also explore pathways for societal transformations necessary for overcoming present barriers to sustainable spatial planning.