What Planning for Facing Global Challenges? Approaches, Policies, Strategies, Tools, Ongoing Experiences in Urban Areas

Urban areas are an amalgam of socio-ecological systems, whose interactions between environment and human activities tend to become increasingly complex due to a series of determining factors, among which climate change is overwhelming. Given its negative environmental, economic and social effects, numerous initiatives, policies, strategies, and tools are being implemented at different territorial and institutional levels, sharing common ground in seeking to maximise the health and safety, resilience, inclusion, cohesion, sustainability and prosperity of cities to the benefit of all their inhabitants and simultaneously protecting and taking care of "our common home", i.e., the Earth. Indeed, cities have a key role in combating climate change as they can not only reduce their significant contribution to global GHG emissions, but also enjoy significant local benefits in terms of local economic development and job creation, in a process of transformation from energy-consuming organisms to renewable and circular cities. Therefore, an ecological approach cannot be limited to a series of urgent and partial responses to the immediate problems of pollution, environmental decay and depletion of natural resources. A cultural revolution, a distinctive way of thinking, policies, educational programmes, lifestyles and spirituality are needed to generate resilience to risks by proposing innovative patterns of sustainable development, an integrated approach to urban and territorial planning, infrastructure and basic services. The case studies proposed in this article suggest innovative tools, plans and projects, lessons learnt, in which spatial and socio-economic planning processes (including iterative monitoring, assessment, learning, and management) are well coordinated and cross-sectoral.