Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Governing the Infrastructural, Spatial, and Social Consequences of Urban Digital Food Delivery Platforms File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/10623 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.10623 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 10623 Author-Name: Mosen Farhangi Author-Workplace-Name: Sustainable Societies, Swedish Environmental Research Institute (IVL), Sweden Author-Name: Harald Rohracher Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Thematic Studies, Linköping University, Sweden Author-Name: Gunilla Meurling Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Thematic Studies, Linköping University, Sweden Abstract: Digital food delivery platforms (DFDPs) are transforming how food is distributed and consumed in cities, but also how urban space, infrastructure, and labor are organized. This article examines how DFDPs affect urban infrastructure in cities by analyzing their spatial, logistical, and governance impacts. Drawing on interviews with municipal officials, platform companies, and civil society actors in three Swedish cities, as well as document analysis and literature review, the study explores how DFDPs challenge conventional planning and regulatory frameworks. Using the lenses of spatial inequality, platform urbanism, and anticipatory governance, the article investigates how platforms operate through hybrid infrastructures that can affect land use, public space, and spatial equalities. While municipal responses remain fragmented and reactive, emerging experiments offer glimpses of more inclusive and future‐oriented governance. The article suggests that urban planning approaches need to recognize DFDPs as infrastructural actors and integrate them into coherent regulatory strategies. Keywords: anticipatory governance; digital food delivery platforms; gig economy; last‐mile delivery; platform urbanism; spatial inequality; Sweden; urban infrastructure Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:10623 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: The Caring‐With Practitioner: Diffracting Practice‐Research Dynamics in Urban Care File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/10055 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.10055 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 10055 Author-Name: Claire McAndrew Author-Workplace-Name: The Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London, UK Author-Name: Jonathan Orlek Author-Workplace-Name: Liverpool School of Art and Creative Industries, Liverpool John Moores University, UK Author-Name: Cristina Cerulli Author-Workplace-Name: School of Architecture, University of Reading, UK Abstract: This article casts a light on the role of practitioner‐researchers working towards more caring cities within an expanded set of actors. By introducing the caring‐with practitioner, we draw attention to engaged, relational, and constitutively entangled forms of practice within urban care discourse. This contributes to professional practice scholarship (within urban planning, built environment, and design professions) by intersecting theory on/in practice with contemporary discourses around care. The article revisits interview transcripts from a British Academy‐funded project, Caring‐With Cities (2021–2022), in which practitioners working across policy and community‐led contexts discuss efforts to shift power dynamics within the urban realm. We also draw on our own experiences as design practitioner‐researchers embedded within collaborative projects that seek to put “caring with” (Tronto, 2015) theories into practice. Through diffractive inquiry (Barad, 2007), the article moves beyond established modes of thinking about practice‐research dynamics, which often use reflection‐in‐action/reflection‐on‐action (Schön, 1983) or conceptualise the practitioner as mediator (Forester, 1987). Set against design debates on difference and the pluriverse (Escobar, 2018), the caring‐with practitioner adds to and challenges thought on working in partnership to engage across difference. We contribute to an epistemology of practice founded on acts of caring‐with. The caring‐with practitioner operates not only through the apparatus of practice‐research, but through an intra‐active entanglement with the apparatuses and boundary‐drawing practices of others. To practice in this way involves holding multiple roles that are co‐emergent and mutually constitutive across projects and organisations, drawing attention to and determining what comes to matter. Keywords: care; caring‐with practitioner; design; diffraction; practice‐research assemblages Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:10055 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Collective Resources of Social Reproduction and Care? Potentialities and Limitations of Urban Initiatives of Commensality File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/9913 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.9913 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 9913 Author-Name: Anna Verwey Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Human Geography, Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany Author-Name: Rivka Saltiel Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Geography and Regional Science, University of Graz, Austria Abstract: Urban initiatives of commensality (UICs) form micro‐public spaces where people meet, cook together, and share a meal. UICs thereby address both social needs for encounter, care, and community as well as material needs for (free) food. As lived examples of caring‐with, UICs resist neoliberal individualisation, privatisation, and marketisation and experiment with alternative ways of being and relating in common. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in a neighbourhood centre in the city of Graz, Austria, this article explores the practices and social relations of a weekly communal lunch and asks about the potentialities and limitations of UICs as collective resources of social reproduction and care in the city. The analysis is guided by feminist care ethics and social reproduction theory and emphasises, first, the organisational structure and the central role of the employees as curators of this commensal context, second, the caring‐with relations that are established by being and doing in common, and, third, the ambiguous socio‐spatial divisions of labour, both within the UIC and beyond. This contribution extends existing debates of commensality with a feminist analysis of micro‐public curated commensal contexts. Keywords: commensality; community; cooking; curated encounter; eating; feminist care ethics; reproductive labour Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:9913 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Enhancing Sustainable and Resilient Water Infrastructure in South Africa in the Face of Climate Change File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/10096 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.10096 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 10096 Author-Name: Ayodeji Olatunji Aiyetan Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Construction Management and Quantity Surveying, Durban University of Technology, South Africa Abstract: In the context of climate change, ensuring the sustainability and resilience of urban water infrastructure in South Africa remains a critical challenge. This study investigates the barriers hindering effective water infrastructure delivery and identifies the factors contributing to inefficiencies. It also evaluates strategies to enhance the resilience and sustainability of water infrastructure projects, focusing on water utility agencies across the country. Key research questions include: What are the barriers to the delivery of sustainable and resilient water infrastructure in South Africa? What strategies can enable the delivery of sustainable and resilient water infrastructure in South Africa? Using survey research, statistical modelling, and case study analysis, the study highlights significant challenges such as ageing infrastructure, poor maintenance, financial constraints, climate change impacts, governance issues, inefficient project management, and water resource scarcity. These challenges were found to stem from four core dimensions: inadequate project management practices, organisational and managerial limitations, operational and maintenance deficiencies, and socio‐political factors. In response, the study proposes a five‐pronged strategic framework to strengthen water infrastructure delivery. Recommended strategies include upgrading and maintaining ageing systems, improving funding mechanisms and financial oversight, adopting climate‐resilient technologies, enhancing project management capacity, and reinforcing governance and accountability structures. Implementing these strategies is essential for ensuring South African cities are better prepared to withstand climate‐related disruptions and maintain reliable access to water resources. Ultimately, integrating sustainability and resilience into water infrastructure planning and management is vital for securing long‐term water security and supporting urban development under changing environmental conditions Keywords: barriers; climate change; resiliency; South Africa; strategies; sustainability; water infrastructure Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:10096 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Local Implementation of the 2030 Agenda in Europe File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/9873 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.9873 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 9873 Author-Name: Lena Partzsch Author-Workplace-Name: Otto Suhr Institute of Political Science, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany Abstract: While some scholars see the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as an example of environmentally friendly development approaches that reconnect development with biospheric preconditions, others argue that they mask ongoing contestation. This article begins with a multi‐level governance perspective on the “green goals” of the 2030 Agenda and the importance of local action for their implementation. The focus is on Europe, where municipal sustainability governance was found to be concentrated and where the environment is most likely prioritized. Against this backdrop, I analyze which policy measures the European Union, nation states, regions, and municipalities in Europe name in the reviews submitted to the UN High‐Level Political Forum to achieve environmental targets. I show that although the environment is not a priority of SDG implementation at any policy level, municipalities are occasionally leading the way in environmental action both horizontally, with site‐specific measures, and vertically, with multi‐level measures. Keywords: 2030 Agenda; biodiversity; environmental sustainability; implementation; municipalities; Sustainable Development Goals; voluntary local reviews Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:9873 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Caring Communities and Urban Cultures of Care for Older People in Austria, Hungary, and The Netherlands File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/10038 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.10038 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 10038 Author-Name: Valentin Fröhlich Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Sociology, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria Author-Name: Dóra Gábriel Author-Workplace-Name: Institute for Regional Studies, HUN‐REN Centre for Economic and Regional Studies, Hungary Author-Name: Florian Pimminger Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Sociology, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria Abstract: While a wide range of community‐based civic initiatives and collective practices have emerged in urban settings in recent years, the intersection of spatiality, care, and communities is a relatively little‐discussed topic. In the examination of urban life, the concept of social infrastructures may be a useful tool, that refers to spaces, facilities, institutions, and communities that enable social connections in the urban environment and contributes to the operation of the city with regards to well‐being, inclusiveness, autonomy, accessibility, and mobility for potentially vulnerable social groups like older people. The article applies the concept as a starting point and presents three case studies of caring communities in Austria, Hungary, and the Netherlands. Caring communities are thereby understood as heterogeneous and dynamic ensembles of caring relations involving different actors, practices, and socio‐material dimensions. Drawing on theoretical and empirical work that critically assesses care, caring communities and urban life, we ask the following questions: (a) How are the analysed cases embedded into the respective (country‐specific and local) care regimes?; (b) how do community initiatives (re‐)appropriate urban spaces?; and (c) how do community initiatives implement new urban cultures of care and constitute social infrastructures? By analysing distinct care regimes, we first examine specific characteristics of the socio‐spatial embedding of caring communities in urban regions. Building on qualitative research, in the second step, we present different attempts at organising community‐based care in the three selected countries. Keywords: care for older people; caring communities; social infrastructure; urban care; urban cultures of care Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:10038 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Caring Cities: Towards a Public Urban Culture of Care? File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/10016 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.10016 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 10016 Author-Name: Hannah Müller Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Architecture and Urbanism, Bauhaus‐Universität Weimar, Germany Author-Name: Sandra Huning Author-Workplace-Name: Spatial Planning Department, TU Dortmund University, Germany Author-Name: Nina Böcker Author-Workplace-Name: Research Unit for Urban Transformation and Social Cohesion, Federal Association for Housing and Urban Development Berlin (vhw), Germany Abstract: Based on an international literature review and selected case studies, this article discusses the potential of the Caring City policies for an urban public culture of care. In recent years, “the caring city” has entered feminist and urbanist debates and local politics as a concept to overcome the multiple crises of care. The concept draws on a longstanding tradition of feminist research and critique, but is a comparatively new attempt to transform care arrangements at the local level. It addresses the urban as a system of mutual care and a place of daily and (inter)generational care for oneself, others, and the planet. In terms of the importance of local infrastructure in enabling or hindering care, the concept also includes a debate on planning as caring practice. It is enhanced and put into practice by local governments, such as in Barcelona and Madrid (Spain) and Bogotá (Colombia). Here, Caring City policies range from integrated care strategies to neighbourhood care systems, including care centres, mutual support networks, and awareness‐raising. The article provides an overview of Caring City policies, their genesis, objectives, and essential elements. We argue that the concept resonates well with the current quest to develop more sustainable and equitable cities by establishing public urban cultures of care. The Caring City policies’ long‐term effects, however, require monitoring, as the case studies demonstrate how little established Caring City policies still are and how much effort it takes to anchor them in local politics in the long term. Keywords: Caring Cities; feminist city; urban development; urban planning Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:10016 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Data‐Driven Equitable Planning for Urban Resilience: Innovation, Risk, and Outcomes in Boston, New Orleans, and Norfolk File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/10043 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.10043 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 10043 Author-Name: Kristen Hudak Rosero Author-Workplace-Name: School of Sciences and Humanities, Wentworth Institute of Technology, USA Author-Name: Ella Howard Author-Workplace-Name: School of Sciences and Humanities, Wentworth Institute of Technology, USA Author-Name: Thaddeus Guldbrandsen Author-Workplace-Name: School of Sciences and Humanities, Wentworth Institute of Technology, USA Abstract: Coastal cities around the world seek to mitigate the intensifying impacts of sea‐level rise and stormwater on urban infrastructure and human safety and well‐being. Our comparative case study of Boston, New Orleans, and Norfolk examines how cities use data and smart technologies to inform resilient infrastructure planning, with a focus on equity and social justice outcomes. Drawing on Kitchin’s (2021) critical framework of data as socially constructed, we analyze how data is defined, collected, and deployed in coastal resilience planning in each of these cities. Findings demonstrate how data practices can reinforce existing power dynamics. The comparison points to three critical factors affecting equitable data‐driven resilience planning: (a) centering community participation in determining what data is collected and how it is used; (b) making technical data accessible and meaningful to diverse audiences; and (c) implementing transparent monitoring mechanisms that enable communities to track progress and address unintended consequences. This study contributes to a nuanced understanding of the opportunities and challenges in using data for equitable urban resilience planning, offering insights for policymakers and urban planners grappling with similar challenges globally. Keywords: climate adaptation; coastal cities; community engagement; flood mitigation; infrastructure improvement; public policy; risk management; urban development; urban governance; urban resilience Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:10043 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Informal and Community‐Based Agglomeration: Development and Change in the Garment Industry of Buenos Aires File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/10008 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.10008 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 10008 Author-Name: Maria Daels Author-Workplace-Name: Urban Planning and Design, Monash University, Australia Author-Name: Carl Grodach Author-Workplace-Name: Urban Planning and Design, Monash University, Australia Abstract: This article explores the interplay between formal and informal economic activities in the garment industry of Buenos Aires. Focusing on the emergent cluster in Villa Celina, it examines how immigrant‐led social and economic networks intersect with policy shifts and economic pressures to shape production geographies. The case underscores the importance of informal and community‐based practices in enabling clustering in low‐tech, high‐touch manufacturing. The findings enrich agglomeration theory by showing how industrial clusters in contexts of informality and limited state support rely not only on conventional drivers but especially on informal governance and adaptive place‐based community networks. These embedded and often invisible dynamics sustain production and enable spatial concentration under constraint. Informal economies generate their own trust‐based external economies, including shared resources and logistical systems, both of which support ongoing activity and attract formal firms seeking to tap into these networks. The study concludes with implications for rethinking zoning and regulatory frameworks to better accommodate inclusive and diverse forms of urban manufacturing. Keywords: agglomeration; Buenos Aires; garment industry; immigrants; industrial districts; informal economy; labor; land use; manufacturing Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:10008 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Resilient and Sustainable Urban Infrastructure in the Global South: Strategies to Address Climate Change-Linked Vulnerabilities File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/10037 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.10037 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 10037 Author-Name: Dillip Kumar Das Author-Workplace-Name: Civil Engineering, University of KwaZulu‐Natal, South Africa Abstract: The impacts of climate change pose serious threats to the sustainability and resilience of urban infrastructure in the Global South, where socioeconomic, technical, and governance challenges intensify vulnerabilities in water, energy, and transport systems. This article explores these vulnerabilities through a literature review and case study analyses and identifies strategies for creating resilient and sustainable urban infrastructure in developing regions. The study highlights critical challenges such as ageing infrastructure, inadequate maintenance, insufficient funding, and rapid urbanisation, which increase the susceptibility of urban systems to climate‐related events like floods, droughts, and rising sea levels. Case studies from two countries reveal that the intersection of climate vulnerability with factors such as poor governance, socio‐political issues, and limited technological capacity further weakens infrastructure resilience. However, emerging strategies focus on climate‐resilient design, improved governance, strengthened public–private partnerships, and community‐based solutions. Integrating nature‐based solutions, smart technologies, and capacity‐building initiatives is vital in enhancing local governments’ adaptive capacity to enable the building of sustainable and resilient infrastructure. This article argues that while infrastructure vulnerabilities in the Global South are complex and rooted in historical inequalities, lack of technological competence and financial constraints, targeted strategies—centred on governance reform, climate‐resilient design and retrofitting, technological innovations and nature‐based solutions, strengthening public–private partnerships, community‐based solutions and capacity building—are essential for building resilient and sustainable urban infrastructure. These insights offer guidance for policymakers, planners, and development agencies working to strengthen critical infrastructure in vulnerable regions of the Global South. Keywords: climate change; Global South; resilience; sustainability; sustainable urban infrastructure; urban infrastructure; vulnerability Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:10037 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Reclaiming Food Insecurity in European Urban Policies: Lessons From Public and Community‐Based Initiatives File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/9557 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.9557 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 9557 Author-Name: María José LaRota‐Aguilera Author-Workplace-Name: Food Action and Research Observatory (FARO), University of Barcelona, Spain / Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Barcelona, Spain Author-Name: Ana Moragues-Faus Author-Workplace-Name: Food Action and Research Observatory (FARO), University of Barcelona, Spain / Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Barcelona, Spain Abstract: Cities are at the forefront of socio‐ecological challenges, including food insecurity, rising inequalities, and environmental degradation. Despite a decade of progress in urban food policies, food insecurity remains a low priority in European cities, even as community and public responses increase, revealing persistent challenges in integrating different sectors in food policy‐making. Limited evidence and conceptualisations further hinder the development of effective interventions that combine food availability and accessibility with sustainability and empowerment goals. This study proposes an analytical framework grounded on the High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition’s six‐dimensional approach (Availability, Access, Utilisation, Stability, Agency, and Sustainability) to address these gaps. Applying this framework to the case of Barcelona, the study maps local food insecurity responses and develops a new typology of initiatives, which range from targeted access programs to more comprehensive efforts that incorporate multiple dimensions such as agency and sustainability. The analysis highlights significant tensions within and between initiatives, particularly at the intersection of sustainability, agency, and access. Tensions reflect broader structural challenges in European urban food policies, where weak sectoral integration across economic, environmental, and justice areas limits effective responses to food insecurity. More comprehensive initiatives offer bottom‐up insights into navigating these tensions and trade‐offs. We argue that embracing all six food security dimensions can support urban policies to better address food insecurity by redesigning individual initiatives and leveraging their diversity and synergies from a place‐based perspective. A more critical, collaborative, multidimensional, and territorial approach that explicitly connects urban food policies with poverty reduction is essential for building inclusive, resilient, and just urban food systems. Keywords: agency; community initiative; food security; sustainability; urban food governance; urban food systems Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:9557 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Perspectives on Food in the Sustainable City File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/10934 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.10934 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 10934 Author-Name: Birgit Hoinle Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Societal Transition & Agriculture, University of Hohenheim, Germany Author-Name: Alena Birnbaum Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Landscape Planning and Communication, University of Kassel, Germany Author-Name: Petra Lütke Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Geography, University of Münster, Germany Abstract: This thematic issue explores the importance of food geographies in understanding and shaping sustainable food systems in urban contexts. As cities strive to achieve sustainability goals, the importance of food as a critical urban system has become increasingly recognized. The contributions in this issue highlight the need for intersectional and interdisciplinary approaches to address issues of food justice, equality, and sustainability in urban areas. The Covid‐19 pandemic, trade wars, and climate change have exacerbated existing inequalities in food access, underlining the urgency of rethinking and redesigning urban food systems. This issue brings together diverse perspectives from across disciplines and regions to critically assess theoretical frameworks and methodological approaches in food geographies, and to explore new avenues for innovation and collaboration. By examining the complex intersections of food, space, governance, and practice, this thematic issue illuminates potential pathways towards more just, equitable, and sustainable food futures for all. It also highlights the role of cities as key sites for transformative change in the pursuit of socio‐ecological and socio‐economical transitions. Keywords: food geographies; food justice; intersectionality; Sustainable Development Goals; sustainable transitions; urban governance Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:10934 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Data‐Driven Urban Digital Twins and Critical Infrastructure Under Climate Change: A