Responsibility for Non-Human Stakeholders.

This article examines the ethical status of animals in spatial planning using the example of Animal-Aided Design (AAD). Traditionally, animals appear in planning mainly as objects of protection or legal concern. By describing selected species as “stakeholders,” AAD integrates habitat requirements into design processes at an early stage. This conceptual shift raises questions of representation, responsibility, and selectivity. Since animals are not institutionally represented, their interests depend on knowledge-based forms of representation, which entail particular responsibilities for planners. At the same time, inclusion remains selective and requires justified choices. The article argues that coexistence should be understood not as a harmonious state but as a planning task that institutionalizes responsibility for shared urban spaces.