Focus Spatial Planning - Spatial Transformation in Discourse

The conditions surrounding urban policy and development have changed profoundly in recent decades. The globalization of the economy, digitization, the refugee movements caused by hunger and war, and not least the global climate and energy crisis present us with challenges that cannot be managed by doing “business as usual”, but only through radical transformation processes. 

In this context, transformation means a fundamental change in terms of urban and spatial development, far beyond merely increasing “efficiency”. This kind of transformation requires readjusting our values, rethinking our everyday behavior and the relevant planning activities.

There will be no way around questioning conventional, mainstream objectives, instruments and processes. What we need is an inclusive, inspiring planning and process culture that provides room for creativity and is geared toward shaping the necessary transformation process in a future-oriented way. 

The challenge of transformation calls for credible and inspiring visions of the future, which can be used to discuss the strategic development of cities and regions. These visions of the future need to inspire our internal professional/political dialog and, at the same time, provide impulses for participation and cooperation with an urban public. Learning from each other, learning together, will provide the transformation-oriented planning process with the right perspective.

 When it comes to its basic understanding and task profile, spatial planning continues to extend beyond the formal level of administrative planning. It represents a new understanding of the planning process and a change in the role of planners. A role defined in administrative and scientific terms develops into the role of agents and trainers who initiate, shape, mediate and coordinate planning processes. Technical knowledge and methodological skills are combined with social skills, intuition, a power of observation, with communicative skills, resourcefulness and inventiveness.

The seminar will focus on the examination of transformation processes initiated and guided by planning. Based on literature and concrete examples/references from international planning practice, the methods, instruments and processes of transformative planning will be discussed.