Review of Frameworks and Applications File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/10109 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.10109 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 10109 Author-Name: Mingyu Zhu Author-Workplace-Name: School of Social & Political Sciences, University of Glasgow, UK Author-Name: Jiayi Jin Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Architecture and Built Environment, Northumbria University, UK Abstract: Urban Digital Twins (UDTs) are rapidly emerging as a transformative tool for enhancing the resilience and sustainability of critical infrastructure (CI) in smart cities, particularly in the face of climate‐induced risks. They have gained significant attention in both research and real‐world applications. By integrating real‐time data, advanced simulations, and predictive analytics, UDTs facilitate data‐driven decision‐making and optimise urban systems. Given the complexity of urban environments and dynamics, addressing interdependency, interoperability, and inclusiveness is crucial for their effective implementation. This article examines the role of UDTs in managing CI, summarising key risks, technological advancements, and applications. A conceptual framework is proposed in this study to outline the resources required and the potential of UDTs in addressing climate challenges. Despite their promise, the implementation of UDTs faces multidimensional challenges: This article also explores these barriers and future directions for overcoming them through interdisciplinary collaboration, standardisation efforts, and inclusive governance frameworks. As UDTs continue to evolve, sustained innovation and equitable resource distribution will be essential to maximising their impact on the future of urban infrastructure and climate resilience. Keywords: critical infrastructure resilience; smart cities; urban analytics; urban digital twins; urban management; urban planning Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:10109 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Contesting the Right to Sustainable Cities Under Neoliberalism: The Case of Macrocampamento Los Arenales, Chile File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/10051 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.10051 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 10051 Author-Name: Francisco Vergara-Perucich Author-Workplace-Name: Nucleo de Investigación Centro Producción del Espacio, Universidad de Las Américas, Chile Author-Name: Martín Arias‐Loyola Author-Workplace-Name: Departamento de Economía, Universidad Católica del Norte, Chile Abstract: This article examines the grassroots urbanism of Los Arenales, a large informal settlement in Antofagasta, Chile, within the theoretical framework of Henri Lefebvre’s right to the city and its application under neoliberal constraints. It critiques the limitations of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly their top‐down implementation and neoliberal tendencies, by juxtaposing them with community‐driven approaches rooted in spatial justice, participatory governance, and collective agency. Employing a mixed‐methods, embedded case study approach, the study draws on data collected between 2017 and 2023, including participatory mapping, 14 semi‐structured interviews, and engaged research initiatives. Two key projects—Chile’s first cooperative bakery in an informal settlement and the Know Your City initiative—serve as focal points for analysing grassroots strategies. Findings highlight how these initiatives foster economic autonomy, social solidarity, and political advocacy, advancing residents’ right to the city. However, challenges such as reliance on external support and systemic barriers underscore the limitations of grassroots efforts under neoliberal governance. The article concludes that Los Arenales exemplifies the transformative potential of grassroots urbanism, while advocating for structural reforms and inclusive policies to enable equitable urban development. It underscores the importance of integrating lived experiences into urban planning to achieve justice and sustainability within the Global South. Keywords: contested urbanism; grassroots urban planning; informality; right to the city; Sustainable Development Goals Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:10051 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Urban Foods Beyond Urban Food Environments: Reflections From a Rural Village in Western Bhutan File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/10679 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.10679 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 10679 Author-Name: Elena Neri Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Nutrition and Public Health, University of Agder, Norway Abstract: This ethnographic article, based on anthropological fieldwork carried out between March 2024 and March 2025, aims to challenge the concept of urban food environments by focusing on the ways in which industrially produced foods—conceptualised as “urban foods”—and associated negative health outcomes proliferate beyond urban built spaces. In particular, it looks at the ways in which these foods penetrate what is considered a remote and rural village located in the Haa valley of the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, exploring the mechanisms through which local inhabitants incorporate urban foods into their long‐established rural practices, shifting them from a capitalist logic of consumption to communal ethics of care. The article illustrates (through three ethnographic vignettes) and discusses how industrially produced foods become embedded in local practices and diets through social, cultural, and affective processes, suggesting that, to capture the complexity of contemporary food systems, we need to examine such processes in our analyses. We therefore need to think beyond urban food environments: firstly, issues associated with such environments have gone well beyond urban built spaces; secondly, by perpetrating the narrative predominance of the urban over the rural, we fail to notice the mechanisms that allow unhealthy urban food systems to exist, proliferate, and cause harm. This article contributes to the literature thinking beyond urban food environments by exploring some of the ways in which food spaces are constantly transforming into a (re)combination of urban and rural elements and relations. Keywords: Bhutan; development; food spaces; food systems; Himalaya; remoteness; rural; ultra‐processed foods; urban food environments; urbanisation Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:10679 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Food Business Owner Perspectives on Meal Delivery Platforms in Belgium: A Qualitative Investigation File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/10359 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.10359 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 10359 Author-Name: Matthew Keeble Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Marketing, Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Antwerp, Belgium Author-Name: Thomas Vanoutrive Author-Workplace-Name: Research Group for Urban Development, Faculty of Design Sciences, University of Antwerp, Belgium Author-Name: Wendy Van Lippevelde Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Marketing, Innovation and Organisation, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, Belgium Author-Name: Lukar Thornton Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Marketing, Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Antwerp, Belgium Abstract: Reflecting global trends towards food retail digitalisation, meal delivery platforms such as Uber Eats have operated in Belgium since at least 2016. These platforms enable registered food businesses to sell ready‐to‐eat meals online. How such partnerships impact the function of food businesses in urban areas is poorly understood. This is critical given concerns that meal delivery platform business models support unfair levels of competition between international food corporations and independent food businesses. Based on 21 in‐person interviews with the owners or managers of restaurants and takeaway food businesses, we describe how meal delivery is (re)shaping food retail in the region of Flanders, Belgium. Owners and managers informed us that meal delivery platform registration allows them to meet consumer demand. Nevertheless, online orders only supplement continued in‐person ordering and dining. During busy periods, food businesses prioritise customers visiting their brick‐and‐mortar location by temporarily removing themselves from meal delivery platforms. Furthermore, they typically pass on “excessive” and “unfair” meal delivery platform commission fees to consumers through inflated online prices. The evolution of meal delivery platforms has encouraged the development of dark kitchens, where meals are prepared inside non‐customer‐facing locations and sold exclusively online. Monitoring the development of these facilities and the broader meal delivery system is needed to understand implications for urban areas. Food accessibility measures and definitions should continue to include brick‐and‐mortar food business locations. They must also consider variation in availability and price across neighbourhood and digital food environments according to the time of day. Keywords: food environment; food retail; food systems; meal delivery platforms; qualitative research; urban planning Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:10359 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Awaiting Recovery: The Role of Outdoor Healthcare Spaces in Patient Self‐Care in Ljubljana File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/10020 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.10020 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 10020 Author-Name: Zala Velkavrh Author-Workplace-Name: Prostorož, Slovenia Author-Name: Naja Kikelj Širok Author-Workplace-Name: Prostorož, Slovenia Author-Name: Ana Šemrov Author-Workplace-Name: Psychological and Neuroscientific Aspects of Cognition Research Group, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia Abstract: Outdoor spaces in public healthcare institutions play a vital role in reducing patient stress and supporting healing. This study investigates their impact on patient self‐care practices across primary, secondary, and tertiary healthcare facilities in Ljubljana, Slovenia, using a two‐phase mixed‐methods approach grounded in Ulrich’s theory of supportive design. The first phase, conducted at the Vodmat Medical Area (Slovenia’s largest hospital complex), involved spatial interventions, workshops, and patient‐led walks to analyze utilization of outdoor spaces and inform the development of a patient experience questionnaire. The second phase employed this questionnaire to assess patient experiences across five selected primary healthcare facilities in Ljubljana. The results highlighted the importance of accessibility, well‐maintained spaces, and comfortable waiting areas, with notable differences in utilization patterns. Primary care patients prioritized accessibility and upkeep, and secondary and tertiary care patients engaged in a broader range of self‐care activities, including relaxation, social interaction, and rehabilitation. These findings underscore the significance of outdoor healthcare spaces, particularly hospital grounds, as critical urban care‐related infrastructures that support patients across the self‐care continuum from health maintenance to rehabilitation. Amid challenges facing Slovenia’s public healthcare system, strategic investment in the design and management of these spaces can improve patient well‐being and transform them into vital sites of institutional and urban care practices. Keywords: infrastructures of care; outdoor healthcare space; patient experience; patient self‐care; supportive design Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:10020 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Integrating the SDGs Into Urban Renewal Practices: Recommendations From Participatory SDG Monitoring in Stuttgart‐Münster File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/9973 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.9973 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 9973 Author-Name: Sigrid Busch Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Urban Planning and Design, University of Stuttgart, Germany Author-Name: Marlene Franck Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Urban Planning and Design, University of Stuttgart, Germany Author-Name: Astrid Ley Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Urban Planning and Design, University of Stuttgart, Germany Abstract: Implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) presents a unique opportunity for collective action across various spatial scales. At the local level, programs to revitalize vulnerable neighborhoods offer significant potential to contribute to the SDGs. In Germany, the “Soziale Stadt/Sozialer Zusammenhalt” (Social City/Social Cohesion) funding program supports municipalities in promoting sustainable development in these areas. However, there is currently no direct linkage between this funding program and the SDGs. This raises questions as to how the instruments of the Social City/Social Cohesion program could support the SDGs and their monitoring processes and vice versa and what adjustments could be recommended to enhance this relationship. The research presented in this article is based on a case study conducted in the urban renewal district of Stuttgart‐Münster, Germany. Students and scholars from the University of Stuttgart collaborated with municipal staff and civil society members to explore the funding program’s instruments and assess their potential for monitoring the SDGs. Based on the municipal indicator set developed with the assistance of SDG coordinators at the City of Stuttgart—Germany’s first city to pilot this indicator set in 2019—the transdisciplinary team adapted specific indicators to the neighborhood level. They also investigated the inclusion of qualitative indicators for assessing SDGs and tested a collaborative approach to gathering data for these localized indicators with input from residents. Based on the findings of this case study, this contribution reflects on recommendations for integrating the SDGs into the initial stages of urban renewal practices and related instruments. Keywords: co‐production; participation; SDG monitoring; Soziale Stadt; transdisciplinarity; urban renewal Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:9973 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Creating Communities of Urban Care: The No to the Felling Environmental Movement in the City of Madrid File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/10012 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.10012 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 10012 Author-Name: Rosa M. de la Fuente Author-Workplace-Name: Department of History, Theory, and Political Geography, Complutense University of Madrid, Spain Author-Name: Lucía Cobos Author-Workplace-Name: Department of History, Theory, and Political Geography, Complutense University of Madrid, Spain Abstract: The emergence of urban care communities has recently become a topic of study, with a focus on the social bonds shaped through mutual assistance and support in vulnerable and non‐vulnerable neighbourhoods following natural disasters, pandemic situations, and collective urban emotional suffering. We argue that not only is a more comprehensive conceptualisation of urban care necessary, incorporating urban green infrastructures as a component of collective wellbeing, but that care needs to be considered as a political element to develop urban resilience in the face of climate change and extreme events. With this in mind, the present research proposes the enlargement of the concept of the urban care community by means of a specific case study and using a qualitative methodology, underlining how the environmental urban care discourse strengthens new political subjects claiming for urban care‐full justice. Our case study is the No to the Felling movement, which emerged at the end of 2023 from the response of a group of residents to Madrid City Council’s plan to cut down trees located mainly in the Madrid Río park to extend a metro line. The case is not only indicative of a growing concern about the preservation of green spaces in urban areas, but it is also related to the discourse of caring for the urban space. However, these demands did not arise from a vacuum. Their most direct antecedent was the emergence of networks of mutual support in the city that started during the pandemic, and already existing neighbourhood protest movements against urban planning processes. This article analyses how previous experiences of care generate conditions of possibility for current struggles and the constitution of a political subject that promotes environmental urban care through the shared perception of urban wellbeing deprivation and the absence of a caring approach to such issues. Keywords: environmental urban care; urban care communities; urban collective political subject; urban common; urban green infrastructure Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:10012 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Integrating Emerging Design‐Build Technologies for Resilient Housing in the Navajo Nation File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/10157 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.10157 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 10157 Author-Name: Sina Mostafavi Author-Workplace-Name: Huckabee College of Architecture, Texas Tech University, USA Author-Name: Asma Mehan Author-Workplace-Name: Huckabee College of Architecture, Texas Tech University, USA Author-Name: Ali Nejat Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Civil, Environmental, and Construction Engineering, Texas Tech University, USA Abstract: The Navajo Nation faces critical challenges in developing housing that is resilient to climate change while honoring cultural heritage. Socio‐economic disparities, limited infrastructure, and extreme environmental conditions demand innovative solutions that integrate sustainable practices with traditional Navajo values. This study critically examines the potential of smart design‐build technologies to create resilient, culturally appropriate housing tailored to the Navajo Nation’s unique needs, while interrogating the normative assumptions that often accompany Western frameworks of sustainability and innovation. This research combines a multidisciplinary literature review with a graduate‐level design studio’s explorative and applied insight. The literature review synthesizes advancements in sustainable technologies—such as off‐grid power systems, alternative materials, and participatory design methods—through a decolonial lens that challenges dominant planning paradigms. A conceptual framework was constructed to evaluate the intersection of cultural coherence, technological viability, material sustainability, socio‐environmental adaptability, and governance. Off‐grid solutions, including solar panels and wind turbines, offer clean energy alternatives, while locally sourced materials, like earth‐based and carbon‐environmentally informed additive manufacturing solutions, provide cost‐effective, low‐carbon options suitable for the arid climate. The study emphasizes participatory design, engaging local communities in developing housing solutions that align with cultural values and modern needs. By combining traditional Navajo architectural principles—such as circular forms and earthen materials—with smart technologies, the resulting designs are resilient, sustainable, and socially relevant. The design studio component enabled graduate students to explore speculative housing prototypes grounded in this framework, evaluated in dialogue with Navajo cultural liaisons and contextual constraints, thereby centering Indigenous perspectives in both process and output. The findings contribute to the broader discourse on smart, resilient infrastructure, offering insights for policymakers, designers, and funders to support localized, culturally and environmentally informed housing solutions in Indigenous communities. Keywords: climate adaptation; Navajo Nation; off‐grid systems; resilient housing; responsible design; smart building technologies; sustainable materials Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:10157 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Consumers’ Willingness to Pay for Organic Foods in Tehran: A Mixed‐Methods Study File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/9720 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.9720 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 9720 Author-Name: Arezou Babajani Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Agricultural Policy and Markets, University of Hohenheim, Germany Author-Name: Senour Ahmadi Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Economics, University of Foggia, Italy Author-Name: Christine Wieck Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Agricultural Policy and Markets, University of Hohenheim, Germany Author-Name: Azad Ahmadi Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Economics, Payame Noor University, Iran Author-Name: Mohammad Babajani Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Biology, Islamic Azad University of Tehran, Iran Abstract: In Iran, despite the limited development and enforcement of certification systems, consumers’ interest in organic food is growing. However, the organic market is still emerging. Therefore, the current study investigates the factors influencing consumers’ willingness to pay for organic fresh products (fruits and vegetables), while also exploring key consumer‐driven priorities for strengthening the sector. The study employed a sequential qualitative‐quantitative approach. First, 16 Iranian experts were consulted in two rounds to identify the influencing variables, using the Delphi method. Subsequently, a mixed‐methods approach was used for data collection and analysis. This survey was conducted in 2024 among 214 consumers at vegetable markets across 22 regions of Tehran. The data was analyzed using multiple regression to determine the main influencing factors. The results showed that consumers’ willingness to pay for organic food is positively influenced by their perceptions of organic products and higher income levels. Furthermore, factors such as age, attitudes toward agrochemicals, and the perception of higher costs significantly impact consumers’ willingness to pay for organic products in Tehran. This study also highlights the role of the certification system in building consumer trust, noting that while organic production organizations exist in Iran, the certification framework remains fractured and lacks broad consumer recognition. A key contribution of this study relates to its mixed approach, providing in‐depth perspectives on consumer preferences in an expanding organic market. The qualitative findings further underscore the importance of establishing designated organic markets, reinforcing certification and labeling systems, and targeting consumer education to increase awareness and trust in organic products. Keywords: consumer attitudes; organic food consumption; organic food policy; organic foods in Iran; willingness to pay Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:9720 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: “They Will Make It Center”: Navigating Food Gentrification in Amsterdam’s Javastraat File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/9706 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.9706 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 9706 Author-Name: Maximilian Schrobenhauser Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Geography, University of Münster, Germany Author-Name: Petra Lütke Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Geography, University of Münster, Germany Abstract: Food gentrification is a key driver of socio‐economic and socio‐cultural change in urban spaces. The influx of affluent populations into marginalized neighborhoods often leads to the rise of new food outlets—upscale restaurants, artisan cafés, and boutique‐style food shops—that may initially complement but eventually displace local food cultures. This study examines Javastraat in Amsterdam as a prominent example of urban (food) gentrification in Europe, focusing in particular on the long‐term effects of gentrification on restaurants and food shops who identify as non‐European in their menus and food marketing. State‐led redevelopment in Javastraat has displaced local shops and eateries while imposing cosmopolitan ideals of diversity and sustainability. As a result, long‐established immigrant food establishments have been pressured to align their menus to the tastes of the incoming affluent residents and elite workers. This shift has generated insecurity and alienation among the owners and employees of these vital social gathering spaces. By framing Javastraat as a space in flux, we analyze the experiences of these stakeholders through the lens of social navigation and explore how these gastronomic professionals are navigating shifting food cultures and urban environments. Keywords: Amsterdam; food gentrification; foodscape; gastronomic professionals; migration; social navigation Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:9706 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Rethinking Urban Food Systems in Nairobi: Embracing Local Context for Sustainable Transformation File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/9458 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.9458 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 9458 Author-Name: Linda Hering Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Geography, Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany Author-Name: Alexander Kohrs Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Geography, Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany Abstract: Urban food systems are crucial for addressing sustainability, equity, and resilience, especially in rapidly growing cities of the Global South. Yet, urban planners have long neglected them. In Nairobi, where up to 60% of residents live in informal settlements and many spend over half their income on food, the food system remains fragmented despite extensive interventions. Drawing on research in Kasarani, a constituency of Nairobi, this article explores how residents navigate and use the social, economic, and infrastructural dynamics of their neighborhoods to secure food and their livelihoods. We show that policy approaches centered on formalization and large‐scale projects often ignore the value of everyday practices and local networks. Informal actors, such as mama mbogas (fresh produce traders), are vital for food security and community resilience. We advocate for urban food governance that embraces the coexistence of on‐ and off‐grid systems and recognizes informal economies as central to urban resilience. By emphasizing residents’ lived experiences, we highlight pathways for more inclusive and transformative urban food planning. Keywords: governance; local context; peri‐urban development; sustainable transformation; urban food systems Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:9458 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: A Switch to Commons: The Evolution of the Regulation of Urban Agriculture in Rome, Italy File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/9541 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.9541 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 9541 Author-Name: Micol Sonnino Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Geography and Regional Research, University of Vienna, Austria Author-Name: Simona Zollet Author-Workplace-Name: Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Hiroshima University, Japan Abstract: This article investigates how framing urban agriculture as a “common good” shapes governance structures and fosters participatory processes for sustainable urban development. In October 2024, the City of Rome approved a new regulation on urban agriculture within the broader Regulation for the Shared Administration of Common Goods. This marked a significant evolution in framing urban agriculture as a “commons” compared to the City’s earlier legislation. Drawing on field research, including semi‐structured interviews with key stakeholders and analysis of archival data, the study examines how urban agriculture practices in Rome exemplify collaborative governance in action. We argue that the resulting state‐society co‐creation processes enable cooperation between citizens and the local government, challenging traditional urban planning practices and promoting responsibility‐sharing. We also emphasize the importance of co‐creation and structured roundtables in fostering mutual awareness of roles and responsibilities. By situating urban agriculture within the broader context of urban commons governance scholarship and connecting it to collaborative governance frameworks, the article contributes to understanding how these theoretical concepts manifest as real‐world policy changes. It also calls for further research into the long‐term effectiveness of co‐creative urban governance and the broader applicability of commons‐based legal frameworks to other collective initiatives. Keywords: collaborative governance; sustainability; urban agriculture; urban commons Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:9541 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Spaces of Urban Cultures of Homeless Care: The Austerity‐Driven Closure of an Institutional Facility File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/10097 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.10097 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 10097 Author-Name: Jonas Felder Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Geography, RWTH Aachen University, Germany Abstract: This article draws on institutional ethnography to examine the austerity‐driven closure of a homeless care facility in Cologne, Germany. It expands debates on public urban cultures of care by highlighting the significance of spatially embedded institutional loops and their impact on malfunctioning care spaces from a multi‐level perspective. The article demonstrates that spatial loops and classifications within the framework of austerity politics undergo a transformation and directly affect spaces and cultures of homeless care. At the macro and meso levels, institutional actors (municipal administration, property committees, the head of the facility, and social workers) are engaged in negotiations over the acceptance and rejection of spatial responsibility. At the same time, at the micro level, homeless men themselves are required to navigate altered loops within various spaces of care, encountering highly paradoxical paternalistic cultures of care. The specific spatial context—shaped by political agendas, institutional structures, and the interplay of various spaces of care—is crucial for better understanding the dynamics of public urban cultures of care for the homeless and other marginalized communities. Keywords: austerity policies; cultures of care; homeless care; looping effects; spaces of care Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:10097 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Prefiguring the Caring City: Everyday Practices and Postcapitalist Possibility in Neighborhood Living Rooms File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/9940 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.9940 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 9940 Author-Name: Louwrens Botha Author-Workplace-Name: Department of the Built Environment, Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands Author-Name: Oana Druta Author-Workplace-Name: Department of the Built Environment, Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands Author-Name: Pieter van Wesemael Author-Workplace-Name: Department of the Built Environment, Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands Abstract: This article brings an ethic of care into conversation with prefigurative politics to position practices of care as examples of everyday life beyond capitalism. Examining everyday practices in community spaces as prefigurative practices of care illustrates two distinct but interrelated ways these spaces function: firstly by facilitating cultures of care in the present, sustaining individuals and communities within an uncaring urban context, and secondly by making possible and visible other ways of caring, relating, and living. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork and interviews in Dutch neighborhood living rooms, we show how participants in these spaces practice an ethic of care, how this transforms their everyday experience and their sense of future possibility, and how a desire for change motivates their continued care practices. Reading this through the lens of prefigurative practice reveals concrete examples of what everyday postcapitalist urban life might look like if cities were instead organized around an ethic of care. Finally, we call attention to the socio‐spatial infrastructures that make these practices possible in the present and would support an expanded capacity to care in the future. Keywords: care; care in cities; neoliberalism; postcapitalism; prefiguration; social infrastructure; social practice Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:9940 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Food‐Sharing Apps’ Role in Mitigating Food Waste: Examples From Poland and Czechia File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/9528 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.9528 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 9528 Author-Name: Daniel Štraub Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Geography and Geology, Jagiellonian University, Poland Author-Name: Magdalena Kubal-Czerwińska Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Geography and Geology, Jagiellonian University, Poland Author-Name: Filip Bolicki Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Philosophy, Jagiellonian University, Poland Abstract: The growing challenge of food waste is a frequent topic in international debate, as significant amounts of food remain unrecovered despite being a basic need. Digital platforms and mobile applications now play a key role in redistributing surplus food by connecting local entrepreneurs and catering services with consumers. While existing research has focused primarily on food‐sharing applications’ (FSAs’) business models and user behaviour, the spatial dimension of these platforms remains understudied. Our research examines FSAs as business‐to‐customer (B2C) solutions that directly connect catering facilities with consumers, analysing their role in supporting food waste mitigation across diverse urban contexts in Poland (Warsaw, Krakow) and Czechia (Prague, Brno). Through spatial analysis of FSA‐participating establishments’ locations and the types of food saved, we investigate how the B2C model operates within different urban functional zones, from tourist‐heavy city centres to residential districts. Our findings reveal distinct patterns in how FSA adoption aligns with cities’ functional characteristics, with higher concentrations in multifunctional urban cores and emerging presence in revitalized residential areas. This spatial distribution reflects both the business opportunities within the B2C model and the cities’ varied functional roles, from tourist destinations to administrative centres. Our findings highlight how FSAs align with urban functions, offering insights for expanding coverage to underserved areas while adapting to local characteristics. Keywords: catering facilities; Czechia; food‐sharing applications; food waste; Poland Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:9528 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Levers for Sustainable Food System Transformation: How to Foster Biodiversity and Organic and Local Food Through Public Catering File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/9676 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.9676 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 9676 Author-Name: Clara Bückart-Neufeld Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Societal Transition and Agriculture, University of Hohenheim, Germany / Nürtingen‐Geislingen University, Germany Author-Name: Franziska Bürker Author-Workplace-Name: Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany Author-Name: Birgit Hoinle Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Societal Transition and Agriculture, University of Hohenheim, Germany Abstract: Biodiversity loss is one of the most urgent sustainability challenges and is closely linked to our food system. How food consumption is organized, especially in urban areas, will be crucial in shaping biodiversity‐friendly and sustainable food systems in the coming years. In this context, the integration of local and organic products into public food procurement can be a driver of increased biodiversity in our landscapes and greater dietary diversity on our plates. The purpose of this article is to explore the extent to which public food procurement can drive this shift towards a sustainable and biodiversity‐friendly food system. We conducted a systematic literature review and qualitative content analysis of 26 articles published in the European context that focused on sustainability in public procurement in order to identify key barriers and drivers affecting the share of biodiversity‐friendly, organic, and local products in public catering. After developing a conceptual framework based on the leverage points model developed by Meadows (1999), we contextualized the identified barriers and drivers in this model and sorted them into shallow and deep levers for increasing biodiversity. Our results indicate that key drivers for promoting biodiversity‐friendly, organic, and local food include political will, the involvement of all stakeholders along the value chain, and the need to initiate profound changes in actors’ values, the transition goals, and the rules of the system. Keywords: biodiversity; food system; local food; organic farming; organic food; public catering; sustainability; value chains Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:9676 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: “Life Course of Place”: Older Adults' Social Networks and Informal Help Amidst Urban Change File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/9909 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.9909 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 9909 Author-Name: Bas Dikmans Author-Workplace-Name: Society and Ageing Research Lab (SARLab), Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium Author-Name: Rodrigo Serrat Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Cognition, Development, and Educational Psychology, University of Barcelona, Spain Author-Name: Hannelore Stegen Author-Workplace-Name: Society and Ageing Research Lab (SARLab), Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium / Mobilab & Care, Thomas More University of Applied Sciences, Belgium Author-Name: Toon Vercauteren Author-Workplace-Name: Society and Ageing Research Lab (SARLab), Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium Author-Name: Liesbeth De Donder Author-Workplace-Name: Society and Ageing Research Lab (SARLab), Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium Author-Name: Sarah Dury Author-Workplace-Name: Society and Ageing Research Lab (SARLab), Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium Abstract: This article examines how older adults, who are long‐term residents in disadvantaged urban neighborhoods, engage in informal help amid neighborhood change. While dominant narratives often frame older adults as passive recipients of care, this study highlights their often‐overlooked role as informal caregivers within their neighborhoods. Drawing on 19 life story interviews conducted in two Brussels neighborhoods, Kuregem and Brabantwijk, the study analyzes how changes in population composition, public safety, and neighborhood decay affect older adults’ social networks and neighborly relations. Using a “life course of place” approach and an “ethics of care” perspective, the analysis shows how neighborhood environments and older residents co‐evolve over time. Using composite vignettes as an innovative narrative method, the findings show that neighborhood change has led to reduced social networks, which can hinder informal help. At the same time, long‐term residents respond to these changes through localized informal help, drawing on their environmental knowledge, natural neighborhood networks, and personal commitment to helping others. Local community centers are key infrastructures fostering informal help as places where neighbors meet and support each other. The findings present a counter‐narrative to hegemonic aging discourses by demonstrating how long‐term residents enact care in ways that resist the social exclusion often associated with urban disadvantage. This article contributes to urban planning debates on social infrastructure, aging in place, and the daily practices that sustain public urban cultures of care. Keywords: aging in place; caring communities; disadvantaged urban neighborhoods; ethics of care; informal help; long‐term residents; neighborhood change; older adults; social networks Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:9909 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Urban Transition Toward Environmental Sustainability: Instrumentation and Institutionalization of Co‐Creation File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/9647 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.9647 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 9647 Author-Name: Ben Vermeulen Author-Workplace-Name: United Nations University – Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (UNU‐MERIT), The Netherlands Author-Name: Lennart Winkeler Author-Workplace-Name: Research Group for Resilient Energy Systems, University of Bremen, Germany Author-Name: Mohar Kalra Author-Workplace-Name: University of the Arts Bremen, Germany Abstract: The transition in cities toward environmental sustainability requires transforming urban subsystems such as energy, transport, and waste infrastructure. Based on the frameworks of strategic spatial planning (SSP) and urban transition management (UTM), the urban transition is conceptualized as a long‐term process in which stakeholders co‐create a vision and a strategic plan, which is subsequently implemented in multiple relatively short‐term projects transforming these urban subsystems. While co‐creation is emerging in urban planning, ambiguity remains regarding the development and use of co‐creation instruments in transforming urban subsystems. This article therefore has two aims: first, to develop a typology of co‐creation instruments for urban transition planning and management; and second, to examine the institutionalization of their development and use. The article follows an iterative inductive‐deductive search method to make an inventory of instruments, after which four main types are identified: participatory planning and communication tools, expert planning support systems, urban living labs, and virtual transformation labs. Several challenges in using these instruments are identified, including the need to acquire governance and digital skills, and to keep tools and data up to date. This article subsequently examines the capabilities that need to be institutionalized to support the use and development of these instruments across multiple projects. Capabilities needed are stakeholder engagement and collaborative governance, the participatory design and updating of digital tools, maintenance of urban subsystem and city development models, definition of transition scenarios and experiments, and interpretation of (simulation) results. Additional capabilities are needed to manage the project portfolio and facilitate learning within and across projects. Ultimately, a “Transition Planning Office” is proposed to institutionalize these capabilities and, by doing so, to complement UTM’s focus on independent vision and agenda formulation with sustained involvement in long‐term planning, and to support SSP’s call for more strategic urban planning through project portfolio management and instrument use and development. Keywords: co‐creation; environmental sustainability; institutionalization; instrumentation; living lab; planning support system; strategic spatial planning; urban transformation lab; urban transition management Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:9647 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Towards Generative Governance: Co‐Creation With Emerging Technologies to Address Climate Challenges in Cities File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/10809 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.10809 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 10809 Author-Name: Cesar Casiano Flores Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Governance and Technology for Sustainability, University of Twente, The Netherlands Author-Name: A. Paula Rodriguez Müller Author-Workplace-Name: European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Spain Author-Name: Evrim Tan Author-Workplace-Name: ERCIS, University of Munster, Germany / Public Governance Institute, KU Leuven, Belgium Abstract: This thematic issue explores how co‐creation processes, facilitated by emerging technologies, can help cities in addressing complex climate adaptation challenges. Drawing on seven interdisciplinary contributions, this issue examines the roles of digital tools, participatory methods, and institutional innovations in fostering inclusive and collaborative governance. The contributions highlight diverse approaches, ranging from computational planning support systems and interactive lighting simulations to community‐based toolkits and scenario evaluators, that are implemented across various urban contexts. Collectively, they reveal both the opportunities for and the tensions of integrating emerging technologies into co‐creation processes. This editorial identifies four key enablers of co‐creation as generative governance—interactions, tools, processes, and institutions—and offers directions for future research at the intersection of digital innovation, collaborative governance, and climate adaptation. Together, the contributions provide a deeper understanding of how cities can design and support co‐creation initiatives that are inclusive, adaptive, and capable of building long‐term capacities to address climate change challenges. Keywords: cities; climate adaptation; co‐creation; digital tools; generative governance Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:10809 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Just Food for Kids? School Food Management Models and Sustainable Procurement in France and Germany File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/9569 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.9569 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 9569 Author-Name: Birgit Hoinle Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Societal Transition and Agriculture, University of Hohenheim, Germany Author-Name: Jocelyn Parot Author-Workplace-Name: Professorship of Organic Farming, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Germany / URGENCI, France Abstract: Biodiversity loss, climate change, rising indices of food insecurity, and increasing amounts of food waste underscore the need for a transition toward more sustainable and just food systems. Public food procurement can be considered an important leverage point in sustainable transition processes. Based on a conceptual framework that combines sustainability, just transition, and the role of public food procurement, this study focuses on the role of municipalities in France (Normandy and Brittany) and Germany (Bavaria and Baden‐Württemberg) and analyzes their sustainability efforts. Seventeen urban and rural municipalities have been selected as they all engage with the issue of sustainable food but employ a variety of different models of school food management. Our methodology is based on a comparative approach, combining literature analysis and qualitative expert interviews with stakeholders from French and German local municipalities. Our analysis focuses on the ecological, economic, and social dimensions of sustainability, including organic share, food waste, local food, accessibility, diversity, education, and participation. Our research aim is to identify potentials and challenges in just food system transitions and appropriate policy measures for promoting sustainable public procurement in school canteens. The results show that direct public management models, that are not externalized through outsourcing to private catering companies, have more potential for defining high organic standards and for integrating local food into regional value chains. Keywords: food justice; food policy; just transition; local food; organic food; public procurement; school food; sustainability Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:9569 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Walkability: From Spatial Analytics to Urban Coding and Actual Walking File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/10736 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.10736 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 10736 Author-Name: Elek Pafka Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning, University of Melbourne, Australia Author-Name: Carlo Andrea Biraghi Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Architecture, Built Environment and Construction Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Italy Abstract: Walkability has become a key focus of urban research, linked to the aims of reversing car‐dependence and re‐enabling walking as a healthy, environmentally sustainable and sociable mode of mobility. This thematic issue presents a collection of articles using cutting‐edge research methods ranging from walk‐along interviews to statistical analysis of historic photography, topological and morphological analysis of street networks, and analysis of the spatio‐temporality of various aspects of streetlife. The articles included here provide new insights in understanding morphologies of walkability in cities across the globe. This concise selection of non‐reductionist walkability research reveals the exceptional breadth of research tools, inspiring further methodological innovation, and supporting future urban design and planning practice. Keywords: assemblages; public space; spatial analysis; spatial planning; streetlife; urban codes; urban mapping; urban mobility; walkability; walking Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:10736 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: From Policy to Practice: Tracing the Evolution of Urban Food Policies Across London and Rotterdam File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/9575 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.9575 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 9575 Author-Name: Agnese Cretella Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Literary, Linguistic and Philosophical Studies, Pegaso University, Italy Abstract: Urban food policies (UFPs) have emerged as key instruments for addressing food system challenges at the municipal level, often framed by scholars as tools for fostering sustainability, inclusivity, and resilience. However, these policies do not exist in a vacuum; instead, they are shaped by the broader governance landscapes in which they are embedded, such as increasing city gentrification and branding. This article critically examines the evolution of UFPs in London and Rotterdam—two early adopters of UFPs in Europe—exploring how each city’s approach to food governance has shifted over time in response to political leadership, funding structures, and local priorities. Employing critical discourse analysis, this study investigates the language and priorities embedded within these policies, revealing persistent tensions between market‐driven objectives and sustainable, community‐focused solutions. By situating UFPs within their broader governance context, this study contributes to critical debates on urban governance: It questions whether municipalities have the capacity to implement transformative food policies or whether they remain constrained by the structural dynamics of the global food system governed by corporate imperatives. Keywords: discourse analysis; food governance; food justice; neoliberal governance; sustainability; urban food policies Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:9575 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Care as a Method and Methods for Care: Researching Multispecies Relationships in Urban Gardens in Finland File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/10010 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.10010 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 10010 Author-Name: Agnese Bankovska Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Social Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland Author-Name: Karolina Lukasik Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Biology, University of Helsinki, Finland Abstract: Care as an ethical guide and practice is paramount in multispecies relationships in urban gardens. This article contributes to the discussion on the diversity of care in urban gardens. We assert that the choice and combination of methodological approaches play a crucial role in noticing and acknowledging new forms of care among multispecies gardeners. Furthermore, a better understanding of care in urban gardens, as a specific form of nature, extends to broader perspectives on urban relationships with nature in cities. We analyse care from two disciplinary entry points, social anthropology and ecology, thereby adding to the multidisciplinary toolkit for addressing the complexities of researching multispecies relationships in urban settings. We focus on the specifics of visual methods such as videos, photos, sketching, observational drawings, and plant identification apps. We demonstrate how these methods provide a “closer look” at the human and more‐than‐human communities of care and their broader implications. More specifically, we view care as a process that encompasses actions ranging from loving care to indifference and even killing, often all at once. We challenge the notion of “plant blindness” that affects the care implications in gardens. Finally, we contribute to the discussion about anthropocentrism and analyse who has the “right” to care, who cares for whom, and how this affects who can be considered a gardener in multispecies entanglements in urban gardens. Keywords: art of attentiveness; art of noticing; more‐than‐human; multispecies gardens; multispecies methods; multispecies studies; slowing down and silence; urban gardens; urban natures Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:10010 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: “So Connected yet so Distant”: Integrated Sanitation Action in Campinas to Meet the SDGs File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/9739 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.9739 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 9739 Author-Name: Pascale Hofmann Author-Workplace-Name: The Bartlett Development Planning Unit (DPU), University College London, UK Author-Name: Lourenço Capriglione Author-Workplace-Name: The Bartlett Development Planning Unit (DPU), University College London, UK Author-Name: Tathiana Chicarino Author-Workplace-Name: Fundação Escola de Sociologia e Política de São Paulo (FESPSP), Brazil Author-Name: Elcires Pimenta Author-Workplace-Name: Fundação Escola de Sociologia e Política de São Paulo (FESPSP), Brazil Abstract: Research shows that improving sanitation brings wide‐ranging benefits across multiple sectors, contributing not only to the success of UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6—focused on clean water and sanitation—but also to the broader objectives of the 2030 Agenda. However, many people living in Brazil’s urban areas still lack adequate sanitation and essential services, with these deficiencies being especially prevalent in informal settlements. This article is an output from a participatory research project that explored the links between sanitation and the SDGs, which focused on the municipality of Campinas in São Paulo state with an emphasis on informal settlements because they are disproportionately affected by service provision inadequacies. Findings highlight multiple synergies between sanitation action and the achievement of targets across SDGs, whereby residents are likely to experience wide‐ranging benefits from adequate sanitation. They further point to the need for multi‐sectoral, participatory, and context‐specific policies, plans, and interventions to overcome interconnected risks associated with inadequate sanitation. The authors advocate for a transdisciplinary approach to dealing with complex societal problems and conclude by presenting opportunities for integrated policies and action across key stakeholders. The article further offers valuable reflections and lessons learned for how we approach development and engage with complex challenges post‐2030. Keywords: Brazil; informal settlements; participatory research; sanitation; São Paulo; sustainable development goals Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:9739 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Tracing Walkability Through Disruption Assemblages in Aleppo’s (Post‐)Conflict Historic Core File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/9605 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.9605 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 9605 Author-Name: Diana Salahieh Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Urban Design, Czech Technical University in Prague, Czechia Author-Name: Layla Zibar Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Law and Criminology, Ghent University, Belgium Abstract: War disrupts the symbiotic interplay between bodies and built environments, unravelling familiar routines and destabilizing urban life. Walking, thus, becomes a precarious tiptoeing through danger and continual re‐routing, a spatial practice of survival and resistance, asserting presence and agency amid violence. Consequently, urbicidal practices and persistent insecurities reconfigure walkability, undermining patterns of normality and a collective sense of safety. Yet, post‐conflict reconstruction, particularly in historic cores, rarely considers former or newly formed footpaths, further misaligning future project agendas with context‐specific recovery needs. This article develops the “disruption assemblages” approach, a conceptual framework that captures the dynamic interplay of material, temporal, and human elements in conflict‐ridden contexts, to examine war’s impact on walkability. Using Aleppo’s historic core as a case study, it highlights the inseparable connection between the urban fabric’s sensory‐spatial characteristics and its social‐temporal layering of familiarity and generational presence. Qualitative methods—including historical analysis, sensory ethnography, and walking as a research tool—reveal how Aleppo’s historic core has metamorphosed into a landscape of complex survival practices, danger‐evasion tactics, and everyday resistance. These findings illuminate the contested spatio‐temporality and lived experiences of reclaiming rights to and within urban space, demonstrating how walkability is deterritorialized and reterritorialized in war‐torn landscapes and during sporadic (post‐)conflict reconstruction. Ultimately, this article argues for re‐centring walkability in (post‐)conflict healing and proposes the “attract a foot” approach, emphasizing the imperative of re‐enabling walking as a sociable and human‐centred recovery strategy. Keywords: Aleppo; assemblages; disruption; post‐conflict; reconstruction; urbicide; walkability Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:9605 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Capturing the Socio‐Spatiality of Walking: A Historical Coding of Stockholm’s Street Life File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/9631 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.9631 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 9631 Author-Name: Martin Emanuel Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Urban Planning and Environment, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden Author-Name: William Hilliard Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Urban Planning and Environment, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden Abstract: Walking develops in a dynamic relationship to its socio‐material environment. A historical perspective helps nuance the multiplicity of interrelating factors that influence the practice. This article focuses on walking in Stockholm between 1880 and 1939, a period of great change to the city’s streets and movement within them. Through a detailed coding of 466 photographs, depicting more than 3,000 pedestrians, we examine micro‐scalar elements, such as the use, material, and demographic of the pavement, to allow us to plot developments in the socio‐spatial character of walking over time. The results reveal stable patterns as well as both gradual and rapid change. The intensity of pedestrians remained over time as did the sociality of streets. With increasing automobility, however, pedestrians were increasingly found on pavements rather than roadways. A slightly skewed gender balance also remained across the studied period, though men’s and women’s more specific street use varied substantially. Meanwhile, the presence of children in streets and their independent mobility declined radically. Some of these patterns also varied across different types of streets. These findings are discussed in relation to urban automobility, wider societal trends, and their relevance to walkability studies and present‐day efforts to increase walking. Keywords: street life; urban history; walkability; walking practices Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:9631 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Community‐Supported Agriculture in Brazil: Co‐Responsibility in Agroecological Production to Strengthen Food Security File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/9564 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.9564 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 9564 Author-Name: Rita de Cássia Lisboa Ribeiro Author-Workplace-Name: Nutritional Sciences Graduate Program, Federal University of Sergipe, Brazil Author-Name: Cecilia Rocha Author-Workplace-Name: School of Nutrition, Toronto Metropolitan University, Canada Author-Name: Andhressa Fagundes Author-Workplace-Name: Nutritional Sciences Graduate Program, Federal University of Sergipe, Brazil / Nutrition Department, Federal University of Sergipe, Brazil Abstract: The current shape of the world’s food system has promoted increasingly globalized food models, putting people’s food sovereignty and security at risk. Community‐supported agriculture (CSA), a movement grounded on ecologically‐based agriculture and an alternative model for marketing and distributing food produced on small farms, was proposed as a means of improving consumers’ eating habits, strengthening local food production, and promoting food sovereignty. This study aimed to identify the potential of CSA as a promoter of food security in Brazil. Based on an integrative literature review, results showed that CSA can guarantee a decent income for family farmers, reducing social vulnerability. Farmers see CSA as an opportunity for income security; consumers engaged with this initiative have perspectives on personal health interests, social justice, and solidarity with farmers. An essential potential for promoting food sustainability was observed, as CSA is strongly influenced by agroecology, and local food production and consumption have a lower impact on carbon dioxide emissions as they require less transportation. However, despite these positive aspects, CSA has suffered a significant limitation in the elitization of this movement, reflecting historical social inequalities in which only a relatively small portion of the population has the privilege of being able to pay for healthier food. It is necessary to think about strategies for getting people who are more socially vulnerable and food insecure to join the movement. In conclusion, CSA has significant potential to promote agroecology, but it needs to rethink better ways of promoting food security. Keywords: community‐supported agriculture; food security; social responsibility; solidarity economy; sustainable agriculture Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:9564 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Digitalisation in Local Housing Energy Systems: Co‐Creation and Digital Literacy in the Dutch Context File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/9819 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.9819 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 9819 Author-Name: Letizia Chiappini Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Governance and Technology for Sustainability (CSTM), University of Twente, The Netherlands / Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIAS‐KNAW), The Netherlands Author-Name: Frans Coenen Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Governance and Technology for Sustainability (CSTM), University of Twente, The Netherlands Abstract: This article critically reflects on the digitalisation of local housing energy systems. It looks at two Netherlands‐based cases and their implementation, combined with the use of digital tools. From a socio‐technical angle, it is crucial to provide energy‐consumption dashboards with a two‐fold feedback loop for residents about their energy consumption. That enables users to make informed decisions and behavioural adjustments in daily energy usage. By proposing a framework, the article introduces two new analytical categories: digital literacy and co‐creation applied to the use of interactive digital tools. The aim is to unpack new challenges of the digitalisation process and the use of dashboards in relation to the two analytical categories. To do so, the article compares two different configurations of local socio‐spatial contexts. The analysis draws upon an archive of correspondence, official documents, survey results, participant observations, multiple rounds of group interviews from the funded projects, and new in‐depth expert interviews. The results reveal that inhabitants should accept the underlying technology that revolves around decentralised energy systems and be willing to pay their share of the investment costs. Furthermore, the authors discuss the reach of digital literacy and co‐creation as emerging urban planning dilemmas. The empirical evidence is that the scale of implementation, the type of engagement with residents (tenants vs. owners vs. communities), the degree of digital literacy, and the opportunities for co‐creation activities are essential features for a more inclusive digitalisation outcome. Keywords: co‐creation; digital literacy; digitalisation; housing energy system; The Netherlands Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:9819 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Urban Planning in the Context of Democratic Backsliding: The Case of Hungary File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/9893 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.9893 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 9893 Author-Name: Lea Kőszeghy Author-Workplace-Name: Institute for Sociology, HUN‐REN Centre for Social Sciences, Hungary Author-Name: Bálint Hilbert Author-Workplace-Name: Institute for Sociology, HUN‐REN Centre for Social Sciences, Hungary Author-Name: Adrienne Csizmady Author-Workplace-Name: Institute for Sociology, HUN‐REN Centre for Social Sciences, Hungary Abstract: This article explores the potential and limitations of integrated urban planning (IUP)—a key concept in the spatial planning paradigm of the European Union (EU)—in the context of democratic backsliding in contemporary Hungary. Following the country’s democratic transition from 1989/1990, which included the establishment of local governments with extensive mandates, among others, in urban planning, IUP emerged as a planning paradigm related to Hungary’s EU accession in 2004. However, since 2010, significant democratic backsliding, including a decrease in local autonomy, has affected urban planning in Hungary. This article reveals how trends associated with democratic backsliding challenge the principles of IUP and, drawing on a survey and semi‐structured interviews with urban planning practitioners, explores their impact on IUP in practice. The analysis identifies key factors influencing the implementation of IUP principles in this context, including reduced local political and economic autonomy, inadequate local government funding, the rise of individual bargaining in urban development, and non‐negotiated top‐down project allocation. While the findings are based on empirical evidence from Hungary, they may provide valuable insights into identifying risk factors concerning IUP in other contexts as well. Keywords: autocratisation; democratic backsliding; Hungary; integrated urban planning; local development; local governments; urban planning practice Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:9893 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: The Role of Planning in ‘Anti‐Democratic’ Times File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/10719 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.10719 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 10719 Author-Name: Kristina Grange Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden Author-Name: Carina Listerborn Author-Workplace-Name: Institute for Urban Research, Malmö University, Sweden Abstract: This thematic issue seeks to bring the urgent questions raised by the current “anti‐democratic turn in history” into conversation with the ambivalent nature of planning practices. What role can planning assume when society moves in a more authoritarian direction, and what responsibilities do academics bear? Keywords: academics; anti‐democratic; authoritarian; critical; planning; pluralism Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:10719 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Walking Praxis as Community‐Based Research: A Deep Map of Affective Flows in a Neighborhood Development Process File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/9637 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.9637 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 9637 Author-Name: Hanne Vrebos Author-Workplace-Name: TRANSFORM, KU Leuven, Belgium Author-Name: Koen Hermans Author-Workplace-Name: ReSPOND, KU Leuven, Belgium Author-Name: Karin Hannes Author-Workplace-Name: TRANSFORM, KU Leuven, Belgium Abstract: The rapid transformation of suburban neighborhoods, driven by development and changing demographics, is causing feelings of loss, disconnect, and a perceived diminution of political representation. This study examines socio‐spatial relationalities that affect the sense of belonging in such neighborhoods‐in‐flux. We propose a re‐imagined participatory research process with residents from the perspective of “walkability.” Go‐along walking methodology enabled us to gather place‐based narratives that revealed how emotions and memories influence different aspects of the sense of belonging. Jointly moving through the environment gave us sensory exposure to sights, sounds, smells, and tactical sensations of the neighborhood. It also deepened our understanding of how residents mentally and physically navigate the proposed social and spatial transformations outlined in a municipal development plan. Our analysis, informed by a new materialist framework and visualized in a deep map, demonstrates how the walking methodology can generate new knowledge about socio‐spatial dynamics to plan and design place. The methodology facilitated spontaneous and affective encounters with both human and other‐than‐human agents. The diverse range of place‐based emotions, memories, and stories shared, provided insights into how the changing built environment and place identity produce multiple belongings. The findings suggest that go‐along walking praxis offers a unique socio‐spatial window into the affective flows of belonging in neighborhoods‐in‐flux. Keywords: deep mapping; go‐along interviews; new materialism; spatial planning; suburban village; walking Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:9637 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Shaping Equitable Access to Food: Barcelona’s Supply Planning and Policies in Perspective File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/9489 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.9489 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 9489 Author-Name: Eulàlia Gómez‐Escoda Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Urbanism, Territory and Landscape, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya – BarcelonaTech, Spain Abstract: This article examines the interplay between urban planning, public policy, and food systems, focusing on the city of Barcelona as a case study. The study explores the historical shaping of access to fresh food by public urban policies and planning, ensuring a balanced territorial distribution across the city while addressing broader implications for public health, social equity, and sustainability. The analysis begins with an overview of Barcelona’s food supply system, which is characterized by an extensive set of public market halls and specialty stores, strategically embedded within a compact urban fabric that ensures walkable access for residents. The research highlights the evolution of planning actions, from 19th century bylaws aimed at regulating food hygiene and spatial organization of food sales to contemporary initiatives influenced by the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact, which emphasize the proximity between households and providers and promote the consumption of local goods. Keywords: Barcelona; food planning; food retail; food supply; proximity Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:9489 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Interactions Between Pedestrians and Street Vendors: Experiences From the Global North and South File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/8910 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.8910 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 8910 Author-Name: Ankita Patil Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Information Technology, The University of Queensland, Australia Author-Name: Dorina Pojani Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Information Technology, The University of Queensland, Australia Author-Name: Iderlina Mateo-Babiano Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning, University of Melbourne, Australia Author-Name: Thirafi Amani Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning, University of Melbourne, Australia Abstract: Street vending evokes contrasting images of urban vibrancy and congestion. This comparative study explores the dynamics between street vendors and pedestrians in the Global North and South through four case studies—two in Brisbane, Australia, representing the North, and two in Nagpur, India, representing the South. Employing Kelum Palipane’s sensory rhythms diagram, this research examines the sensory experiences—sight, sound, touch, smell, movement, taste—in urban environments where street vending is present. Findings reveal notable disparities in pedestrian activity. However, street vendors in all contexts influence pedestrian behaviour through common sensory cues. Brisbane represents a case where more street vending is encouraged, albeit under strict regulations. Here, further initiatives are needed to inject vitality into urban spaces. In contrast, Nagpur exemplifies India’s rich street vending culture. In this context, street vending is positive in many ways but also presents challenges such as congestion, safety, and accessibility. Despite these differences, street vendors in both cities play a crucial role in enhancing the urban experience. The research highlights the need for balanced planning strategies that promote urban vibrancy while mitigating any adverse impacts of street vending on pedestrians. Keywords: pedestrian behaviour; sensory rhythms diagram; street vending; urban vibrancy Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:8910 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Reclaiming Urban Spaces: A Systemic Approach to Integrated Pedestrian‐Centric City Design in Rio de Janeiro File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/9703 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.9703 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 9703 Author-Name: Carlo Andrea Biraghi Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Architecture, Built Environment and Construction Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Italy Author-Name: Hadi Mohammad Zadeh Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Architecture, Built Environment and Construction Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Italy Author-Name: Andrea Bruschi Author-Workplace-Name: Sistemi per la Mobilità, MM, Italy Author-Name: Massimo Tadi Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Architecture, Built Environment and Construction Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Italy Abstract: Quality public spaces, especially pedestrian areas, play an essential role in cities. Communities gather in these spaces and benefit from the proximity to activities in a safe and car‐free environment. Pedestrian areas can have greenery, which helps address the issues raised by climate change. Repurposing existing roads is a priority in many cities worldwide whose aim is to improve their social and environmental performance. This study presents a systemic, data‐based approach that supports the transition from the current pervasive car‐based mobility model to a people‐centric, pedestrian‐based one. This transformative model leverages the structural properties of urban systems to reconfigure streets as integral components of a comprehensive strategy aimed at mitigating the effects of climate change. Image segmentation is used to assess the presence of people in the streets. The numerical evidence provided by metrics and indicators is complemented by visual evidence from local‐scale maps. The proposed method is tested on a portion of Bairro Cidade Nova in Rio de Janeiro within the framework of the Integrated and Sustainable Urban Regeneration Milan–Rio (REMIRIO) project, a city‐to‐city cooperation project between Milan (Italy) and Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) funded by the European Union which aims to implement pilot nature‐based solutions to address local environmental issues such as flooding and overheating. In particular, five North–South streets are compared to define customised pedestrianisation interventions within a more comprehensive super‐block strategy with the aim of improving the continuity of the existing green system and the ecosystem services. This precise network diagnostic process can be easily transferred to any urban system. Keywords: pedestrian‐centric design; Rio de Janeiro; space syntax; urban mobility Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:9703 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Adaptive Design Evaluator: A Co‐Assessment Tool for Early Planning Stages File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/9553 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.9553 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 9553 Author-Name: Julia Forster Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Spatial Planning, TU Wien, Austria Author-Name: Stefan Bindreiter Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Spatial Planning, TU Wien, Austria Author-Name: Sanela Pansinger Author-Workplace-Name: adasca e.U., Austria Abstract: Many municipalities face intense development pressures, challenging them to ensure spatial sustainability. Current assessment methods are designed for larger projects and are often time‐consuming and resource intensive. Certification systems like ÖGNI, DGNB, LEED, and BREEAM use detailed but rigid criteria, making them unsuitable for dynamic co‐creation processes. Smaller projects lack tools to visualize development impacts or generate tailored sustainability checklists. This article introduces the Adaptive Design (AD) Evaluator, an innovative, step‐by‐step methodology for sustainable impact assessment in building and planning projects. The AD Evaluator involves public and private stakeholders in a co‐creation process, integrating questionnaires, system dynamics models and spatial analysis to efficiently assess project interventions. The results are presented visually, enabling adaptable, resource‐efficient planning across four sustainability pillars. This approach supports quick assessments, offering perspectives from both developers and system owners (e.g., municipalities) and minimizes deviations from sustainable outcomes. The innovation of this approach lies in the introduction of the first conceptual scenario assessment generator for qualitative sustainability inventory and impact assessment in planning practice. The AD Evaluator supports the co‐design of structured yet flexible planning pathways for sustainable and adaptive urban environments by mapping and visualizing the impacts of planning in a jointly negotiated framework. Keywords: adaptive design; co‐creation process; impact assessment; spatial life cycle; spatial sustainability; sustainable transformation Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:9553 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Precarious Settlement Upgrading and Racial Capitalism: Planning Authoritarianism and Its Crossroads for Democracy File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/9674 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.9674 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 9674 Author-Name: Luana Xavier Pinto Coelho Author-Workplace-Name: Center for Social Studies, University of Coimbra, Portugal Author-Name: Lorena Melgaço Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Human Geography, Lund University, Sweden Abstract: A key critique of urban planning in postcolonial contexts is the persistence of Western/Eurocentric approaches that disregard the spatial production of Black and Indigenous populations as legitimate. In Brazil, despite shifts from authoritarian to democratic governments, racialised territories have consistently been subjected to state intervention. While policies have evolved—from deregulation and disinvestment to infrastructural investment—the underlying patterns of violence, dispossession, and undemocratic practices endure. This article explores the connection between Brazil’s authoritarian urban planning history and the tenets of racial capitalism. Through a qualitative research synthesis, we examine scholarly literature focusing on the Growth Acceleration Programme on Urbanisation of Precarious Settlements (PAC‐UAP) during the Workers’ Party (PT) administration (2003–2016). Our aim is to (a) identify the conceptual and analytical approaches used by researchers, and (b) put these studies into dialogue with racial capitalism. By doing so, we unveil the inherent non‐democratic tradition of planning in Brazil despite the implementation of a progressive policy. Furthermore, we point to the relevance of using racial capitalism as a lens to understand the causes of structural violence that remain in urban planning. Keywords: authoritarianism; PAC‐UAP; precarious settlement upgrading; racial capitalism Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:9674 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Autocratisation‐Driven Urban Transformation: The Case of Novi Sad, Serbia File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/9804 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.9804 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 9804 Author-Name: Ana Pajvančić‐Cizelj Author-Workplace-Name: Department for European Policy and Study of Democracy, Danube University Krems, Austria Abstract: Autocratisation is on the rise, undermining democratic institutions and reshaping sociopolitical landscapes worldwide. This article situates urban transformation within this trend and argues that urban transformation should be reconceptualised, particularly in countries facing advanced democratic erosion, such as Serbia. It proposes a shift from the prevailing focus on neoliberalism and economic exploitation towards an emphasis on autocratisation and political domination. To lay the groundwork for this reconceptualisation, the article explores how urban spaces, institutions, discourses, and actors contribute to both democratic erosion and resilience. In doing so, it links contemporary urban transformation directly to the process of autocratisation. As a case study illustrating the relevance of this new approach, the article presents preliminary empirical findings from Novi Sad, a second‐tier Serbian city, focusing on the waterfront redevelopment and other major infrastructure projects that exemplify democratic erosion and provoke democratic contention. Keywords: autocratisation; democratic resilience; Novi Sad Waterfront project; railway station canopy collapse; urban planning Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:9804 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Eurovision and the City: “United by Music” Meets “Malmö against Genocide” File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/9701 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.9701 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 9701 Author-Name: Myrto Dagkouli-Kyriakoglou Author-Workplace-Name: Gender Studies, Linköping University, Sweden Author-Name: Adriana de La Peña Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Urban Studies, Malmö University, Sweden Author-Name: Laleh Foroughanfar Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Urban Studies, Malmö University, Sweden Author-Name: Jennie Gustafsson Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Urban Studies, Malmö University, Sweden Author-Name: Lorena Melgaço Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Human Geography, Lund University, Sweden Author-Name: Chiara Valli Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Urban Studies, Malmö University, Sweden Abstract: “United by Music” was the slogan of the 2024 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held in Malmö. However, the festive spirit of the event oddly contrasted with what was described as “the largest police operation in Sweden’s history” (Ivarsson, 2024). This operation was mobilized in response to the expected civil protests regarding Eurovision’s decision to welcome Israel’s participation, despite its ongoing genocidal war on Gaza. We examine the temporary disruptions in Malmö’s urban space during Eurovision to understand the dissonance between a peaceful pro‐Palestine movement, a supposedly festive event, and the heightened securitization of the city with its alarmist tones. We aim to understand these contrasts within a broader temporal context and across different geographical scales. We argue that the distinct racialized characterizations of neoliberal authoritarian practices in Malmö during Eurovision are deeply enmeshed with the implications of the Western narratives about Israel and Palestine, the growing influence of the far‐right in Swedish politics, and, ultimately, the identity Malmö aspires to and is perceived to have. Rather than being a local manifestation of isolated authoritarian practices, Eurovision in Malmö opens a conceptual space to explore authoritarianism as a multiscalar discourse and practice. This perspective allows us to move beyond the dichotomy of the “democratic West” versus the “authoritarian others” by revealing the persistence of authoritarian practices in democracies. Keywords: authoritarianism; Eurovision; mega event; neoliberal planning; pro‐Palestine; securitization; Sweden Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:9701 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Spacing the Post‐Political Critique: Dealing With Politics and Spatial Dissonance in Suburban Planning File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/9565 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.9565 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 9565 Author-Name: Emil Pull Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Global Development and Planning, University of Agder, Norway Author-Name: Jørn Cruickshank Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Global Development and Planning, University of Agder, Norway / Institute for Planning, Administration, and School‐Oriented Social Sciences, Volda University College, Norway Abstract: The article explores the spatial planning and development trajectory of Randesund, a district of Kristiansand, Norway, critiquing the dominant planning paradigm for its spatially blind and post‐political tendencies. Drawing on Mouffe, the authors highlight how current planning practices prioritize procedural consensus while sidelining fundamental political contestations. To expand and nuance existing critiques of this procedural inadequacy in the post‐political condition plaguing planning, and to resolve some of the democratic deficiencies it produces, we suggest a more spatially aware understanding of urban life, praxis, and development. Inspired by Lefebvre, the article suggests that the spatial code produced in Randesund also generates spatial dissonance, dissent, and strife—manifested in actions that are not, but ought to be, recognized as legitimately political, particularly from the perspective of planning. Keywords: agonism; democracy; post‐politics; spatial practice Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:9565 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: A Decision Support Model for Assessing Co‐Creation: The Bee Path Project File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/9519 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.9519 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 9519 Author-Name: Tina Jukić Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Public Administration, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia Author-Name: Sanja Vrbek Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Public Administration, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia Abstract: This article presents a decision support model (DSM) for assessing the quality of co‐creation processes and critically reflects on its applicability in the context of climate change mitigation in urban settings. While cities have become pivotal in addressing climate change, often through co‐creation, tools for evaluating urban climate‐related co‐creation initiatives remain scarce. Rather than advocating for a tool specifically designed for this context, the article seeks to offer a universal DSM developed through a systematic literature review and empirical case studies within the framework of the COGOV Horizon project. The DSM incorporates 19 attributes across three phases of co‐creation: stakeholder identification and mobilisation, the act of co‐creation, and its effects. The model is tested on the Bee Path initiative of the City of Ljubljana, a successful co‐creation project aimed at fostering a bee‐friendly urban environment and promoting self‐sufficiency. The results confirm the DSM’s applicability in assessing the success of co‐creation in the context of climate change policies at the city level of governance. Moreover, this tool offers a foundation model for further integration with emerging technologies to enhance decision‐making and guidance for public organisations. As such, the DSM serves as a practical tool enabling public organisations to critically reflect on their roles in co‐creation initiatives, identify areas for improvement, and enhance their capacity as co‐creators in future urban climate policies and beyond. Keywords: climate change; co‐creation; decision support model; Ljubljana; quality assessment Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:9519 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: A Socio‐Spatial Extension of the Local Climate Zone Typology: Its Potential in Computational Planning Support Systems File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/9234 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.9234 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 9234 Author-Name: Athanasios Votsis Author-Workplace-Name: Governance and Technology for Sustainability, University of Twente, The Netherlands Author-Name: Vuokko Heikinheimo Author-Workplace-Name: Built Environment Solutions, Finnish Environment Institute, Finland Author-Name: Milla Mikkola Author-Workplace-Name: Sustainable Urban Development, Ramboll Finland, Finland Author-Name: Dina Babushkina Author-Workplace-Name: Philosophy, University of Twente, The Netherlands Author-Name: Aija Staffans Author-Workplace-Name: Built Environment, Aalto University, Finland Author-Name: Tiina Merikoski Author-Workplace-Name: Lundén Architecture Company, Finland Author-Name: Stan Geertman Author-Workplace-Name: Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Utrecht University, The Netherlands Abstract: Computational planning support systems (CPSS) have been invaluable for the transparent and rational planning of climate‐resilient cities as they help clarify and optimise the trade‐offs between alternative choices. CPSS have shown great promise also as digital design boards for the co‐creation of new solutions. However, both as a tool and a theoretical stance to spatial planning, CPSS have suffered from top‐down representations of urban space. Bottom‐up, collective, and subjective processes essential for sustainable and climate‐resilient urbanism are often left unaccounted for. This article introduces one possible solution to this gap, namely structuring the information flows of CPSS according to the local climate zone framework, enriched with urban commons information. We illustrate our approach with data from the 29 largest Finnish municipalities. We combine OpenStreetMap and demographic information with local climate zone data to produce a socio‐spatially extended local climate zone typology of Finnish urban forms. The results delineate a Nordic angle to sustainable spatial planning—green and sparse, somewhat compact and mixed, but not comprehensively so, built environments—allowing a juxtaposition with normative ideas about sustainable cities. We furthermore propose a co‐design workflow that is based on our typology. The main practical applications of our work include vulnerability mapping and integrated impact assessment, multimodal communication of computer model output, and computationally‐assisted co‐design of built environments with a variety of stakeholders. Keywords: co‐design; computational planning support systems; local climate zones; neighbourhood typology; social sustainability; urban commons Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:9234 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Strategic Spatial Opportunities for Local Food Distribution: Urban Accessibility of Community Gardens in Christchurch, Aotearoa New Zealand File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/9566 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.9566 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 9566 Author-Name: Andreas Wesener Author-Workplace-Name: School of Landscape Architecture, Lincoln University, New Zealand Author-Name: Shannon Davis Author-Workplace-Name: School of Landscape Architecture, Lincoln University, New Zealand Author-Name: Guanyu Chen Author-Workplace-Name: School of Landscape Architecture, Lincoln University, New Zealand Abstract: This study explores strategic opportunities for improving access to and distribution of locally produced food. Food consumption in urban areas often depends on long and distant supply chains and corporate distribution points such as supermarkets. Poor integration of local urban food production is a source of food insecurity as much as an ecological, social, and infrastructural problem. It creates pressures on the supply and logistics of food distribution, challenging the resilience of the entire system, particularly in the context of sudden (e.g., earthquakes, floods, bushfires) and slow‐onset disasters, such as climate change. This article explores how strategic spatial opportunities for community‐oriented, urban food production sites could make cities more resilient from a food security and social accessibility perspective. With the help of a case study—urban community gardens in Christchurch, Aotearoa New Zealand—and geographic information system (GIS) analysis, the article proposes a method to examine spatial accessibility to urban community gardens and examines associated socio‐demographic factors, in comparison to commercial food outlets (supermarkets). The results suggest that the applied method is useful in examining the spatial accessibility of gardens within their specific demographic context. They reveal that urban community gardens in Christchurch are mainly located in more deprived areas and that walkable access to gardens is provided to about one‐fifth of the city’s total population. The article discusses the results within the context of specific spatial and demographic urban characteristics, including low density, car dependency, and disaster susceptibility, and provides suggestions for further research and urban planning policy. Keywords: 15‐minute city; community garden; food access; food distribution; food resilience; food security; urban agriculture Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:9566 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: How Democratic Is Just Enough? Critical Reflections on the Transformative Potential of the Berlin Food Policy Council File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/9538 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.9538 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 9538 Author-Name: Lea Loretta Zentgraf Author-Workplace-Name: BMBF–Junior Research Group Food for Justice: Power, Politics and Food Inequalities in a Bioeconomy, Heidelberg University, Germany / Institute of Sociology, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany Abstract: In recent years, global social movements have increasingly challenged the corporate food regime, advocating for socio‐ecological transformations in the agri‐food system. This article questions whether food activists’ discourse and actions may potentially compel a democratic, participatory, and just transformation of food systems, overcoming intersectional food inequalities and embedded power relations. Based on a three‐year empirical case study (2021–2024) of the Berlin Food Policy Council, this article evaluates whether food policy councils can serve as venues for democratic participation, critical whiteness, and just food politics in urban settings, with implications for broader debates on urban social mobilization and transformation in Germany and beyond. Through participant observation, document analysis, and semi‐structured interviews, this research reveals that Berlin’s food policy council predominantly consists of white, German, middle‐class, left‐wing female activists, and is unrepresentative of the city’s population. However, a growing internal awareness of socio‐economic and cultural biases suggests evolving efforts towards greater participation and diverse perspectives. Further, the findings show a recent shift of agenda: from a narrow environmental focus towards a socio‐ecological just transformation, overcoming (at least partially) existing blind spots concerning class, race, and migration history. How and when this occurs is shown through concrete examples of collective actions and changes in discourse. Moreover, the analysis suggests that the Berlin Food Policy Council demonstrates transformative potential through its multiscale approach, engaging in collective action at various levels—from local neighborhoods to regional and transnational initiatives. Keywords: alternative food networks; food democracy; food justice; food policy council; Germany Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:9538 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Co‐Creation in Automated Public Space Lighting Design: Enhancing Safety and Reducing Light Pollution File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/9217 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.9217 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 9217 Author-Name: Jan Cudzik Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Architecture, Gdańsk University of Technology, Poland Author-Name: Michał Nessel Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Architecture, Cracow University of Technology, Poland Author-Name: Victor Moczarski Author-Workplace-Name: Outline AI, Poland Abstract: Public space lighting in urban areas is a crucial issue linked to climate change in developed environments. It significantly influences aesthetics, functionality, and the sense of safety while also contributing to the problem of light pollution. However, addressing these challenges requires a balance between technical optimization and environmental considerations, which this study explores through an experimental approach. This study examines the application of advanced digital technologies in designing and optimizing public space lighting, particularly in parks. The focus is on presenting a modular algorithm as a foundation for iterative improvements rather than a fully comprehensive lighting design solution. The article presents an algorithm that iteratively determines the optimal number and placement of lamps based on expected lighting levels. While illuminance levels are considered, future extensions could include additional parameters such as glare, uniformity, and color temperature to meet professional standards. This method has significant potential for involving public space users in lighting optimization. The algorithm relies on expected lighting levels, which can be derived from standards and designer decisions. However, user expectations can also be incorporated into simulations. For instance, an interactive application could allow users to highlight under‐illuminated or overly bright areas, contributing to a co‐created desired lighting map. Lighting levels can be precisely calculated, yet users’ subjective perceptions may be crucial in achieving soft, nature‐friendly lighting. The article presents the algorithm and discusses the potential of designer‐computer and designer‐computer‐user co‐creation for human‐ and nature‐friendly design. This modular framework lays the groundwork for future refinements by integrating professional input and addressing broader lighting parameters. Keywords: agent‐based modeling; co‐creation in urban design; digital design technologies; lighting optimization algorithms; parks lighting design; participatory design; public space lighting; sustainable urban planning; urban lighting design Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:9217 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: The Poly-Rhythmic City: Urban Community Land Trusts as Opposition to the Slow Violence of Housing Development File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/9123 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.9123 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 9123 Author-Name: Robert Read Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Business & Law, Anglia Ruskin University, UK / Suffolk Sustainability Institute, University of Suffolk, UK Author-Name: NezHapi-Dellé Odeleye Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Science & Engineering, Anglia Ruskin University, UK Author-Name: Alison Hirst Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Business & Law, Anglia Ruskin University, UK Author-Name: Alison Pooley Author-Workplace-Name: Suffolk Sustainability Institute, University of Suffolk, UK Abstract: Gradual and invisible, “slow violence” has been applied to housing and urban redevelopment, gentrification, and its embodiment as stress and anxiety by those affected, usually the least well-off. This article presents a case study of the London Community Land Trust (CLT), which was engendered from a combination of the longstanding traditions of East End opposition to social harms, combined with new mutual housing forms that emerged in the early 2000s. Campaigners invested energy in the CLT, generating new rhythms and an imagination of territory that would provide an alternative to the failure of mainstream housing systems. The homes would be affordable to local people on average incomes and the neighbourhood characterised by a sense of belonging and community. The case study’s findings offer a fresh perspective on London’s housing crisis, and the potential of CLTs, by centring the experience and reflections of some whose lack of a suitable home threatened them with spatial displacement. Participant observation, surveys, and interviews with residents show the depth and impact of London’s housing crisis through reflections on the past, the joys and challenges of moving to an affordable, secure home, while building new relationships with neighbours and the physical environment. Keywords: community land trust; community-led housing; slow opposition; slow violence; territorialisation Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:9123 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Temporalities for, of, and in Planning: Exploring Post-Growth, Participation, and Devolution Across European Planning Reforms File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/9121 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.9121 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 9121 Author-Name: Lucía Cerrada Morato Author-Workplace-Name: Geography Department, King's College London, UK / Institut Metròpoli, Spain Author-Name: Agnieszka Zimnicka Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Urban Design and Regional Planning, Gdansk University of Technology, Poland Author-Name: Judi Wilson Author-Workplace-Name: Independent Researcher, UK Abstract: In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and the acceleration of climate change, many governments are turning to their planning systems to explore how national planning reform can help them address their current crisis. Time across planning reforms appears as a central dimension, building on governments’ long-term ambitions to speed planning. While academic normative debates argue in favour of faster and/or slower changes to planning as inherently good or bad, this article draws on a comparative analysis of national planning reforms across three European countries to critically examine how time is being mobilised and with what objective. Through an analytical framework that seeks a more holistic understanding of the planning process, we argue that temporalities in planning are relational. Across the three cases, we can see how the generation of consensus depoliticises the use of time, and it is generally used to advance regressive agendas. We argue that despite ambitions to make planning more responsive and participatory at the local level, planning reforms (a) reduce the influence of public participation while strengthening private property rights; (b) are used to territorialise sectoral, top–down, and long-term agendas with no consideration of the timely and situated concerns and visions of residents and communities; and (c) are underpinned by a pro-growth and rapid urbanisation agenda that ignores sustainability debates. Keywords: planning reforms; planning systems; planning temporalities; post-growth; public participation Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:9121 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Temporal Entanglements, Fragmented Spaces: Planning, Politics, and Place Rhythms File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/10506 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.10506 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 10506 Author-Name: Aysegul Can Author-Workplace-Name: Institute for Regional Studies, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany Author-Name: Lakshmi Priya Rajendran Author-Workplace-Name: The Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London, UK Author-Name: NezHapi-Dellé Odeleye Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Science & Engineering, Anglia Ruskin University, UK Abstract: What does it mean for urban planners and designers to shape places through and with time? The 2020 public health restrictions highlighted the relevance of Carlos Moreno’s et al. (2021) 15-minute-city concept, which outlined the need for a “chrono-urbanism” incorporating societal resilience micro-infrastructures. Notions of temporal planning, however, have deeper roots; Kevin Lynch’s classic imageability (1964) and place-timing studies (1972) highlighted Planning as a temporal art, distinct from arts such as music, and his urban theorization (1984) identified three epochs of city form (the cosmic, organic, and mechanical) as successively dominant, spatiotemporal paradigms. More recently, Christopher Alexander’s (2002) analyses on the “nature of order” drew attention to the importance of time and geometry for the appropriate unfolding of complexity across domains from the arts and crafts to the scales of built form. Time is implicated in Planning’s capacity to effectively harness space in meeting societal needs and challenges. Given the “temporal turn” in urban planning and design, this is an appropriate juncture to reflect upon technical assumptions underlying varied approaches to place-shaping. This issue explores how currently dominant, linear-temporal modes might be influencing spatial planning and design practices, and how inclusion of diverse, forgotten, and hidden spatiotemporal narratives including from the global South could aid development of alternative theories, tools, practices, and forms. Contributions also address implications digital modes may have for education, praxis, or resilient, city visions, and what might be the contribution of temporal perspectives in addressing the slow and out-of-sight violence created by toxic geographies or urban transformations. Keywords: design; planning; practice; slow-violence; space; theory; time; urban Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:10506 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Walkability and Flood Resilience: Public Space Design in Climate‐Sensitive Urban Environments File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/9561 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.9561 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 9561 Author-Name: Jakub Gorzka Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Architecture, Gdańsk University of Technology, Poland Author-Name: Izabela Burda Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Architecture, Gdańsk University of Technology, Poland Author-Name: Lucyna Nyka Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Architecture, Gdańsk University of Technology, Poland Abstract: In the contemporary urban landscape, walkability is shaped by the spatial characteristics of the built environment and its ability to adapt to environmental risks, particularly those posed by climate change. This study explores the intersection of walkability and flood adaptation strategies in waterfront public spaces across nine cities in the Baltic Sea Region, analysing their morphological characteristics with a focus on connectivity, accessibility, and climate adaptability. Using a mixed‐method approach that integrates spatial mapping, quantitative metrics, qualitative analysis, and comparative case studies, this research evaluates the effectiveness of urban structure transformations and the introduction of blue‐green infrastructure, floating structures, and nature‐based solutions in enhancing walkability while mitigating flood risks. The findings reveal significant improvements in connectivity, as indicated by extended pedestrian route networks (increases of 6%–28%), enhanced link–node ratios (increases of 24%–39%), and a substantial rise in the number of urban nodes with direct water access (150%–1900%). These results demonstrate that climate‐adaptive urban design not only strengthens flood resilience but also fosters vibrant, walkable, and socially inclusive public spaces. This study provides valuable insights for urban planners, architects, and policymakers, proposing strategies to integrate flood resilience into walkable urban environments. By emphasising the synergy between walkability and climate adaptation, this research advances the discourse on sustainable urban planning. The findings highlight the potential of adaptable waterfronts, incorporating blue‐green infrastructure and flexible design principles, to enhance urban resilience while maintaining public space quality and accessibility. Keywords: blue‐green infrastructure; flood risk; public space design; sustainability; urban resilience; walkability Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:9561 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: help Them help Themselves: A Toolkit to Facilitate Transformative Community‐Based Climate Change Adaptation File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/9509 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.9509 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 9509 Author-Name: Subhashree Nath Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Environmental Sciences, TU Dresden, Germany / Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development (IOER), Germany Abstract: Inclusive, co‐created strategies are crucial for climate adaptation in vulnerable communities, as they empower local stakeholders to actively participate in decision‐making, tailoring responses to specific needs. However, tools that facilitate this collaborative approach are scarce and often inaccessible to under‐resourced groups. This article introduces help Them help Themselves (hThT), a web‐based tool designed for transformative community‐based climate change adaptation (TCbA), which enhances co‐creation in adaptation planning. Derived through a combined literature review and key informant interviews, hThT integrates local climate data to offer community‐specific, actionable adaptation recommendations. A novel voting feature within the tool allows community members to evaluate proposed measures directly via mobile devices, ensuring broader participation—particularly among women and marginalised groups, who are often restricted by socio‐cultural norms and existing power relations. Further, hThT incorporates a reflexive questionnaire that supports facilitators in maintaining inclusive, transparent, and accountable adaptation processes, offering a structured approach to co‐creation. Serving as a boundary object, hThT enables shared understanding and collaborative decision‐making across diverse groups, bridging governance gaps that commonly impede adaptive planning. Leveraging advances in ICT, hThT aims to enhance the accessibility and usability of climate information, fostering representative decision‐making in adaptation planning. By embedding hThT into broader adaptation frameworks, these efforts become more effective and scalable across varied communities, offering a realistic, participatory model for adapting to the uncertainties of climate change. Keywords: climate change; co‐creating adaptation; collective decision‐making; community‐based adaptation; transformative adaptation; under‐resourced communities; web‐based tools Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:9509 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Space-Shaping Through Rhythmic Interventions for Teaching and Learning: Pedagogical Perspectives File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/9201 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.9201 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 9201 Author-Name: Robin A. Chang Author-Workplace-Name: Chair of Planning Theory and Urban Development, RWTH Aachen University, Germany Author-Name: Pinar Sefkatli Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Human Geography, Planning and International Development, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands Abstract: We explore the challenges and opportunities relevant to rhythmanalytical approaches in teaching and learning through two socio-spatial and design-oriented courses with graduate and undergraduate students. Through the courses we investigate how different understandings and analyses of rhythms-through-space in comparison to rhythms-in-space generate different patterns of interventions. We also share prospects for preparing and structuring future teaching and learning that integrate time-sensitivity through constructively aligned activities supporting the development of different forms of knowledge. This work supports recent calls for greater attention to how temporality and particularly rhythms could be better understood, observed, framed, and conveyed. In the foreground is the need to improve how we guide students’ research through design-oriented learning experiences. For this we provide frameworks bringing together concepts from rhythmanalysis and constructive alignment. We draw on comparative and case study experiences from 2022 and the winter of 2023/2024 involving interdisciplinary bachelor-level and master-level courses, respectively. Our cases wrangle with the relationships between socio-spatial and temporal scales that steer or constrain rhythmic patterns expressed in students’ analyses and design interventions. From an instructional standpoint, this contribution poses the question: Which conceptual structures in design-oriented pedagogy could support rhythmanalytical approaches and capacities for future spatial planners and designers? Our final reflections discuss opportunities for improvement and evaluate how future planning pedagogy research and work could build on our experiences. Keywords: constructive alignment; course design; pedagogy; rhythmanalysis; spatial planning and design Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:9201 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: "Where Is the Time?": Time Poverty and Women's Urban Mobility Narratives in Kochi, India File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/9272 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.9272 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 9272 Author-Name: Fathima Zehba M. P. Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Architecture and Planning, National Institute of Technology Calicut, India Author-Name: Lakshmi Priya Rajendran Author-Workplace-Name: Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London, UK Author-Name: Mohammed Firoz C. Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Architecture and Planning, National Institute of Technology Calicut, India Abstract: Time poverty disproportionately affects urban women due to the societal expectations of balancing their work and gender roles. In urban environments, women’s time use is significantly influenced by their daily mobility experiences. Despite a wealth of existing research on time use and mobility, mostly in developed countries, understanding gendered dimensions of mobility and time poverty in cities of developing nations remains unexplored. Using Tiznado Aitken et al.’s (2024) integrated time use framework, the study explores how necessary, committed, contracted, and travel time collectively shape the daily routines of low-income women workers in Kochi City, India. The method involves qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews conducted during December 2022–January 2023. Interview analysis highlights entrenched gender roles disproportionately burdening women with unpaid domestic and caregiving responsibilities, leading to severe time poverty among low-income working women. The study also identifies how time poverty is exacerbated by travel constraints and access to transport services. This study substantially strengthens the literature on time poverty and gendered time use, emphasising the necessity for institutional reforms to elevate the quality of life for urban women workers. The findings presented hold implications for urban planning, transportation policy, and social equity initiatives aimed at enhancing accessibility and inclusivity within cities of the Global South. Keywords: gendered mobility; gendered time poverty; urban women; work–life balance Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:9272 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Making Places: From Non-Place to User-Generated Space Through a Diversity of Media File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/9063 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.9063 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 9063 Author-Name: Weijue Wang Author-Workplace-Name: The Bartlett Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis, University College London, UK Author-Name: Mark Tewdwr-Jones Author-Workplace-Name: The Bartlett Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis, University College London, UK Author-Name: Valerio Signorelli Author-Workplace-Name: The Bartlett Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis, University College London, UK Abstract: The prevalence of rich and dynamic multimedia information has dramatically accelerated the development of communicative non-places over the last 30 years. This has prompted planners to consider the question of how the long-term shift from a place-based to a non-place-networked public realm can be achieved. This article proposes the hypothesis that users of digital infrastructure in non-places create temporary non-places. In this process, a “non-place,” as intended by Augé, is neutral and lacks identity, but digital technology endows this physical non-place with new characteristics: identical, relational, and historical. By focusing on London as a case city, this article proposes a new method for observing the transformation process of urban places and non-places from location-based social media data. The research involved collecting, quantitatively, geo-targeted contributions within London during a predefined period, and an analysis of contributions on social media over time, collected from X, Foursquare, and Instagram. Daily digital activity patterns show distinctive temporal narratives in non-place-based digital spaces. The key findings from these patterns are: (a) There is a rhythmic difference between digital and physical activities in non-places; and (b) non-places accelerate the use of digital technologies as they stimulate the desire to share personal status through social media. The study aims to understand what placemaking practices occur in spaces overlayed by invisible infrastructures, as well as users’ self-generated spatio-temporal perceptions. Keywords: digital activity patterns; location-based social media; non-places; placemaking; spatio-temporal perceptions; temporal narratives Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:9063 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Community Food Systems Report Cards as Tools for Advancing Food Sovereignty in City-Regions File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/9413 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.9413 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 9413 Author-Name: Charles Z. Levkoe Author-Workplace-Name: Canada Research Chair in Equitable and Sustainable Food Systems, Lakehead University, Canada Author-Name: Mary Anne Martin Author-Workplace-Name: Research for Social Change Lab, Trent University, Canada Author-Name: Karen Kerk Author-Workplace-Name: CityStudio, City of Thunder Bay, Canada Author-Name: Francesca Hannan Author-Workplace-Name: Durham Food Policy Council, Canada Abstract: Developing pragmatic possibilities for advancing food sovereignty to address challenges of justice and sustainability within food systems is an essential project for human survival. A practical starting point is to identify existing challenges along with comprehensive strategies that avoid isolated fixes. Community food systems report cards are a tool to inform and influence city-region food system governance by providing a connected and comprehensive snapshot of these systems, connecting people, places, and processes, and informing research, decision-making, and program planning. This article explores and reflects on the experiences of developing community food systems report cards in Thunder Bay and Durham Region in Ontario, Canada. Through sharing lessons learned, cautions, and limitations, we explore the report cards’ origins, development processes, findings, distribution, and impacts. We argue that community food systems report cards can be a valuable tool for understanding a city-region food system, monitoring progress, identifying gaps, and comparing and communicating experiences to communities, food system stakeholders, and decision-makers. However, community food systems report cards are only the starting point for advancing food sovereignty in city-region food systems. Keywords: city-region; food policy councils; food sovereignty; food system assessments; food systems report cards Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:9413 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Democracy Otherwise: Learning From the South File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/8909 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.8909 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 8909 Author-Name: Tanja Winkler Author-Workplace-Name: School of Architecture, Planning & Geomatics, University of Cape Town, South Africa Abstract: More than 40 years of neoliberal globalization have led to a democratic deficit that necessitates urgent redress. Democracy otherwise—which is grounded in decoloniality and its accompanying epistemologies of the South—provides urban and regional planners with an opportunity to learn from the diverse democratic practices emerging in the Global South, practices that are deliberately delinked from the state and capitalism. One such example is found on communal landholdings in South Africa, where residents deploy multiple principles of legitimacy to foster an emplaced democracy. But given the entwined relationship between planning and the state, and the state’s support of market rationalities, decoloniality urges us to question whether alternative democratic practices are possible beyond local settings. Findings presented in this article suggest that place dependency diminishes transferability and scalability. Nevertheless, herein lies the power of an otherwise democracy to counter coloniality, while keeping alive Derrida’s “always to come” narrative, which challenges the liberal tradition of democracy as the only and most profitable outcome. This perspective enables planners to learn from the South—not to replicate its rich diversity, but to appreciate multiple democratic possibilities that acknowledge pluriversality, relationality, popular knowledges, local experiences, and situated worldviews, while nurturing “polities of difference” and “becoming in place,” in tandem with “idioms of autonomy and community.” Keywords: coloniality; epistemologies of the South; liberal democracy; Rural Women’s Movement Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:8909 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Shearing Layers of Space: Exploration of Permanency and Temporality in the Public Realm File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/9332 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.9332 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 9332 Author-Name: Michael Crilly Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Architecture and Built Environment, Northumbria University, UK Author-Name: Georgiana Varna Author-Workplace-Name: School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape, Newcastle University, UK Abstract: Stewart Brand famously provided a framework for considering change within buildings through his idea of “shearing layers,” itself based on earlier ideas from Francis Duffy and Alex Henney. In each case, a loose hierarchy starting with the relative permanency of the site, the building structure/shell, and to a lesser extent the skin, to the more temporary building services, space plan, and ultimately the scenery/stuff that fills the buildings. This article transposes this method of analysis from buildings and structures to public urban space. It achieves this by adding a time dimension in the form of a “rate of change” or renewal to the different layers of site, surface, services, space (spatial configuration), surroundings/skin, signage, and stuff within the public space. While it was initially intended as a thought experiment relating to society, the idea of long-term thinking is a beneficial tool for urban designers and planners. Demonstrated using a city centre public space case study, we present the object-orientated approach to recording and mapping the “rates of change” ranging from constant, hourly, daily, monthly, and yearly through to renewal over decades and centuries. The output is presented dynamically, as a chronological map progression supported by mixed archival secondary sources and primary data gathered using remote sensing and other photographic evidence. A move from end-state planning within the public realm, to thinking about the variable nature of change will support a more flexible and resilient public realm. As we increasingly need to be responsive to challenges, and opportunities, having a better understanding of the time cycle and adaptability of the different layers of our public realm will only benefit the city. Keywords: chronological mapping; experimental urbanism; public realm; shearing layers; temporary urbanism; urban design Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:9332 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Placemaking Through Time in Nepal: Conceptualising the Historic Urban-Rural Landscape of Kathmandu File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/8947 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.8947 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 8947 Author-Name: Xiang Ren Author-Workplace-Name: School of Architecture and Landscape, University of Sheffield, UK Author-Name: Sangeeta Singh Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Engineering, Tribhuvan University, Nepal Author-Name: Abhishek Bhutoria Author-Workplace-Name: School of Architecture and Landscape, University of Sheffield, UK Author-Name: Huriye Armağan Doğan Author-Workplace-Name: School of Architecture and Landscape, University of Sheffield, UK Abstract: The ever-densifying and developing cities from the rapidly urbanising Global South are still facing severe socio-cultural challenges driven by the rapid urbanisation and tourism development, including the loss of architectural heritage, cultural memory, place identity, informal ecology, and economy in and around the historic urban landscape (HUL) particularly. Following the call for a “peri-urban turn” in recent geographical and urban studies, this article conceptually extends the established HUL framework to a broader historic urban–rural landscape (HURL) framework for the evolving and underrepresented territories of the Southern cities. It includes and interprets the local community’s placemaking practices and agency in the context of transitional rural-to-urban dynamics. Through ethnographic fieldwork in the historic environment of Kathmandu, Nepal, and by exploring the Basantapur area’s living heritage setting for the local community’s transient, rural, and ritual practices, this article develops an urban-anthropological interpretation of tangible and, of increasing relevance in the Global South contexts, intangible cultural heritage from the local community’s perspective, narratives, and agency. The article argues for a shift in focus from approaching the urban heritage buildings, urban–rural landscape, and intangible cultural heritage separately from the HUL which traces the past, to a more transitional, evolving, and layered HURL which anchors the present. It concludes with HURL’s methodological capacity to further close reading of Southern places through time and the lifeworld constituted and embedded in the placemaking practice beyond the Eurocentric tradition and paradigms. Keywords: Basantapur; cultural heritage; Global South; Historic Urban Landscape; Kathmandu; placemaking Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:8947 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Temporal Dynamics of Power Distribution in Mobile Urban Co-Policies: A Southern Analytical Framework File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/9070 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.9070 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 9070 Author-Name: Laura Sobral Author-Workplace-Name: DINÂMIA’CET, ISCTE–University Institute of Lisbon, Portugal / Interdisciplinary Centre for Urban Culture and Public Space, TU Wien, Austria Author-Name: Predrag Milić Author-Workplace-Name: Interdisciplinary Centre for Urban Culture and Public Space, TU Wien, Austria Author-Name: Burcu Ateş Author-Workplace-Name: Interdisciplinary Centre for Urban Culture and Public Space, TU Wien, Austria Abstract: This study proposes an analytical framework for scrutinising the temporal dynamics of power distribution within the mobility of urban co-policies, particularly those that aim to enhance socio-spatial justice. The role of time in shaping power dynamics in the new contexts covered by urban co-policies is central to this analysis. The framework is constructed through a comprehensive literature review and empirical fieldwork on the Lisbon mobile co-policy, called Bairros de Intervenção Prioritária/Zonas de Intervenção Prioritárias, which is supplemented by analysis of participatory and contextual policies across cities within the Com.Unity.Lab Transfer Network. Drawing on theories of policy mobility in the context of Southern epistemologies, the framework underscores the significance of temporal dynamics in the formation of policy outcomes, which highlights the necessity of the continuous assessment of policy intermediary results over time. The proposed framework identifies a gap in the analysis of the mobility of co-policies that integrate spatial co-production and co-governance at the neighbourhood scale. Methodologically based on the Southern ethics of inquiry in which time serves as a critical lens through which travelling co-policies are understood, the study offers insights into the need for continuous adaptation with the overarching goal of assessing the extent to which urban co-policies can foster social justice towards fairer cities. Keywords: analytical framework; BIP/ZIP; co-policies; policy mobility; power distribution; socio-spatial justice; time Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:9070 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Connecting to the Sea: A Place-Based Study of the Potential of Digital Engagement to Foster Marine Citizenship File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/8992 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.8992 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 8992 Author-Name: Katharine Willis Author-Workplace-Name: School of Art, Design and Architecture, University of Plymouth, UK Author-Name: Ashita Gupta Author-Workplace-Name: School of Art, Design and Architecture, University of Plymouth, UK Abstract: The Sustainable Development Goals for creating sustainable, resilient cities and addressing human impacts upon coastal waters and marine environments create a mandate for coastal cities to empower local communities to value city seascapes. One key way to achieve this is through more inclusive pathways to connect to the sea using participatory methods. This research used a participatory co-design approach in Plymouth—the UK’s first national marine park—to explore the potential for place-based digital engagement to connect people with the sea, especially for deprived neighbourhoods. We sought to answer the research question of whether place-based digital technologies can engage communities with marine spaces and make coastal areas more accessible. Using the collaborative community-led concept of a city marine park, we explored the requirements for digital technologies needed to create marine citizenship and address the challenge of building coastal resilience. We describe a participatory action research study that took place in an urban coastal community, run in collaboration with a local organisation, the Rockpool Project, over a period of six months. Through a baseline survey, we identified some of the barriers to accessing the sea and ways in which the sea was perceived as a space in the city. We also ran a series of co-design workshops using creative prototyping with local families to help define the requirements for a digital toolkit that could enable them to access the sea. The results found that by enabling access to temporal and biodiverse marine spaces such as rocky shores, place-based digital technologies can create new ways for communities to access and engage with the sea. Place-based digital technologies have the potential to create marine citizenship by building a connection between people and marine environments to care for the sea as a shared resource. We propose this can help establish a sense of place and contribute to marine stewardship in coastal communities. Keywords: co-design; coastal; communities; digital technology; engagement; marine citizenship; participation Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:8992 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Participatory Interventions: Digital Crowd Mapping Perceptions of Safety in Public Space File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/9043 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.9043 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 9043 Author-Name: Gill Matthewson Author-Workplace-Name: Design Department, Monash University, Australia Author-Name: Nicole Kalms Author-Workplace-Name: Design Department, Monash University, Australia Author-Name: Jess Berry Author-Workplace-Name: Design Department, Monash University, Australia Abstract: Current estimates indicate the world will not achieve the United Nations SDG #5 of gender equality by 2030, with a more accurate prediction post-2300. Escalating global crises have brought existing gender disparities into sharper focus, exacerbating issues of unequal access and opportunity. These conditions make the prioritisation of gender equality imperative to the sustainable development of cities, regions, and rural communities. This article presents a case study of the YourGround project, which utilises an interactive, geolocative digital crowd-mapping platform as a participatory method to gather insights into perceptions of safety among women and gender-diverse people in public spaces in Australia’s two most populous states, Victoria and New South Wales. The data and insights from YourGround provide city planners, urban designers, and community members, with a gender-sensitive lens developed by the expertise of people from the community. This method of data collection and feminist co-design democratises the research process, amplifies marginalised voices, and avoids the hazards of technocentrism and top-down approaches. The findings underscore the nuanced and context-specific nature of gender inequality in public spaces, highlighting the pervasive impact of social and environmental factors on safety perceptions and access in both urban contexts and rural areas. Keywords: digital crowd mapping; gender equity; public participation; public space; sustainability Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:9043 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: The Role of Participatory Planning and Design in Addressing the UN Sustainable Development Goals File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/10048 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.10048 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 10048 Author-Name: Hilary Davis Author-Workplace-Name: Centre for Social Impact (CSI), Swinburne University of Technology, Australia Author-Name: Joel Fredericks Author-Workplace-Name: School of Architecture, Design and Planning, The University of Sydney, Australia Author-Name: Marcus Foth Author-Workplace-Name: School of Design, Queensland University of Technology, Australia Author-Name: Glenda Amayo Caldwell Author-Workplace-Name: School of Architecture and Built Environment, Queensland University of Technology, Australia Author-Name: Callum Parker Author-Workplace-Name: School of Architecture, Design and Planning, The University of Sydney, Australia Abstract: This editorial explores the role of participatory planning and design in addressing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) within urban, regional, and rural contexts, which is the focus of this thematic issue. Its contributions highlight how participatory approaches can foster inclusive, equitable, and sustainable urban development, moving beyond tokenistic engagement towards genuine community involvement. By examining a range of methods and case studies spanning 13 countries, the issue demonstrates the versatility of participatory planning in tackling key SDGs, particularly those related to sustainable cities (SDG 11), reduced inequalities (SDG 10), climate action (SDG 13), and partnerships for sustainability (SDG 17). We reflect on the successes and challenges of embedding participatory practices within governance structures, drawing on insights from prior academic fora and workshops we convened. Additionally, we acknowledge critiques of the SDGs for their limitations in addressing systemic economic and governance challenges, arguing for a more radical shift in urban planning paradigms. By situating participatory design within contemporary debates on sustainability, governance, and more-than-human approaches, this thematic issue advances the discourse on urban transformation and the future of SDG-driven planning practices. Keywords: community engagement; participatory design; participatory planning; Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); urban, regional, and rural resilience Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:10048 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Co-Creating Change: Seedbed Interventions as Catalysts for Equitable Urban Planning—The Case of Umeå File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/9118 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.9118 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 9118 Author-Name: Julia Gäckle Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Landscape Architecture, RWTH Aachen University, Germany Author-Name: Mariia Chebotareva Author-Workplace-Name: School of Natural Sciences and Health, Tallinn University, Estonia / School of Economics and Business Administration, University of Tartu, Estonia Author-Name: Bianka Plüschke-Altof Author-Workplace-Name: School of Natural Sciences and Health, Tallinn University, Estonia / School of Economics and Business Administration, University of Tartu, Estonia / Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, University of Tartu, Estonia Author-Name: Jannis Meul Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Landscape Architecture, RWTH Aachen University, Germany Author-Name: Ilkka Väänänen Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Health Care, LAB University of Applied Sciences, Finland Author-Name: Shreya Utkarsh Author-Workplace-Name: ICLEI European Secretariat, Germany Author-Name: Axel Timpe Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Landscape Architecture, RWTH Aachen University, Germany Author-Name: Frank Lohrberg Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Landscape Architecture, RWTH Aachen University, Germany Author-Name: Taru Suutari Author-Workplace-Name: Municipality of Lahti, Finland Author-Name: Eva Maaherra Lovheim Author-Workplace-Name: Municipality of Umeå, Sweden Author-Name: Tadhg MacIntyre Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Psychology, Maynooth University, Ireland Abstract: The ongoing urbanisation and densification at the intersection with increasing environmental and health crises demand a holistic, equitable, and inclusive approach to urban planning, which has also been highlighted in the EU Green Deal’s inclusive approach to sustainable urban planning aligned with the UN SDGs’ “Leave No One Behind.” This article introduces the seedbed intervention as a novel, community-driven, co-creative approach to Nature-based Solutions (NbS) that addresses gaps in equitable and inclusive urban planning frameworks. On the case of Umeå (Sweden), the article introduces the seedbed intervention approach and demonstrates how the approach facilitates the development of locally appropriate and sustainable NbS. The results show that the seedbed intervention approach improved the alignment between local needs and NbS design, connected diverse user groups, and catalysed curiosity, interest, and participation among citizens with the help of applying art-based methods. By demonstrating the practical application of a seedbed intervention, this research contributes to the development of scalable frameworks for more equitable and inclusive urban planning. Keywords: art-based methods; co-creation; equitable cities; inclusivity; Nature-based Solutions; SDG 11; seedbed intervention; sustainable planning; urban green spaces Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:9118 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Reshaping Social Spaces After Socialism Through Citizen Participation: The Case of Novo Sarajevo’s Post-Conflict Neighborhoods File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/9176 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.9176 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 9176 Author-Name: Isra Tatlić Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Architecture, University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina Author-Name: Nermina Zagora Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Architecture, University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina Abstract: Architecture embodies the social context from which it emerges. In the countries of the former Yugoslavia, architects and planners have played a pivotal role in translating the ideals and values of political systems into physical space. The socialist programs of “brotherhood and unity” and “worker self-management” were articulated in various public architectural typologies, open and accessible to all, and shaped a new social framework. Less emphasized but equally present is the historical continuity of self-organizing architecture, representing the shared goal of population survival and adaptability to forthcoming changes. In the aftermath of the 1990s war, Bosnia and Herzegovina is undergoing a multifaceted transition: from socialism to capitalism, from conflict to peace, from post-war recovery toward sustainable development and democratic governance. More than 30 years later, this radical paradigm shift has significantly impacted the urban landscape of Sarajevo, affecting both new developments and the approach to the urban legacy of previous epochs. By correlating the socio-spatial factors of transition, this article explores the post-socialist residential neighborhoods of Novo Sarajevo that were once divided by the frontline during the siege of Sarajevo, particularly their current status and the potential for the transformation of the remaining indoor and outdoor social spaces. The model employed for redefining social spaces in vulnerable areas emphasizes user participation, and was tested through an academic research project to address collective issues. This research has shown the role of the participatory approach as an instrument for the reinvention of existing, even contested, social assets to create an inclusive, sustainable urban environment in post-conflict conditions. The approach may be able to heal the remnants of the collapsed system, its neglected legacy, and the damaged urban and social structures. Keywords: citizen participation; post-socialist society; social spaces; sustainable development; urban transformation Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:9176 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Co-Designing Urban Interventions Through the Lens of SDGs: Insights From the IN-HABIT Project in Nitra, Slovakia File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/9133 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.9133 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 9133 Author-Name: Katarína Melichová Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Regional and Rural Development, Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra, Slovakia Author-Name: Michal Hrivnák Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Regional and Rural Development, Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra, Slovakia Abstract: Collaborative efforts and vertical and horizontal cooperation of stakeholders representing diverse interests are crucial for the effective achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In urban planning practice, however, coordination of more technocratic and bureaucratic top-down processes and community-driven bottom-up efforts encounters many, sometimes seemingly insurmountable obstacles. The Horizon 2020 IN-HABIT project, implemented in four European cities, brings together universities, the local public sector, and non-governmental partners to co-design, co-deploy, and co-manage integrated solutions, combining technological, nature-based, cultural, and social innovations to promote inclusive health and wellbeing. This article focuses on the participatory co-design process of innovative interventions in the Nitra pilot, utilizing mixed methods—questionnaire surveys and stakeholder interviews—to evaluate the contribution to select SDGs perceived by three groups of stakeholders: process facilitators, experts, and policymakers; urban planners; and target groups. The findings suggest that the co-design process generally contributed to community engagement, strengthened partnerships, and enhanced the inclusiveness of public spaces. However, differences emerged in how stakeholders perceived these contributions, with target group representatives being more optimistic than the remaining participants. The article concludes with implications for urban planners and policymakers in making participatory processes more inclusive and effective for achieving sustainable urban development goals, e.g., incorporating capacity-building and educational aspects into the process or introducing innovative co-design methods like participatory site-specific art residencies or other methods involving direct implementation of co-designed solutions. Keywords: co-design; inclusive public spaces; public–private–people partnership; sustainable development goals Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:9133 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Participatory Retrofitting Through Extended Planners in Tanzanian Urban Areas File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/9015 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.9015 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 9015 Author-Name: Manyama Majogoro Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Architecture and Arts, Hasselt University, Belgium Author-Name: Oswald Devisch Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Architecture and Arts, Hasselt University, Belgium Author-Name: Fredrick Bwire Magina Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Ardhi University, Tanzania Abstract: The global endeavour to develop inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable cities and human settlements is paramount. Land use conflicts in urban areas persist as a critical issue among stakeholders in contemporary urban development discourse. This article examines the effectiveness of local mediation strategies in resolving land use conflicts within East African cities’ rapidly expanding metropolitan areas. It focuses explicitly on community-based leaders, referred to as “extended planners,” who foster sustainable communities through their involvement in conflict mediation. Unlike municipal authorities, whose responses can be slow, these grassroots leaders promptly engage in mediation efforts, demonstrating their critical role in urban land management. Through an ethnographic approach to data collection and analysis using the cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT), this study highlights the significant influence that extended planners have on conflict resolution and the improvement of community welfare. The findings indicate that residents generally report land use conflicts to the Mtaa Government Office, where mediation sessions are conducted. The grassroots leaders, acting as the primary mediators, facilitate these sessions with the conflicting parties and relevant stakeholders, utilising traditional methods and established mediation protocols. The study underscores the diverse roles of different actors in the mediation process, with grassroots (Mtaa) leaders mainly overseeing it. It concludes with a call for empowering these leaders with essential knowledge in urban planning and conflict resolution skills to increase the mediation sessions’ effectiveness. Keywords: conflict mediation; extended planners; grassroots leaders; land management; land use conflicts Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:9015 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Community Mobilisation Through Translation: A Sustainable Framework for Participatory Planning File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/9119 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.9119 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 9119 Author-Name: Xiaohong Tan Author-Workplace-Name: School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Guangdong University of Technology, China / Department of Urban Regeneration and Planning Theory, University of Kassel, Germany Author-Name: Yongjian Xu Author-Workplace-Name: Guangzhou Institute of Geography, Guangdong Academy of Sciences, China Author-Name: Guangye Rui Author-Workplace-Name: School of Art and Design, Guangdong University of Technology, China Abstract: Participatory planning in neighbourhood regeneration faces challenges, including engagement difficulties, consensus-building, implementation complexities, and expectation management. This article investigates participatory planning processes aimed at addressing the aforementioned challenges in Bijiang Village, China. Using the framework of translation, it explores how this approach facilitates community mobilisation and engagement to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically focusing on fostering sustainable communities. Translation theory comprises four moments: problematisation, interessement, enrolment, and mobilisation. The empirical studies demonstrate that these moments are dynamic and iterative. Initial problem framing, focused on historical landscapes, was unclear at first but became more defined through interest assignment, recruitment, and mobilisation. The interessement phase identifies stakeholders with shared concerns and values, empowering them early in the decision-making process. Enrolment effectively expanded participation by mobilising key stakeholders, such as clan elders and parents, through context-specific social networks and social ecology. This approach ensures that planning outcomes reflect community values and priorities. Mobilisation in Bijiang expanded participation, turned consensus into action, and fostered collective ownership and unity. Workshops, exhibitions, and focus groups translated public issues into defined community planning problems, facilitating the co-construction of solutions. These participatory methods made complex planning terms accessible, fostering deeper community involvement. The cyclical nature of problem framing and consensus-building in Bijiang Village underscores the importance of local socio-cultural context in rural regeneration. Translation theory offers a robust framework for managing complexities in participatory community planning. It demonstrates how continuous negotiation and realignment of interests through translation address immediate concerns and foster long-term engagement, contributing to sustainable development. Keywords: community mobilisation; cultural heritage; participatory planning; problem framing; sustainable regeneration; translation Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:9119 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Informing Heritage Conservation Through Diverse Experiences: The Case of the Leuven Town Hall File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/9168 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.9168 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 9168 Author-Name: Negin Eisazadeh Author-Workplace-Name: Art, Archaeology and Heritage Research Unit, ULiège, Belgium / Research[x]Design, KU Leuven, Belgium Author-Name: Peter-Willem Vermeersch Author-Workplace-Name: Research[x]Design, KU Leuven, Belgium / archipelago architects, Belgium Author-Name: Ann Heylighen Author-Workplace-Name: Research[x]Design, KU Leuven, Belgium Author-Name: Claudine Houbart Author-Workplace-Name: Art, Archaeology and Heritage Research Unit, ULiège, Belgium Abstract: Awareness is growing of the need for more inclusive and sustainable cities and communities, as evident in the objectives of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The targets underline the importance of participatory approaches, protecting cultural and natural heritage, and providing universal access to inclusive public spaces. To achieve these targets in the context of built heritage, our research explores a pathway that aligns with conservation practice’s gradual shift to collaborative approaches involving diverse others. Seeking a more inclusive approach in built heritage conservation, we engage people with diverse bodies and minds as users/experts, attending to their situated and embodied experiences. Their unique expertise-by-experience informs architecture and conservation practice by providing nuanced insights into qualities and obstacles of built heritage. However, suitable methods and tools are necessary to capture and transfer these insights to practice effectively. In this article, we present the approach we experimented with in the case of the historic Leuven Town Hall (Belgium), which is undergoing a restoration project. We outline our process and methods for transforming disability experience into actionable knowledge that facilitates exchange between users/experts, architects, and city representatives. We detail how the resulting tools illustrate and situate the identified qualities and obstacles in the user/experts’ interaction with this heritage site, building on the concepts of affordance and gradient of accessibility. Leveraging user/expertise for built heritage, our approach promotes a conservation process inclusive of diverse voices and experiences and fosters collaboration between academia and practice, while contributing to creating inclusive and socially sustainable historic environments. Keywords: affordance; built heritage; disability; inclusive design; participation; user/expert(ise) Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:9168 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: The People and the Fire Tree: Co-Designing a Bushfire Early Warning System to Meet the Sustainable Development Goals File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/9125 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.9125 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 9125 Author-Name: Axel Munoz Rivas Author-Workplace-Name: Centre for Design Innovation, Swinburne University of Technology, Australia Author-Name: Hilary Davis Author-Workplace-Name: Centre for Social Impact, Swinburne University of Technology, Australia Author-Name: Sonja Pedell Author-Workplace-Name: Centre for Design Innovation, Swinburne University of Technology, Australia Abstract: Australian rural communities face significant climate challenges including catastrophic bushfires. In line with the UN sustainable development goals (SDGs), to build resilience in the face of bushfire threats, communities need to increase adaptive capacity while maintaining the community’s integrity. To build community resilience, they should harness the hybridity between digital technology and non-technological practices. Building community resilience is gaining attention in rural human–computer interaction to ensure those who are vulnerable to disasters strengthen their ability to address adversity even in the absence of formal government assistance. How they apply digital technology into practice to ensure it meets their needs is crucial. We outline a case study of a rural Australian bushfire-impacted community. A series of co-design workshops was conducted to understand local bushfire preparation activities and the role of digital technologies in these activities. Three creative participatory design activities supported the co-design of an early-warning bushfire system. The workshop participants co-designed and merged two solutions: first The Fire Tree, a conceptual map of a preventative information system fed and validated by the community itself; second, The People System identifies and harnesses government resources to feed and generate a rich, dynamic, and constantly updated information environment. The final solution based on the two concepts is Bushwire, a communication facilitator designed and used by participants in workshops four and five. Bushwire is a co-designed web-based collective platform that leverages citizen-science behaviours, enabling them to share local knowledge and prepare for bushfire threats. The system became a communication facilitator, a space to share detailed local information and connect; fed by locally produced elements including digital technologies, weather/road conditions, and on-the-ground instructions. This case study explores how Bushwire responds to a range of UN SDGs by seeking to build sustainable communities (SDG11), to address climate action (SDG13) for this rural Australian bush-fire-prone community, and harmonises life on land (SDG15) through multi-stakeholder partnerships (SDG17). We envisage that urban planners may derive value from listening and responding to messages from nature, and from citizen-scientists embedded in rural communities as depicted in this case study. Keywords: bushfires; climate action; co-design; human–computer interaction; life on land; resilience; sustainable cities; sustainable communities; sustainable development goals Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:9125 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: AI-Supported Participatory Workshops: Middle-Out Engagement for Crisis Events File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/9165 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.9165 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 9165 Author-Name: Martin Tomitsch Author-Workplace-Name: Transdisciplinary School, University of Technology Sydney, Australia Author-Name: Joel Fredericks Author-Workplace-Name: School of Architecture, Design and Planning, The University of Sydney, Australia Author-Name: Marius Hoggenmüller Author-Workplace-Name: School of Architecture, Design and Planning, The University of Sydney, Australia Author-Name: Alexandra Crosby Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building, University of Technology Sydney, Australia Author-Name: Adrian Wong Author-Workplace-Name: School of Architecture, Design and Planning, The University of Sydney, Australia Author-Name: Xinyan Yu Author-Workplace-Name: School of Architecture, Design and Planning, The University of Sydney, Australia Author-Name: Weidong Huang Author-Workplace-Name: Transdisciplinary School, University of Technology Sydney, Australia Abstract: Considering the lived experience of communities is key when making decisions in complex scenarios, such as preparing for and responding to crisis events. The article reports on three participatory workshops, which assigned community representative roles to workshop participants. Using role-playing as a method, participants were given the task of collaborating on making a decision relating to a speculative crisis scenario. Across the workshops, we collected data about simulating a middle-out engagement approach and the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in enhancing collaboration, supporting decision-making, and representing non-human actors. The article makes three contributions to participatory planning and design in the context of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. First, it presents insights about the use of AI in enhancing collaboration and decision-making in crisis event situations. Second, it discusses approaches for bringing more-than-human considerations into participatory planning and design. Third, it reflects on the value of role-playing as a way to simulate a middle-out engagement process, whereby actors from the top and the bottom collaborate towards making informed decisions in complex scenarios. Drawing on the findings from the workshops, the article critically reflects on challenges and risks associated with using AI in participatory workshops and collaborative decision-making. Keywords: artificial intelligence; community engagement; conversational agents; middle-out engagement; non-human personas; participatory design; participatory planning Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:9165 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Urban Beekeepers and Local Councils in Aotearoa, New Zealand: Honeybees Are Valuable Allies in Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/9166 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.9166 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 9166 Author-Name: Dara Dimitrov Author-Workplace-Name: Te Piringa – Faculty of Law, The University of Waikato, New Zealand Abstract: Beekeeping is a popular hobby, and urban beekeepers make up the largest number of beekeepers in Aotearoa, New Zealand. The ease of purchasing beehives, together with New Zealanders’ positive attitude toward honeybees, has meant that hobbyist beekeeper numbers have steadily increased since 2012. The impact of the increasing numbers of urban beehives has meant Aotearoa, New Zealand’s local councils have been forced to deal with honeybees and, ultimately, with urban beekeepers. This has, in some instances, led to nonsensical bylaws that the urban beekeepers have largely ignored. However, this article will demonstrate that local councils and, by inference, urban planners should take an alternative approach to urban beekeeping only because urban beekeeping leads to better sustainability outcomes. This article will show how urban beehives and beekeeping link well to the Sustainable Development Goals and provide local councils and urban planners with justifications to engage with urban beekeepers. Finally, this article states that local councils should stop treating honeybees as farm livestock and instead treat them as valuable pollinators and the indicator species that they are. Keywords: beekeeping and SDGs; councils and honeybees; honeybees and SDGs; urban beekeeping; urban planners and honeybees Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:9166 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: From Vision to Reality: The Use of Artificial Intelligence in Different Urban Planning Phases File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/8576 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.8576 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 8576 Author-Name: Frank Othengrafen Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Spatial Planning, TU Dortmund, Germany Author-Name: Lars Sievers Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Spatial Planning, TU Dortmund, Germany Author-Name: Eva Reinecke Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Spatial Planning, TU Dortmund, Germany Abstract: In an urban context, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) can help to categorise and analyse large amounts of data quickly and efficiently. The AI approach can make municipal administration and planning processes more efficient, improve environmental and living conditions (e.g., air quality, inventory of road damages, etc.), or strengthen the participation of residents in decision-making processes. The key to this is “machine learning” that has the ability to recognise patterns, capture models, and learn on the basis of big data via the application of automated statistical methods. However, what does this mean for urban planning and the future development of cities? Will AI take over the planning and design of our cities and actively intervene in and influence planning activities? This article applies a systematic literature review supplemented by case study analyses and expert interviews to categorise various types of AI and relate their potential applications to the different phases of the planning process. The findings emphasize that AI systems are highly specialised applications for solving and processing specific challenges and tasks within a planning process. This can improve planning processes and results, but ultimately AI only suggests alternatives and possible solutions. Thus, AI has to be regarded as a planning tool rather than the planning solution. Ultimately, it is the planners who have to make decisions about the future development of cities, taking into account the possibilities and limitations of the AI applications that have been used in the planning process. Keywords: artificial intelligence; decision-making; digital participation; planning phases; smart city; urban planning Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:8576 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Speculative Criminality at Home: Bypassing Tenant Rights Through Police Surveillance in Detroit’s Rental Housing File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/8575 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.8575 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 8575 Author-Name: Rae Baker Author-Workplace-Name: Education and Community Action Research, University of Cincinnati, USA Abstract: In 2016, Detroit, Michigan’s police department piloted a city-wide public-private-community video surveillance program called Project Green Light (PGL). Businesses that host the service, typically gas stations and convenience stores, receive priority response times for emergency dispatch calls, artificially decreasing 911 response times in a city with historically low emergency response capacity. This has led to many senior care homes with medically vulnerable residents to subscribe to PGL, as well as landlords of residential apartment buildings. While the program has been identified as a marker of gentrification by housing and anti-surveillance activists and residents, it has also raised concern about perpetuating the criminalization of Black Detroiters, specifically those living in rental housing that hosts the technology. In a city that is rapidly evolving through private, institutional, and public partnership developments while elected officials espouse to maintain racial and economic equity as core values of Detroit’s upcoming master planning process, the lack of foresight of the impact of surveillance tech is striking. The article’s focus is on surveillance technology as a defining element of contemporary urban development which enacts both a forbearance and expansion of rights through the application of technology to property relations. Relying on the automation of policing and racially biased artificial intelligence perpetuates criminality based on race, class, and perceived gender while additionally tying those experiences to the bundle of rights associated with the ownership of property. Keywords: criminalization; forbearance of rights; policing; surveillance; tenant–landlord relations Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:8575 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: The Potential of AI in Information Provision in Energy-Efficient Renovations: A Narrative Review of Literature File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/8660 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.8660 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 8660 Author-Name: C. Koray Bingöl Author-Workplace-Name: Management in the Built Environment, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands Author-Name: Tong Wang Author-Workplace-Name: Management in the Built Environment, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands Author-Name: Aksel Ersoy Author-Workplace-Name: Management in the Built Environment, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands Author-Name: Ellen van Bueren Author-Workplace-Name: Management in the Built Environment, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands Abstract: Energy-efficient renovation (EER) is a complex process essential for reducing emissions in the built environment. This research identifies homeowners as the main decision-makers, whereas intermediaries and social interactions between peers are highly influential in home renovations. It investigates information and communication barriers encountered during the initial phases of EERs. The study reviews AI tools developed within the EERs domain to assess their capabilities in overcoming these barriers and identifies areas needing improvement. This research examines stakeholders, barriers, and the AI tools in the literature for EERs. The discussion compares the functionalities of these tools against stakeholder needs and the challenges they face. Findings show that tools often overlook methodologies in human–computer interaction and the potential of textual and visual AI methods. Digital tool development also lacks insights from social science and user feedback, potentially limiting the practical impact of these innovations. This article contributes to the EERs literature by proposing an AI-supported framework and outlining potential research areas for future exploration, particularly improving tool effectiveness and stakeholder engagement to scale up the EER practice. Keywords: AI; energy-efficient renovations; information and communication barriers; stakeholders Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:8660 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Past, Present, and Future Perspectives on the Integration of AI Into Walkability Assessment Tools: A Systematic Review File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/8518 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.8518 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 8518 Author-Name: Yasin Delavar Author-Workplace-Name: School of Architecture, University of Florida, USA Author-Name: Sarah Gamble Author-Workplace-Name: School of Architecture, University of Florida, USA Author-Name: Karla Saldana-Ochoa Author-Workplace-Name: School of Architecture, University of Florida, USA Abstract: This study employs a systematic literature review (PRISMA methodology) to investigate the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in walkability assessments conducted between 2012 and 2022. Analyzing 34 articles exploring data types, factors, and AI tools, the review emphasizes the value of utilizing diverse datasets, particularly street view images, to train supersized AI models. This approach fosters efficient, unbiased assessments and offers deep insights into pedestrian environment interactions. Furthermore, AI tools empower walkability assessment by facilitating mapping, scoring, designing pedestrian routes, and uncovering previously unconsidered factors. The current shift from large-scale spatial data analysis (allocentric perspective) to a ground-level view (egocentric perspective) and physical and perceptual features of walking introduces a subjective lens into current walkability assessment tools. However, the efficacy of current methods in addressing non-visual aspects of human perception and their applicability across diverse demographics remains debatable. Finally, the lack of integration of emerging technologies like virtual/augmented reality and digital twin leaves a significant gap in research, inviting further study to determine their efficacy in enhancing the current methods and, in general, understanding the interaction of humans and cities. Keywords: artificial intelligence; digital twin; human perception; urban built environment; walkability; walkability assessment; walkable environment Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:8518 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: A Machine Learning Approach to Adapt Local Land Use Planning to Climate Change File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/8562 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.8562 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 8562 Author-Name: Julia Forster Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Spatial Planning, TU Wien, Austria Author-Name: Stefan Bindreiter Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Spatial Planning, TU Wien, Austria Author-Name: Birthe Uhlhorn Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Landscape Development, Recreation and Conservation Planning, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Austria Author-Name: Verena Radinger-Peer Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Landscape Development, Recreation and Conservation Planning, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Austria Author-Name: Alexandra Jiricka-Pürrer Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Landscape Development, Recreation and Conservation Planning, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Austria Abstract: The impacts on living conditions and natural habitats deriving from planning decisions require complex analysis of cross-acting factors, which in turn require interdisciplinary data. At the municipal level, both data collection and the knowledge needed to interpret it are often lacking. Additionally, climate change and species extinction demand rapid and effective policies in order to preserve soil resources for future generations. Ex-ante evaluation of planning measures is insufficient owing to a lack of data and linear models capable of simulating the impacts of complex systemic relationships. Integrating machine learning (ML) into systemic planning increases awareness of impacts by providing decision-makers with predictive analysis and risk mitigation tools. ML can predict future scenarios beyond rigid linear models, identifying patterns, trends, and correlations within complex systems and depicting hidden relationships. This article focuses on a case study of single-family houses in Upper Austria, chosen for its transferability to other regions. It critically reflects on an ML approach, linking data on past and current planning regulations and decisions to the physical environment. We create an inventory of categories of areas with different features to inform nature-based solutions and backcasting planning decisions and build a training dataset for ML models. Our model predicts the effects of planning decisions on soil sealing. We discuss how ML can support local planning by providing area assessments in soil sealing within the case study. The article presents a working approach to planning and demonstrates that more data is needed to achieve well-founded planning statements. Keywords: GIS analysis; machine learning; nature-based solutions; spatial analysis; spatial planning Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:8562 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Simulating Complex Urban Behaviours With AI: Incorporating Improved Intelligent Agents in Urban Simulation Models File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/8561 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.8561 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 8561 Author-Name: Solon Solomou Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Architecture, University of Nicosia, Cyprus Author-Name: Ulysses Sengupta Author-Workplace-Name: Manchester School of Architecture, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK / Manchester School of Architecture, University of Manchester, UK Abstract: Artificial intelligence is a transformational development across multiple research areas within urban planning. Urban simulation models have been an important part of urban planning for decades. Current advances in artificial intelligence have changed the scope of these models by enabling the incorporation of more complex agent behaviours in models aimed at understanding dweller behaviour within alternative future scenarios. The research presented in this article is situated in location choice modelling. It compares outcomes of two multi-agent systems, testing intelligent computer agent decision-making with selected behavioural patterns associated with human decision-making, given the same choices and scenarios. The majority of agent-based urban simulation models in use base the decision-making of agents on logic-based agent architecture and utility maximisation theory. This article explores the use of cognitive agent architecture as an alternative approach to endow agents with memory representation and experiential learning, thus enhancing their intelligence. The study evaluates the model’s suitability, strengths, and weaknesses, by comparing it against the results of a control model featuring commonly used logic-based architecture. The findings showcase the improved ability of cognitive-based intelligent agents to display dynamic market behaviours. The conclusion discusses the potential of utilising cognitive agent architectures and the ability of these models to investigate complex urban patterns incorporating unpredictability, uncertainty, non-linearity, adaptability, evolution, and emergence. The experiment demonstrates the possibility of modelling with more intelligent agents for future city planning and policy. Keywords: agent-based modelling; artificial intelligence; cognitive agents; complexity; household location choice; intelligent agents; market dynamics; planning tools; urban simulation Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:8561 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: In Praise of Diversity in Participatory Heritage Planning Empowered by Artificial Intelligence: Windcatchers in Yazd File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/8724 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.8724 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 8724 Author-Name: Mahda Foroughi Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Architectural Engineering and Technology, Technical University of Delft, The Netherlands Author-Name: Tong Wang Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Management in the Built Environment, Technical University of Delft, The Netherlands Author-Name: Ana Pereira Roders Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Architectural Engineering and Technology, Technical University of Delft, The Netherlands Abstract: Heritage planning is changing, in both theory and practice. There is greater attention to the cultural significance (values and attributes) conveyed to a heritage property, rather than focusing on the property alone. Identifying and revealing this cultural significance has become a critical step in heritage planning. Moreover, international guidelines increasingly encourage public participation in defining the cultural significance of heritage sites. However, effectively involving diverse stakeholders and capturing the cultural significance they attribute to heritage remains a challenge, particularly when dealing with extensive datasets and multiple stakeholders. Although automated methods have shown potential in fields like digital humanities, their application in heritage planning is still limited. This article explores the innovative use of artificial intelligence (AI), particularly text classification analysis, to analyze unstructured textual data (e.g., policy documents, literature, and social media) to uncover the cultural significance of built heritage. Focusing on Yazd, Iran, and specifically on windcatchers—a key cultural attribute recognized for its “outstanding universal value” by UNESCO—this study integrates AI to enhance both urban and socio-cultural planning. This article, as the concluding piece of a broader research project, synthesizes the project’s findings to highlight AI’s potential for inclusive heritage planning, referencing related publications of the same project to provide context while remaining concise. The research is structured in three phases: first, a literature review on AI applications in participatory heritage planning and value-based heritage planning; second, the methodology for data collection and analysis, including coding and comparing values and attributes of windcatchers conveyed by different stakeholders; and third, findings on the values and attributes, and their interrelationships as revealed through the data. The results confirm that while there are both conflicts and alignments in the cultural significance attributed to windcatchers in Yazd among various stakeholders, the theoretical framework presented here offers a valuable tool for heritage planning. By decoding and measuring cultural significance from diverse perspectives, this framework aids in identifying conflicts and alignments and in better aligning stakeholder perspectives. This model can be adapted to other key attributes in Yazd and other case studies, offering broader applications in heritage planning. Additionally, the findings underscore the potential of AI to evaluate the legislative framework’s effectiveness in enhancing public engagement. Keywords: artificial intelligence; cultural heritage; cultural significance; Iran; public participation; Yazd Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:8724 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: The Potentials and Limitations of Agent-Based Models for Urban Digital Twins: Insights From a Surveillance and Behavioral Nudging Simulation File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/8613 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.8613 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 8613 Author-Name: Sarah Shtaierman Author-Workplace-Name: Institute for Ethics in Artificial Intelligence, Technical University of Munich, Germany Author-Name: Catarina Fontes Author-Workplace-Name: Institute for Ethics in Artificial Intelligence, Technical University of Munich, Germany Author-Name: Christoph Lütge Author-Workplace-Name: Institute for Ethics in Artificial Intelligence, Technical University of Munich, Germany Abstract: Although urban digital twins are still at an embryonic stage of development, their use cases are multiple, ranging from big data aggregation to simulations. Additionally, predictions can be rendered and quickly implemented using actuators to transform physical environments and influence urban life. In this article, we investigate the potential of an agent-based model in a smart city setting to predict emergent behavior in relation to the suppression of civil violence by implementing crowd management practices. To this end, we designed a simulation environment that includes cameras in public spaces and wearable sensors, and considers nudging and self-nudging processes supported by a surveillance apparatus. Building on Epstein’s threshold-based model of civil violence, the proposed simulation is informed by surveillance theories and contemplates methods for crowd monitoring and social control. The experiments’ results provide insights into how specific measures and combined actions may influence the suppression of civil violence in public spaces and can be useful to inform crowd management activities and policymaking. Moreover, we use the simulation to reflect upon the potentials and limitations of integrating agent-based models into urban digital twins and emphasize the imminent risks for individuals and democratic societies of employing a ubiquitous surveillance apparatus endowed with the autonomy to trigger actuators. Keywords: agent-based model; crowd modeling; smart city; surveillance systems; urban digital twin; urban planning Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:8613 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: What Is My Plaza for? Implementing a Machine Learning Strategy for Public Events Prediction in the Urban Square File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/8551 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.8551 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 8551 Author-Name: Jumana Hamdani Author-Workplace-Name: School of Information Systems and Technology Management, University of New South Wales, Australia / Department of Spatial Planning, Blekinge Institute of Technology, Sweden Author-Name: Pablo Antuña Molina Author-Workplace-Name: IAAC—Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia, Spain Author-Name: Lucía Leva Fuentes Author-Workplace-Name: IAAC—Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia, Spain Author-Name: Hesham Shawqy Author-Workplace-Name: IAAC—Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia, Spain Author-Name: Gabriella Rossi Author-Workplace-Name: CITA, Royal Danish Academy, Denmark Author-Name: David Andrés León Author-Workplace-Name: IAAC—Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia, Spain Abstract: Plazas are an essential pillar of public life in our cities. Historically, they have been seen as public fora, hosting public events that fostered trade, interaction, and debate. However, with the rise of modern urbanism, city planners considered them as part of a larger strategic development scheme overlooking their social importance. As a result, plazas have lost their function and value. In recent years, awareness has risen of the need to re-activate these public spaces to strive for social inclusion and urban resilience. Geometric and urban features of plazas and their surroundings often suggest what kinds of usage the public can make of them. In this project, we explore the application of machine learning to predict the suitability of events in public spaces, aiming to enhance urban plaza design. Learning from traditional urbanism indicators, we consider factors associated with the features of the public space, such as the number of people and the high degree of comfort, which are evolved from three subcategories: external factors, geometric shape, and design factors. We acknowledge that the predictive capability of our model is constrained by a relatively small dataset, comprising 15 real plazas in Madrid augmented digitally to 2025 fictional scenarios through self-organising maps. The article details the methods to quantify and enumerate quantitative urban features. With a categorical target variable, a classification model is trained to predict the type of event in the urban space. The model is then evaluated locally in Grasshopper by visualising a parametric verified geometry and deploying the model on other existing plazas worldwide regarding geographical proximity to Madrid, where to share or not the same cultural and environmental conditions. Despite these limitations, our findings offer valuable insights into the potential of machine learning in urban planning, suggesting pathways for future research to expand upon this foundational study. Keywords: data classification; event prediction; machine learning; Madrid; plaza; public squares; self-organising maps; urban planning Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:8551 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Introduction: AI for and in Urban Planning File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/9417 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.9417 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 9417 Author-Name: Tong Wang Author-Workplace-Name: AiBLE Lab, TU Delft, The Netherlands Author-Name: Neil Yorke-Smith Author-Workplace-Name: STAR Lab, TU Delft, The Netherlands Abstract: As a tool serving other disciplines of enquiry, artificial intelligence (AI) offers the potential of a potent discovery, a design and analysis paradigm to address (new) questions in urban planning. This thematic issue raises a forum for cross-disciplinary dialogues at the intersection of urban planning and AI. Nine articles discuss both emerging use cases in urban planning practice and the relevant AI techniques being used and developed, as well as articulate the challenges associated. Future development of AI in urban planning shall address the ethical, inclusive, and just implications of AI applications for urban planning while navigating human and AI agents’ interactions and intra-actions to facilitate a better understanding of the intentions of AI development and use, and the impacts on the behaviour of designers and users in complex urban planning practices. Keywords: artificial intelligence; development and evaluation needs; social-technical evaluations; urban planning practices Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:9417 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Title: Local Voices, Global Goals: Participatory Planning for Localizing the UN SDGs in UNESCO Heritage Site Management File-URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/9039 File-Format: text/html DOI: 10.17645/up.9039 Journal: Urban Planning Volume: 10 Year: 2025 Number: 9039 Author-Name: Iuliia Eremenko Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Political Science and International Studies, University of Warsaw, Poland Author-Name: Tymoteusz Kraski Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Political Science and International Studies, University of Warsaw, Poland Abstract: The research detailed here has explored the role of local actors in integrating SDGs into World Heritage Site Management Plans, within a polycentric governance framework. It highlights how SDGs can be localized in the context of World Heritage cities management and urban development. The Medieval Town of Toruń, Poland, serves as a case study here. Empirically, this research was based on three types of data collection, entailing: qualitative analysis of key documents facilitating the pursuit of the SDGs in urban planning; semi-structured expert interviews with representatives of the city administration, members of the Revitalization Committee, members of local NGOs, urban activists, as well as individuals officially designated as experts in city administration documents for projects related to World Heritage; participant observations of Revitalization Committee meetings. In the context of Toruń, the Revitalization Committee emerges as a key actor contributing substantially to the formulation of the World Heritage Site Management Plan and the integration of SDGs, despite not being initially designated for these functions. Toruń’s proactive approach, which expands periodic reporting and utilizes the Committee to enhance social participation in decision-making, seeks to ensure the integration of sustainable development principles into the urban planning framework, optimizing financial and human resources without the need to create new structures. The committee’s influence is evident in the integration of elements from the Revitalization Plan into the World Heritage Site Management Plan, underscoring a strong connection between participatory planning and the pursuit of SDGs in the context of World Heritage site management. Keywords: heritage expertise; participatory planning; polycentric governance; Revitalization Committee; Sustainable Development Goals; UNESCO; World Cultural Heritage; World Heritage Cities; World Heritage Site Management Plan Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v10:y:2025:a:9039